Research Activity Report
Supported by “Leading Graduate Program in Primatology and Wildlife Science”
2014. 06. 23
Affiliation/Position

Primate Research Center/ D1/L3 Student

Name

Sofi Bernstein

1. Country/location of visit
Japan, Kumamoto Sanctuary
2. Research project
Field Course at Kumamoto Sanctuary
3. Date (departing from/returning to Japan)
2014.06.17-2014.06.20 (4 days)
4. Main host researcher and affiliation
Dr. Satoshi Hirata, Professor at Kumamoto Sanctuary, Dr. Naruki Morimura, Program Specific Associate
Professor, Kumamoto Sanctuary
5. Progress and results of your research/activity (You can attach extra pages if needed)
Please insert one or more pictures (to be publicly released). Below each picture, please provide a brief description.

During this visit I had the chance to see what life is like working at a sanctuary. Students from WRC, myself, and avisiting researcher from China, made up the group of students participating in this field course. On the first day wetoured the facilities and helped set up touch panels in the bonobo enclosure. This was very exciting since these touch
panels will be used for the first experiments in bonobo cognition. I felt very lucky to participate in helping set up thetouch panels and getting the chance to see the bonobos interact with them for the first time.
We also conducted observations on two separate groups. The first group was a bonobo pair, Yoshiki (male) and Yosuke(female). We had a choice in how we wanted to collect data, so I decided to do focals of three minutes. I attempted toassign locations of the individuals for each focal, and also wrote down the behaviors of the focal and what individual
was proximate. It was so interesting to watch them, this was the first time I had ever seen bonobos! The second
observation took place with the Black group of chimpanzees (7) living in an outdoor enclosure. Members of this group
include: Black (male), Candy (female), Chiko (female), Sakura (female), Oumu (female), Haruna (female), Yoshie(female). Since I felt comfortable with identifying all of the individuals of this group, I also conducted focals of threeminutes recording the same data as before (location, behavior, and proximity).
We also had the opportunity to see how eye tracking equipment works, and all students took turns calibrating themachine as subject and experimenter. Afterwards, we observed eye tracking experiments with several chimpanzees.
Other activities included assisting staff with enrichment and cleaning enclosures. We also planted banana trees on thelast day as a memorial of being the first batch of students to attend a field course at Kumamoto.
This was an invaluable experience, and I learned so much about what it is like to work at a sanctuary. The dedication ofthe staff is truly inspiring, and I would love the opportunity to return to Kumamoto one day and do some sort ofinternship.
Through this experience, I have developed a clear vision on how to cope with the rehabilitation of primates at asanctuary, Kumamoto is an excellent facility that gives a home full of enrichment and joy to displaced primates.

6. Others

Submit to：report@wildlife-science.org

2014.05.27 version

Research Activity Report
Supported by “Leading Graduate Program in Primatology and Wildlife Science”
I would like to thank PWS for this amazing opportunity. Also I would like to thank Professors Hirata andMorimura for their guidance and tours of Kumamoto sanctuary. It was an incredible experience, and I hope toreturn soon. Thank you to all of the students who attended and shared many smiles and interesting discussions
with me. Also thank you to special appointment researcherYusuke Mori for providing 30 fish for the BBQ
Thursday night!
*Thank you to Dr. Hirata for allowing me to use the following pictures for this report.

1. Students conducting a behavioral
observation on a group of bonobos,Yosuke(female)andYoshiki

2. Students conducting abehavioral observation on theBlack group of chimpanzees.

3. Learning how to set up a touchpanel.
4. Watching Vijay, a male bonobo,
use a touch screen for the first time.

Submit to：report@wildlife-science.org

5.

versionObserving 2014.05.27
the eyetracking experiments withchimpanzees.

Research Activity Report
Supported by “Leading Graduate Program in Primatology and Wildlife Science”

Submit to：report@wildlife-science.org

2014.05.27 version