Human Cardiac Responses to Familiar Young Chimpanzees

Despite a growing literature on the apparent effects of companion animals on human cardiovascular health, surprisingly little is known about the effects of non-companion animals. This paper describes the result of an experiment that examined the reactions of human subjects to the presence of familiar juvenile chimpanzees. The results indicated that under some conditions (i.e. watching animals) humans show reduced blood pressure similar to that obtained when watching other species, but that under conditions of directly interacting with animals (i.e., touching them) cardiovascular patterns differ. The results indicate that separate mechanisms may be responsible for the stress-buffering effects of observing companion animals and of touching them. These mechanisms may be fruitfully studied by examining the effects of many species on humans in varied circumstances.