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Basle Zoo

Primate Research Centre

The Primate Research Centre is a partnership between the Department of Comparative Cognition, University of Neuchâtel and the Basle Zoo. The zoo hosts three species of great apes: Chimpanzees, Gorillas and Sumatra Orangutans, which allows us to work with all of them and conduct comparative studies.

bâle 12.jpg© Zoo Bâle

 

We have installed several touch-screens and other technologies (e.g. eye-tracker) in the enclosures. The animals can work on these devices to obtain small food rewards, allowing us to explore a range of fundamental research questions on communication and social learning, cognition and decision-making processes.

 

The zoo environment also enables us to conduct research that requires face-to-face interactions with the animals.

 

orang utan bâle 2.jpg© Sarah Brocard

 

One of the strong points of the center is that animals voluntarily participate in research experiments and are not separated from their social groups, allowing us to better respect their well-being and gather more naturalistic data.

 

bâle 22.jpg© Pénélope Lacombe

 

Managers: Klaus Zuberbuehler and Christoph Dahl

Researchers involved: Eloise Déaux, Pénélope Lacombe and Sarah Brocard

 

Links:

Basle Zoo

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