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Andrews K, Fitzpatrick S, Westra E. Human and nonhuman norms: a dimensional framework. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20230026. [PMID: 38244597 PMCID: PMC10799728 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Human communities teem with a variety of social norms. In order to change unjust and harmful social norms, it is crucial to identify the psychological processes that give rise to them. Most researchers take it for granted that social norms are uniquely human. By contrast, we approach this matter from a comparative perspective, leveraging recent research on animal social behaviour. While there is currently only suggestive evidence for norms in nonhuman communities, we argue that human social norms are likely produced by a wide range of mechanisms, many of which we share with nonhuman animals. Approaching this variability from a comparative perspective can help norm researchers expand and reframe the range of hypotheses they test when attempting to understand the causes of socially normative behaviours in humans. First, we diagnose some of the theoretical obstacles to developing a comparative science of social norms, and offer a few basic constructs and distinctions to help norm researchers overcome these obstacles. Then we develop a six-dimensional model of the psychological and social factors that contribute to variability in both human and potential nonhuman norms. This article is part of the theme issue 'Social norm change: drivers and consequences'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristin Andrews
- Department of Philosophy, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada M3J 1P3
| | - Simon Fitzpatrick
- Department of Philosophy, John Carroll University, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Evan Westra
- Department of Philosophy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
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2
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Identifying the Effects of Social Disruption through Translocation on African Elephants ( Loxodonta africana), with Specifics on the Social and Ecological Impacts of Orphaning. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:ani13030483. [PMID: 36766373 PMCID: PMC9913331 DOI: 10.3390/ani13030483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2022] [Revised: 01/26/2023] [Accepted: 01/26/2023] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
African elephants (Loxodonta africana) exhibit a long developmental period during which they acquire complex social and ecological knowledge through social networks. Central to this is that matriarchs and older individuals play an important role as repositories of information gained through experience. Anthropogenic interventions-including poaching, culling, translocation, and hunting-can disrupt elephants' social networks, with implications for individual fitness and potential long-term population viability. Here, we draw on a unique long-running, individual-based dataset to examine the impacts of translocation on a population of elephants in South Africa, taking into consideration demographic rates, social dynamics, and ecological decision-making. Specifically, we compared two translocated groups: a group of unrelated culling Orphans and a family herd. We found that the Orphan group experienced accelerated reproductive rates when compared with the family herd. The Orphan group also fissioned more frequently and for longer periods of time, suggesting lower cohesiveness, and were less decisive in their large-scale movement decisions. These results add to the growing body of literature on the downstream impacts of social disruption for elephants. Whilst the translocation of culling Orphans is no longer practised in South Africa, we encourage careful consideration of any elephant translocation and the resulting social disruption.
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Chan SCY, Chui SYS, Pretorius Y, Karczmarski L. Estimating population parameters of African elephants: a photographic mark-recapture application in a South African protected area. Mamm Biol 2023. [DOI: 10.1007/s42991-022-00334-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
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4
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von Mücke-Heim IA, Urbina-Treviño L, Bordes J, Ries C, Schmidt MV, Deussing JM. Introducing a depression-like syndrome for translational neuropsychiatry: a plea for taxonomical validity and improved comparability between humans and mice. Mol Psychiatry 2023; 28:329-340. [PMID: 36104436 PMCID: PMC9812782 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-022-01762-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2022] [Revised: 08/09/2022] [Accepted: 08/18/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Depressive disorders are the most burdensome psychiatric disorders worldwide. Although huge efforts have been made to advance treatment, outcomes remain unsatisfactory. Many factors contribute to this gridlock including suboptimal animal models. Especially limited study comparability and replicability due to imprecise terminology concerning depressive-like states are major problems. To overcome these issues, new approaches are needed. Here, we introduce a taxonomical concept for modelling depression in laboratory mice, which we call depression-like syndrome (DLS). It hinges on growing evidence suggesting