Animals found to have had lockdown blues

A study has compared the behavior of bonobos, chimpanzees, baboons, and gorillas in zoos and safari parks during lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 with behavior after visitors returned.

It found some primates showed more solitary and sedentary behavior when visitors were missing, while others displayed more sexually and physically dominant behavior.

Scientists said it is difficult to say whether lockdown experiences were positive, negative, or neutral for individual animals, but that interactions between humans and animals in general are thought to be crucial for animal welfare.

Video by Han Jing.