Experiments

Remembered even more monkey names today and am starting to become quite fond of the funny wee things. There were a few experiments going on today which I could watch. First the monkeys had an onion thrown into their enclosure. What typically happens is that they break it up and rub themselves with it which is thought to protect them from parasites. It is expected that other members of the group will mimic the behaviour of the dominant member who rubs themselves down with the onion, and it will be looked at whether they rub themselves down with the same pieces or if they understand that other pieces of onion will work the same.
The experiment in this picture was supposed to be for the Squirrel Monkeys who live among the Capuchins. However the Capuchins are quite dominant in this group and so they were eating all the food. In the holes are mealworm and we observed the methods they used to extract the mealworm - did they use tools? These guys just shoved their fingers in.
Lots of interesting stuff going on at Living Links!