| Ethnoprimatology is the study of the ecological and cultural interconnections between human and nonhuman primates. Since the field's emergence, ethnoprimatologists have examined overlapping human-primate resource use and conflict, human-primate disease transmission, primate folklore and its impact on conservation status, and primate tourism. In order to address such multifaceted topics, ethnoprimatologists deploy diverse methods from ecology, ethology, and cultural anthropology. Similarly, the recent "animal turn" within cultural anthropology, sociology, and geography articulates the use of hybrid methodologies to shed light on the intertwined social realms of humans and other animals. By drawing on the ethnoprimatologial approach and engaging with perspectives from human-animal studies, this thesis examines habituation, a process by which wild animals learn to accept human observers as neutral elements in their environment. Primatologists have previously investigated appropriate habituation methods, observer effects on habituated primate behavior, and habituation's ethical implications. However, despite habituation's role as a hallmark of field primatology, it has received little empirical attention, particularly with regard to the intersubjective nature of the process; that is, as a mutually modifying experience for both primatologists and their study groups. My primary objective was therefore to explore habituation as both a scientific and subjective process by integrating quantitative behavioral measures with qualitative perceptions of habituation "success." Accordingly, I assessed progress in habituating a group of wild moor macaques from two perspectives: 1) the observed behavioral changes in macaques and human observers that occur during habituation and 2) researcher and field assistant perceptions of habituation progress. Analysis of macaque behavioral data indicates that over the 7-month study period, the study group became more accustomed to human presence; rates of flight, avoidance, and display responses decreased while ignore responses increased. Significant changes in human-related habituation criteria also occurred; in particular, search times decreased and contact time ratios increased. Researchers' and field assistants' impressions of habituation progress, however, did not match these quantitative indicators; namely, most did not perceive the group to be fully habituated by the end of the study. These results suggest that "successful" habituation may be more nuanced than previously demonstrated in primate literature and should therefore be reexamined. |
