Effects of Sex and Climate on the Normal and Repetitive Behavior of Okapis
Publication Type: |
Unpublished Work |
Year of Publication: |
2012 |
Authors: |
Deborah Fripp, Cynthia Bennett, Gerald A Binczik, Ann Petric, Watters,Jason V |
Publication/Journal: |
|
Keywords: |
putative stereotypical behavior, putative stereotypical behaviour, ranging behavior, ranging behaviour, sex differences, ungulate |
Abstract:
Abnormal repetitive behavior (ARB), sometimes putatively called stereotypic behavior, is a significant welfare concern for animals in captivity. ARBs tend to increase in situations considered to be suboptimal and are linked to signs of poor welfare, including decreased reproductive success. In some species comparisons, ARBs in captivity are thought to correlate with specific behaviors in the wild; for example wider-ranging species of primates and carnivores pace more than species with smaller home ranges. As males and females of a given species in the wild often have different behavioral profiles, including different home range sizes, sex might predispose individuals of those species to different ARBs. The home ranges of wild male okapis (Okapia johnstoni) are two to three times the size of those of females. We predicted that based on this difference in the sexes’ natural history, pacing should occur more in male okapis than females. We also predicted that climate, represented by average daily temperature, should impact the okapis’ behavior and propensity for ARBs. We tested this hypothesis as part of a 3 year, multi-institutional study, including 53 okapis, 27 males and 26 females, at 18 institutions across the US. Each okapi was observed daily in a 15-min focal animal sample during five 90 d sessions that ran either January through March or June through August. We recorded a wide group of activity budget behaviors on 1-min time points, as well as all occurrences of behaviors commonly seen as part of ARBs in okapis. Behavioral patterns were analyzed by ANCOVAs, using sex as the grouping variable and temperature as the covariate. As expected, male okapis were more locomotory, walking and running more than females did (P=0.001), and pacing three times as often as females did (P<0.001). Pacing and locomotion were weakly but significantly correlated in both sexes. In contrast to locomotion, females foraged more than males did (P<0.001), but oral ARBs, such as grooming and object licking, were seen relatively equally in both males and females. These results indicate that in species such as okapis, the management needs of males and females should be considered separately. As with many ungulates, repetitive oral behaviors are a concern for both sexes. Pacing, on the other hand, appears to be primarily a concern for male okapis and may require us to reconsider the management and enclosure design of males in particular.