DISCUSSION

The two S. fuscicollis in this report were never observed exhibiting excessive grooming behavior or ingesting their own hair. However, both animals were observed antemortem to have short hair coats. The presence of feces mixed with hair had also been observed on occasion in the bottom of the animals' cages. According to reports in rabbits [4,6], the ingestion of hair that accumulates in the stomach to form trichobezoars is a common problem. Dietary deficiencies, excessive grooming behavior, long hair, and cage boredom are among several factors that may contribute to the formation of trichobezoars. According to a previous report in a chimpanzee [5], the animal was never observed ingesting its own hair or excessively grooming itself. Neither were there other evident predisposing factors such as fungal, bacterial, or parasitic skin disease. Cage boredom could have been a contributing factor since the animal had been housed singly.

It seems that gastric trichobezoars can occur spontaneously in captive populations of S. fuscicollis. Since the condition can lead to severe clinical disease and death of the primate, we suggest that trichobezoars be included in the differential diagnosis for any monkey that exhibits anorexia, lethargy, weight loss, or sparse hair coat.