Editing Gorilla (section)

==Captivity==
[[File:Suisse zoo (25).jpg|thumb|right |upright |Gorilla at the [[Basel Zoo]]]]
Gorillas became highly prized by western [[zoo]]s since the 19th century, though the earliest attempts to keep them in captive facilities ended in their early death. In the late 1920s, the care of captive gorillas significantly improved.{{sfn|Gott|Weir|2013|pp=98–107}} [[Colo (gorilla)|Colo]] (December 22, 1956 – January 17, 2017) of the [[Columbus Zoo and Aquarium]] was the first gorilla to be born in captivity.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38659471 |title=Colo, the oldest gorilla in captivity, dies aged 60 |work=BBC News |access-date=18 January 2017 |date=18 January 2017}}</ref>

Captive gorillas exhibit [[Stereotypy (non-human)|stereotypic behaviors]], including eating {{nowrap|disorders{{px2}}{{mdash}}{{px2}}}}such as regurgitation, reingestion and {{nowrap|[[coprophagy]]{{px2}}{{mdash}}{{px2}}}}self-injurious or conspecific aggression, pacing, rocking, sucking of fingers or lip smacking, and overgrooming.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wells |first1=D. L. |year=2005 |title=A note on the influence of visitors on the behaviour and welfare of zoo-housed gorillas |journal=Applied Animal Behaviour Science |volume=93 |issue=1–2 |pages=13–17 |doi=10.1016/j.applanim.2005.06.019}}</ref> Negative vigilance of visitor behaviors have been identified as starting, posturing and charging at visitors.<ref name="Clark2011">{{cite journal |last1=Clark |first1=F. |last2=Fitzpatrick |first2=M. |last3=Hartley |first3=A. |last4=King |first4=A. |last5=Lee |first5=T. |last6=Routh |first6=A. |last7=Walker |first7=S |last8=George |first8=K |year=2011 |title=Relationship between behavior, adrenal activity, and environment in zoo-housed western lowland gorillas (''Gorilla gorilla gorilla'') |journal=Zoo Biology |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=306–321 |doi=10.1002/zoo.20396 |pmid=21563213|url=http://researchonline.rvc.ac.uk/id/eprint/5528/ }}</ref> Groups of bachelor gorillas containing young silverbacks have significantly higher levels of aggression and wounding rates than mixed age and sex groups.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Leeds |first1=A. |last2=Boyer |first2=D. |last3=Ross |first3=S |last4=Lukas |first4=K. |year=2015 |title=The effects of group type and young silverbacks on wounding rates in western lowland gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla gorilla'') groups in North American zoos |journal=Zoo Biology |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=296–304 |doi=10.1002/zoo.21218 |pmid=26094937}}</ref><ref name="Stoinski2011">{{cite journal |last1=Stoinski |first1=T. |last2=Jaicks |first2=H. |last3=Drayton |first3=L. |year=2011 |title=Visitor effects on the behavior of captive western lowland gorillas: the importance of individual differences in examining welfare |journal=Zoo Biology |volume=31 |issue=5 |pages=586–599 |doi=10.1002/zoo.20425 |pmid=22038867}}</ref>

The use of both internal and external privacy screens on exhibit windows has been shown to alleviate stresses from visual effects of high crowd densities, leading to decreased stereotypic behaviors in the gorillas.<ref name="Clark2011" /> Playing naturalistic auditory stimuli as opposed to classical music, rock music, or no auditory enrichment (which allows for crowd noise, machinery, etc. to be heard) has been noted to reduce stress behavior as well.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Robbins |first1=L. |last2=Margulis |first2=S. |title=The effects of auditory enrichment on gorillas |journal=Zoo Biology |year=2014 |volume=33 |issue=3 |pages=197–203 |doi=10.1002/zoo.21127 |pmid=24715297}}</ref> Enrichment modifications to feed and foraging, where clover-hay is added to an exhibit floor, decrease stereotypic activities while simultaneously increasing positive food-related behaviors.<ref name="Clark2011" />

Recent research on captive gorilla welfare emphasizes a need to shift to individual assessments instead of a one-size-fits-all group approach to understanding how welfare increases or decreases based on a variety of factors.<ref name="Stoinski2011"/> Individual characteristics such as age, sex, personality and individual histories are essential in understanding that stressors will affect each individual gorilla and their [[animal welfare|welfare]] differently.<ref name="Clark2011"/><ref name="Stoinski2011"/>