Evaluating the social structure of captive Rothschild's giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi): Relevance to animal management and animal welfare. 2020

Jack Lewton, and Paul E Rose
School of Science and the Environment, Faculty of Science & Engineering, John Dalton Building, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK.

Social network analysis (SNA) is useful for evaluating management zoo regimes to ensure that any fitness benefits of sociality are preserved in captive-housed groups. This paper explores the association patterns of 13 giraffes housed at Longleat Safari Park, UK. Wild giraffes exhibit a fission-fusion social system with preferential bonding. As zoo-housed giraffes are common, they are excellent study subjects for using SNA to investigate key aspects of sociality within a managed social environment. Social bonds were assessed over different seasons and data from two study periods (2011 and 2015) were analyzed to see consistency of "social type" (i.e., more social or more solitary). Associations showed the occurrence of consistent preferential bonds between named individuals but time of year influenced the patterns of social bonds. Female-female bonds and female-offspring bonds appeared to be strongest. For animals present in 2011 and 2015, differences in time spent socializing between years were apparent. Results suggest that giraffes may be flexible in their choice of social partner and zoo-managed herds should include a range of individuals from which each animal can choose a preferred associate.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D005260 Female Females
D006113 United Kingdom Country in northwestern Europe including Great Britain and the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland, located between the North Sea and north Atlantic Ocean. The capital is London. Great Britain,Isle of Man
D000068276 Giraffes Four-legged hoofed mammals with extremely long necks and legs belonging to the family Giraffidae. Okapis,Giraffe,Okapi
D000818 Animals Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA. Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D000822 Animal Husbandry The science of breeding, feeding and care of domestic animals; includes housing and nutrition. Animal Husbandries,Husbandries, Animal,Husbandry, Animal
D000827 Animal Welfare The protection of animals in laboratories or other specific environments by promoting their health through better nutrition, housing, and care. Animal Cruelty,Cruelty, Animal,Welfare, Animal
D000836 Animals, Zoo Animal population groups or individual animals that reside in captivity at a zoological park. Animal, Zoo,Zoo Animal,Zoo Animals
D001522 Behavior, Animal The observable response an animal makes to any situation. Autotomy Animal,Animal Behavior,Animal Behaviors
D012621 Seasons Divisions of the year according to some regularly recurrent phenomena usually astronomical or climatic. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed) Seasonal Variation,Season,Seasonal Variations,Variation, Seasonal,Variations, Seasonal

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