Document Type
Thesis
Date of Degree Completion
Winter 2018
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Primate Behavior
Committee Chair
Lori K. Sheeran
Second Committee Member
Jessica A. Mayhew
Third Committee Member
Mary Radeke
Abstract
Daily visitor-macaque interactions lead to higher rates of macaque aggression (macaque-human, intragroup), macaque self-directed behaviors (SDBs), and zoonotic disease transfer. At the Valley of the Wild Monkeys in Mt. Huangshan, China, I made an educational website with site-specific information (e.g., guidelines for conduct, park rules, conservation) available and unavailable through QR codes for an equal number of randomized days. I recorded visitor-Tibetan macaque (Macaca thibetana) behaviors on all days using human and macaque ethograms. Past researchers at this site found positive correlations between decibel levels and macaque SDBs, as such decibel levels were recorded daily. I compared the frequencies of macaque and human behaviors and average decibel levels on website “on” or “off” days. On website “on” days, visitors exhibited more macaque-directed behaviors, but I found no difference in decibel levels and macaques’ rates of aggressive and SDBs. My results indicate that at this site, web-based technology was not correlated with reduced rates of stress-inducing visitor behaviors, perhaps because only one percent of visitors viewed the website.
Recommended Citation
Stauch, K. (2018). The Impact of Web-Based Visitor Education on Human-Tibetan Macaque (Macaca thibetana) Interactions at Mt. Huangshan, China (Unpublished master’s thesis). Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA.
Language
English