8 th Annual Symposium on Zoo Research Colchester Zoo 24 th – 25 th July 2006

The captive environment can lack opportunities for the expression of a range of natural behaviours (Wemelsfelder, 1997) and can contribute to the establishment of stereotypic or undesirable behaviours. Appropriately enriched environments have been shown to have positive effect on both physiological (Newberry, 1995) and psychological (Roy et al, 2001) welfare and to enhance the range of behaviours expressed. Olfactory stimulation, although relatively uncommon, has been successfully used to create a more interesting environment for a range of species (Schuett et al, 2001) and the introduction of odour has been shown to increase foraging and hunting behaviours in predator species (Wells et al 2004). Although the effect of the introduction of predator scent to prey species is less well documented, the presence of a stuffed hawk has been known to stimulate a range of natural responses in cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) (Chamove and Moodie,1990). It is therefore reasonable to suggest that the introduction of a predator scent may also increase natural and social interactions within groups. This research examines the effect of the introduction of the scent of a sympatric prey species to the behaviour of a known predator, and conversely the effect of the introduction of the scent of a sympatric predator to a known prey species. A series of monkey’s fist rope knots were constructed, each was scented to give the following conditions (rope with predator scent, rope with prey scent, rope with vanilla scent and rope with no scent). A control condition involving no rope knot and thus no scent was also included. The rope knots were placed in relevant enclosures and data collected through scan sampling and continuous focal follows in each condition. Results suggested that prey scent particularly can be enriching to predators as it increased duration and frequency of interaction with the rope knot. In prey species, a predator’s scent affected vocalization behavior and increased activity levels.