On delivery to Covance, most monkeys were sent straight to individual indoor quarantine cages, where they spent day after day for two - four weeks in isolation from each other. The cages were just 24 inches high and 16 inches wide (60x40x40cms).
|
 |
 |
 |
Regardless of the guidelines, however, there is no doubt that housed in such tiny, barren, solitary spaces, these animals were severely deprived. In their natural wild habitat, their home ranges are usually large, spanning anything from 200 - 400 hectares and troops can move several kilometres each day. Yet here at Covance they were confined in tiny metal prisons day in and day out, their only change of view coming when removed to be subjected to some kind of distressing procedure.
Long-tailed macaques are the most arboreal of the macaque species, normally spending most of their time in the trees and living exclusively in tropical areas. They are highly social animals, living in multi-male/multi-female troops of ten to over 100 individuals and remaining for their whole lives in their natal group, forming strong social bonds.
They have a varied natural diet, mainly frugivores, although they also feed on insects, bird eggs and animal prey when accessible. In the wild much of their time is spent in pursuit of food; male cynomologus monkeys can spend 45% of their time travelling in search of food and 13% feeding. When not foraging, much of their time is spent grooming, a social as well as practical activity essential for group bonding and welfare.
Life at Covance, however, was in heart-breaking contrast to their rich and diverse forest homes. Not only were most of these poor animals totally isolated from each other in tiny spaces, surrounded on all sides by metal bars, but the cages themselves were completely barren. There were no perches in the experimental cages housing the vast majority of the cynomolgus monkeys, just cold metal bars to sit on. The only pathetic attempt at environmental enrichment for some animals was a tiny piece of wood and the occasional plastic bone.
The cages were stacked two-tier in long rows in rooms with no natural light at all. For animals who are normally so active and agile, there was absolutely no room for them to exercise and nothing for them to do. Even pregnant females were kept in these appalling conditions, forced to give birth on the cold metal bars of the cage floor.
Unsurprisingly, these barren, unstimulating conditions led to serious stereotypic behaviour in some monkeys, including repetitive rocking, circling and back flipping, classic symptoms of mental disturbance. They were literally driven mad with boredom and deprivation.