Comparative psychopathology of captive great apes: towards understanding psychological disturbances in captive orangutans

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is a qualitative insight into the problem of psychopathological phenomena in captive orangutans. The theoretical part deals with the elementary zoology of genus Pongo, and offers philosophical and ethical considerations of "animal kind", "captivity", "norm and psychopathology" as well as some methodological aspects of animal study. The aim of my empirical research design was to gather as much information as possible about the phenomena in question. This study is meant to provide preliminary ideas for further research and by no means aspires to cover the topic to the full. There are 5 zoos in Czech Republic and Slovakia that have orangutans, and I have visited 4 of them. Each group of orangutans was reported on by at least 2 people in direct contact with these animals (caretakers, veterinarians or curators). I have attempted to objectify my findings by individually interviewing 10 professionals, all of whom have provided their reports independently and confidentially. The caretakers reported on a total of 16 animals in their custody, out of which, there were 7 adult males, 5 adult females, 3 sub-adult males and 1 male infant. Of these, 8 were Sumatran orangutans, 6 Borneans and 2 crossbreeds. Three animals that entered the record were no longer present at the zoo by the time...