that mice possess advanced socioemotional abilities and can display non-random symptom patterns indicative of an evolutionary conserved disorder-like phenotype. The DLS approach uses a combined heuristic method based on clinical depression criteria and the Research Domain Criteria to provide a biobehavioural reference syndrome for preclinical rodent models of depression. The DLS criteria are based on available, species-specific evidence and are as follows: (I) minimum duration of phenotype, (II) significant sociofunctional impairment, (III) core biological features, (IV) necessary depressive-like symptoms. To assess DLS presence and severity, we have designed an algorithm to ensure statistical and biological relevance of findings. The algorithm uses a minimum combined threshold for statistical significance and effect size (p value ≤ 0.05 plus moderate effect size) for each DLS criterion. Taken together, the DLS is a novel, biologically founded, and species-specific minimum threshold approach. Its long-term objective is to gradually develop into an inter-model validation standard and microframework to improve phenotyping methodology in translational research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iven-Alex von Mücke-Heim
- grid.419548.50000 0000 9497 5095Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Molecular Neurogenetics, Munich, Germany ,grid.419548.50000 0000 9497 5095Department of Translational Research, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany ,grid.4372.20000 0001 2105 1091International Max Planck Research School for Translational Psychiatry, Munich, Germany
| | - Lidia Urbina-Treviño
- grid.419548.50000 0000 9497 5095Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Molecular Neurogenetics, Munich, Germany
| | - Joeri Bordes
- grid.4372.20000 0001 2105 1091International Max Planck Research School for Translational Psychiatry, Munich, Germany ,grid.419548.50000 0000 9497 5095Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Neurobiology of Stress Resilience, Munich, Germany
| | - Clemens Ries
- grid.419548.50000 0000 9497 5095Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Molecular Neurogenetics, Munich, Germany ,grid.4372.20000 0001 2105 1091International Max Planck Research School for Translational Psychiatry, Munich, Germany
| | - Mathias V. Schmidt
- grid.419548.50000 0000 9497 5095Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Neurobiology of Stress Resilience, Munich, Germany
| | - Jan M. Deussing
- grid.419548.50000 0000 9497 5095Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Molecular Neurogenetics, Munich, Germany
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Costa RFP, Romano V, Pereira AS, Hart JDA, MacIntosh A, Hayashi M. Mountain gorillas benefit from social distancing too: Close proximity from tourists affects gorillas' sociality. CONSERVATION SCIENCE AND PRACTICE 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/csp2.12859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Raquel F. P. Costa
- Research Department Japan Monkey Center Inuyama Aichi Japan
- Primate Cognition Research Group, Centre for Philosophy of Science of the University of Lisbon Lisbon Portugal
| | - Valéria Romano
- Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178 Strasbourg France
- IMBE, Aix Marseille Univ., Avignon Univ., CNRS, IRD Marseille France
| | - André S. Pereira
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter Exeter UK
- Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, Department of Life Sciences University of Coimbra Coimbra Portugal
| | - Jordan D. A. Hart
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter Exeter UK
| | - Andrew MacIntosh
- Inuyama Campus, Kyoto University Wildlife Research Center Inuyama Japan
- Institute for Liberal Arts and Sciences, Kyoto University Kyoto Japan
| | - Misato Hayashi
- Research Department Japan Monkey Center Inuyama Aichi Japan
- Chubu Gakuin University Kakamigahara Japan
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Cabral de Mel SJ, Seneweera S, de Mel RK, Dangolla A, Weerakoon DK, Maraseni T, Allen BL. Current and Future Approaches to Mitigate Conflict between Humans and Asian Elephants: The Potential Use of Aversive Geofencing Devices. Animals (Basel) 2022; 12:ani12212965. [PMID: 36359089 PMCID: PMC9653792 DOI: 10.3390/ani12212965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2022] [Revised: 10/15/2022] [Accepted: 10/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Conflict between humans and Asian elephants is a major conservation issue. Here we discuss common tools used to manage human-elephant conflict (HEC) in Asia and the potential of animal-borne satellite-linked shock collars or Aversive Geofencing Devices (AGDs) for managing problem elephants. Most current HEC mitigation tools lack the ability to be modified to accommodate needs of elephants and therefore are sometimes unsuccessful. AGDs currently used to manage livestock movement can be adapted to mitigate HEC to overcome this problem. AGDs can constantly monitor animal movements and be programmed to deliver sound warnings followed by electric shock whenever animals attempt to move across virtual boundaries demarcated by managers. Elephants fitted with AGDs are expected to learn to avoid the electric shock by associating it with the warning sound and move away from specified areas. Based on the potential shown by studies conducted using AGDs on other wild species, we suggest that experiments should be conducted