Increased levels of stress hormones and decreased levels of testosterone were found in the fur of dancing monkeys in Pakistan. The research was published in the journal Applied Animal Behavior Science.
The rhesus macaque is a monkey weighing up to eight kilograms that lives in Asia and the Middle East. They are highly trainable, so in Pakistan and other countries they are taught to do street tricks such as dancing. For this, puppies are taken from their mothers and kept on a leash at all times. While the monkeys dance, the guide asks people passing by for donations.
In a new study, scientists from the University of Glasgow (UofG) compared levels of the stress hormone cortisol in 50 monkeys dancing on the streets of Islamabad with those in 77 free-living monkeys from a sanctuary in Florida. Monkeys in captivity had much higher stress levels; This may be an indication of constant stress. In addition, testosterone levels in the dancing monkeys (all monkeys studied were male) were on average 55% lower than in those living in the sanctuary. This is an indication that they are resigned to their fate and see their coaches as masters of them.
Previously in Brazil caught An individual of a bat species that has not been seen for over 100 years.