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. 2013 Jul;52(4):454-7.

Hair loss and hair-pulling in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)

Corrine K Lutz  1 , Kristine Coleman, Julie Worlein, Melinda A Novak
Affiliations

Hair loss and hair-pulling in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)

Corrine K Lutz et al. J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci. 2013 Jul.

Abstract

Alopecia is a common problem in rhesus macaque colonies. A possible cause of this condition is hair-pulling; however the true relationship between hair-pulling and alopecia is unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between hair loss and hair-pulling in 1258 rhesus macaques housed in 4 primate colonies across the United States. Alopecia levels ranged from 34.3% to 86.5% (mean, 49.3%) at the primate facilities. At facilities reporting a sex-associated difference, more female macaques were reported to exhibit alopecia than were males. In contrast, more males were reported to hair-pull. Animals reported to hair-pull were significantly more likely to have some amount of alopecia, but rates of hair-pulling were substantially lower than rates of alopecia, ranging from 0.6% to 20.5% (mean, 7.7%) of the populations. These results further demonstrate that hair-pulling plays only a small role in alopecia in rhesus macaques.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Hair-pulling and alopecia in male and female rhesus monkeys.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Hair-pulling and alopecia across the 4 primate facilities.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
The association between hair-pulling and alopecia.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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