Jorg Massen's guest appearances

Jorg Massen

The PrimateCast

WeBuzz by AnimalConcepts

Frans de Waal

Jane Goodall

Chris Martin

Steve Ross

Jonathan Balcombe

Carl Safina

Luke Harding

Clive Wynne

Desmond Morris

Tim Sullivan

Jessica Dolce

Jill Robinson

Valeria Romano

Chris Whittier

Andrew Venter

OwlTail

Jorg Massen, assistant professor of animal ecology at Utrecht University and editorial board member at Animals, joins us in this next episode of the iBuzz podcast. Jorg talks in-depth about a topic we can all appreciate – friendships among animals.  He begins by sharing a bit about his background and PhD-work studying friendship in macaques, where he found that the concept of friendship between macaques is, in principle, actually the same as it is between humans in terms of how they maintain friendships and what fitness benefits (i.e. survival and reproduction) they gain from these relationships. Jorg went on to study several different species, including chimpanzees, common marmosets, and a number of corvids. His findings suggest that some animals do make an active choice in their friendships and tend to befriend individuals with similar characteristics, likely because their behaviour is more predictable. Moreover, animals who have friends and more meaningful relationships tend to live longer, so there are tangible welfare implications for being in good company. Additionally, Jorg discusses the field’s current methods for evaluating self-awareness, such as the mirror self-recognition test, and highlights the need for a far greater number of methods that take into consideration how various animals experience and perceive the world around them. How can one conduct experimental research with animals without harm to welfare? Jorg always creates situations in which animals can choose to partake, but they never have to. Often, he finds these experiments are actually enriching for animals, as cognitive challenges are a crucial component of positive welfare that many animals are eager to explore. Jorg concludes with how to apply this knowledge of animal friendships in welfare, highlighting the importance of ensuring social animals have large enough groups in which to explore relationships and choose their friends. Learn more about Jorg on his website here!

Jorg Massen, assistant professor of animal ecology at Utrecht University and editorial board member at Animals, joins us in this next episode of the iBuzz podcast. Jorg talks in-depth about a topic we can all appreciate – friendships among animals.  He begins by sharing a bit about his background and PhD-work studying friendship in macaques, where he found that the concept of friendship between macaques is, in principle, actually the same as it is between humans in terms of how they maintain friendships and what fitness benefits (i.e. survival and reproduction) they gain from these relationships. Jorg went on to study several different species, including chimpanzees, common marmosets, and a number of corvids. His findings suggest that some animals do make an active choice in their friendships and tend to befriend individuals with similar characteristics, likely because their behaviour is more predictable. Moreover, animals who have friends and more meaningful relationships tend to live longer, so there are tangible welfare implications for being in good company. Additionally, Jorg discusses the field’s current methods for evaluating self-awareness, such as the mirror self-recognition test, and highlights the need for a far greater number of methods that take into consideration how various animals experience and perceive the world around them. How can one conduct experimental research with animals without harm to welfare? Jorg always creates situations in which animals can choose to partake, but they never have to. Often, he finds these experiments are actually enriching for animals, as cognitive challenges are a crucial component of positive welfare that many animals are eager to explore. Jorg concludes with how to apply this knowledge of animal friendships in welfare, highlighting the importance of ensuring social animals have large enough groups in which to explore relationships and choose their friends. Learn more about Jorg on his website <a href="https://www.jorgmassen.com/ " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>!

Ep15 Jorg Massen on animal friendships, cognition, and enrichment

Cedric Sueur

Odile Petit

Nicolas Claidiere

Joshua Plotnik

Join us on The PrimateCast as we cover the 25th Congress of the International Primatological Society.The PrimateCast rolled out its mobile podcasting unit once again to cover the meetings of the International Primatological Society held between...

Join us on The PrimateCast as we cover the 25th Congress of the International Primatological Society. The PrimateCast rolled out its mobile podcasting unit once again to cover the meetings of the International Primatological Society held between...

The PrimateCast #29: Part 5/5 from Our Coverage of the 25th Congress of the International Primatological Society in Hanoi, Vietnam (Social behavior and cognition theme: Cedric Sueur, Odile Petit, Nicolas Claidiere, Jorg Massen, Joshua Plotnik)