Factors affecting captive female giraffe stress response: Male presence, small enclosure, and low temperature
Abstract To improve animal welfare based on suitable social housing conditions, it is important to understand the factors that trigger high-stress responses. Wild giraffes live in a fission?fusion society and males and females are rarely in the same herd for a long period. The captive condition of belonging to a herd with the same individuals […]
Body Contacts and Social Interactions in Captive Odontocetes Are Influenced by the Context: An Implication for Welfare Assessment
Research on the welfare of captive odontocetes has increased in recent years, but has been mostly focused on bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Few studies investigated potential welfare indicators using quantitative data linked to a range of conditions or stimuli that are thought to impact the animals’ emotional state. Since odontocetes are social animals that engage […]
Female social dominance in two Eulemur species with different social organizations
Abstract 10.1002/zoo.20135.abs Female social dominance is rare in mammals, but common in lemurs. We investigated social dominance in two Eulemur species; the polygynous crowned lemur (E. coronatus) and the monogamous red-bellied lemur (E. rubriventer), using four and two social groups, respectively. We collected data on agonistic interactions and two types of affiliative behavior (grooming and […]
Do friends help each other? Patterns of female coalition formation in wild bonobos at Wamba
Patterns of coalitionary aggression among female animals are generally explained by kin selection theory. Frequent female coalitions are almost exclusively observed in female-philopatric species, where females stay in their natal group, and females typically form coalitions with their kin. Bonobos, Pan paniscus, in contrast, are male-philopatric, with females emigrating to new groups at adolescence, but […]