with captive elephants to determine the efficacy and welfare impact of AGDs on elephants. Further, assessing public opinion on using AGDs on elephants will also be important. If elephants can learn to avoid virtual boundaries set by AGDs, it could help to significantly reduce HEC incidents. Abstract Asian elephants are a principal cause of human-wildlife conflict. This results in the death/injury of elephants and humans and large-scale crop and property damage. Most current human-elephant conflict (HEC) mitigation tools lack the flexibility to accommodate the ecological needs of elephants and are ineffective at reducing HEC in the long-term. Here we review common HEC mitigation tools used in Asia and the potential of Aversive Geofencing Devices (AGDs) to manage problem elephants. AGDs can be configured to monitor animal movements in real-time and deliver auditory warnings followed by electric stimuli whenever animals attempt to move across user-specified virtual boundaries. Thus, AGDs are expected to condition elephants to avoid receiving shocks and keep them away from virtually fenced areas, while providing alternative routes that can be modified if required. Studies conducted using AGDs with other species provide an overview of their potential in conditioning wild animals. We recommend that the efficacy and welfare impact of AGDs be evaluated using captive elephants along with public perception of using AGDs on elephants as a means of addressing the inherent deficiencies of common HEC mitigation tools. If elephants could be successfully conditioned to avoid virtual fences, then AGDs could resolve many HEC incidents throughout Asia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Surendranie Judith Cabral de Mel
- Institute for Life Sciences and the Environment, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia
- National Institute of Fundamental Studies, Kandy 20000, Sri Lanka
- Correspondence:
| | - Saman Seneweera
- National Institute of Fundamental Studies, Kandy 20000, Sri Lanka
- Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Ruvinda Kasun de Mel
- Centre for Behavioural and Physiological Ecology, Zoology, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia
| | - Ashoka Dangolla
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya 20400, Sri Lanka
| | - Devaka Keerthi Weerakoon
- Department of Zoology and Environmental Sciences, University of Colombo, Colombo 00300, Sri Lanka
| | - Tek Maraseni
- Institute for Life Sciences and the Environment, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia
- Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Benjamin Lee Allen
- Institute for Life Sciences and the Environment, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia
- Centre for African Conservation Ecology, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth 6034, South Africa
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Goldenberg SZ, Chege SM, Mwangi N, Craig I, Daballen D, Douglas-Hamilton I, Lamberski N, Lenaipa M, Lendira R, Lesowapir C, Lokooria LP, Mutinda M, Omengo F, Rowe K, Stacy-Dawes J, Wittemyer G, Owen MA. Social integration of translocated wildlife: a case study of rehabilitated and released elephant calves in northern Kenya. Mamm Biol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s42991-022-00285-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
AbstractConservation translocations have the potential to strengthen populations of threatened and endangered species, but facilitating integration of translocated individuals with resident populations remains a substantial challenge. Developing functional social relationships like cooperative partnerships or establishing clear dominance hierarchies may be critical to integration of released individuals. Developing such relationships has not received much attention in translocation research, especially for long-lived, socially complex animals for which establishment and navigation of social environments is often a lengthy process that requires sustained monitoring to understand. Here, we present a case study of the social associations of African savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana) calves that have been rehabilitated and released into a fenced wildlife sanctuary in northern Kenya with a resident population of elephants. We use focal follows of interactions pre-release and GPS tracking post-release to quantify social associations of calves with each other and with resident elephants at the release site. We demonstrate how this approach supports translocation monitoring by capturing temporal trends in social patterns within and between release cohorts and among released elephants and wild elephants already resident at the site during a transitional soft release period. Our results show that initial post-release social behavior of rehabilitated calves is related to histories of interaction with familiar individuals and cohort membership and that released calves increased their associations with residents over time. This information provides new behavioral insights for guiding elephant release projects, like the strength of relationships within and among release cohorts, the time to integration with the resident population, and the occurrence and increased incidence of societal fission–fusion. Further, this study provides an example of the utility of animal behavior research to achieve and assess progress towards conservation objectives, and to develop monitoring tools for conservation managers.
