ABSTRACT
This chapter expresses that primates maintained in captivity for research purposes have not lost their most basic antipredator instincts and that the overall management, and especially the behavioral management, of captive primates should take into account the ways in which monkeys and apes may be affected by research- and husbandry-related activity that taps into deeply ingrained antipredator reactions. One of the most significant recent developments in the study of primates as prey is the snake detection theory. Humans and nonhuman primates are quick to detect snakes. Neuroscientists have described a pathway in the visual system that allows for detection of and appropriate reaction to predators. Captive primates, at least those who live indoors, rarely, if ever, come into contact with their natural predators. Anxiety disorders, including panic disorder and phobias, are the most commonly reported class of psychological disorders, affecting about one in five adults in the United States.
