Self-Biting in Caged Macaques: Cause, Effect, and Treatment.

Injurious self-biting is one of the most serious problems in primate colonies (Niemeyer, Gray, & Stephen, 1996). "Approximately 10% of captive, individually-housed monkeys engage in the disturbing phenomenon of self-injurious behavior (SIB). To date, no adequate explanation or effective therapy has been developed for this disorder" (Jorgensen, Novak, Kinsey, Tiefenbacher, & Meyer, 1996; cf. Novak, Kinsey, Jorgensen, & Hazen, 1998). In rhesus macaques-the predominant species found in laboratories-the incidence of self-biting may be as high as 14% (recorded in a colony of 188 single-caged males; Jorgensen, Kinsey, & Novak, 1998). Individuals affected with this "behavioral pathology" (Erwin & Deni, 1979, p. 4) repeatedly bite parts of their own bodies (see Figure 1) while intermittently showing signs of intense excitation such as threatening, trembling, head jerking, and piloerection (Reinhardt, 1999; Tinklepaugh, 1928). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]