Abstract

Background:
Behavioral studies are crucial for ex situ conservation, as animals must exhibit their natural behavior as one of the principles of animal welfare. To achieve this, the behavior of animals in captivity must be compared with the behavior of animals residing in their natural habitats to ensure that they live naturally.

Aim:
This study aimed to describe the behavior of female Tarsius spectrumgurskyae in captivity to allow comparisons with wild individuals.

Methods:
The subjects of this study were three adult females of T. spectrumgurskyae observed for 15 months in a captive breeding facility at the Primate Research Center (PRC) of IPB University, Bogor.

Results:
The female T. spectrumgurskyae spent most of their time moving (45.55%) or resting (36.52%). The grooming behavior of female tarsiers (6.52%), including auto grooming and allogrooming, was also recorded. The T. spectrumgurskyae reported urination (4.11%), sexual behavior (3.58%), eating (2.25%), vocalizing (0.90%), drinking (0.30%), and defecating (0.24%). T. spectrumgurskyae consumed more crickets (73.26%) than Hong Kong caterpillars (19.02%). Because the captive breeding facility was a semi-open cage, they could still prey on wild insects, such as flying white ants, moths, lizards, or spiders coming to their cages (7.72%).

Conclusion:
Based on these results, we confirmed that T. spectrumgurskyae could express its natural behavior in a captive breeding environment. However, some activity budgets, including locomotion and resting, were greater in this study than in the natural habitats due to the food source availability. Modifications to animals’ environments or changes in feeding methods may increase activity and behavioral diversity to more closely emulate the wild population.

Key words: Activity budget, Behavior, Captive, Conservation, Tarsius spectrumgurskyae