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Everyone matters: identification with facial wrinkles allows more accurate inference of elephant social dynamics. Mamm Biol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s42991-022-00257-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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Senigaglia V, Christiansen F, Bejder L, Sprogis K, Cantor M. Human food provisioning impacts the social environment, home range and fitness of a marine top predator. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
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10
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Garai ME, Roos T, Eggeling T, Ganswindt A, Pretorius Y, Henley M. Developing welfare parameters for African elephants (Loxodonta africana) in fenced reserves in South Africa. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0264931. [PMID: 35324916 PMCID: PMC8947097 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264931] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2021] [Accepted: 02/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
South Africa has many fenced reserves harbouring small to medium sized populations of African elephant (Loxodonta africana), most of which have been translocated. Elephants on fenced reserves may be exposed to various management interventions and practices (translocation, hunting, darting, high tourism impact, contraception programs, disruption due to infrastructure maintenance, etc.). These factors may impact the welfare of elephants. Poor elephant welfare may have serious consequences such as increased inter- and intra-species aggression that could result in fatalities. This is the first study to attempt to define behavioural and physiological welfare parameters for free-ranging elephants on small to medium sized reserves. The eight study sites incorporated reserves with different social structure combinations, elephant life-histories, reserve sizes, habitat, management, and tourism intensity. Data collection consisted of behavioural observations (10-minute videos) as well as faecal samples. By incorporating both behavioural and physiological (faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGCM) concentration) parameters, we aimed to investigate whether the two parameters showed similar trends. Five behavioural categories were identified (Arousal, Assessing, Ambivalent, Ambivalent/ Body care, and Frustrated behaviour), with various detailed behaviours demonstrated by the elephants that may indicate the influence of anthropogenic disturbance and possibly impact on animal welfare. The study showed significant differences between the selected detailed behaviours, behavioural categories and fGCM concentrations of elephants across the eight reserves. History seemed to be a decisive factor, as reserves with predominantly ex-captive elephants showed higher frequencies of certain behaviours as well as higher fGCM concentrations. Age, sex, reserve size and season were also found to contribute to our defined welfare indices and fGCM concentrations. This indicates that behavioural parameters, indicative of certain behavioural states, are valuable indicators of welfare, as supported by the physiological response of the elephants. The results also highlight the importance of taking multiple specified behaviours from a category into consideration when evaluating the welfare of elephants, to account for individual variation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Tenisha Roos
- Elephant Reintegration Trust, Port Alfred, South Africa
| | | | - André Ganswindt
- Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | | | - Michelle Henley
- Applied Behavioural Ecology and Environmental Research Unit, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
- Elephants Alive, Hoedspruit, Limpopo, South Africa
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Social Disruption Impairs Predatory Threat Assessment in African Elephants. Animals (Basel) 2022; 12:ani12040495. [PMID: 35203203 PMCID: PMC8868390 DOI: 10.3390/ani12040495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2021] [Revised: 02/09/2022] [Accepted: 02/14/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary The sharing of social and ecological information is vitally important for group-living animals, especially among cognitively advanced species (e.g., primates, cetaceans and elephants) that can acquire detailed knowledge over their long lifetimes. In our study, we compared the ability of elephants from two very different populations to assess the threat associated with different numbers of roaring lions. The population in Amboseli (Kenya) consists of stable family groups and experiences relatively low levels of human disturbance, while the population in Pilanesberg (South Africa) was founded in the early 1980’s from young and often unrelated orphan elephants. We broadcast lion roars to families of elephants in both these populations and recorded how they responded to differing levels of threat (one versus three lions). The Amboseli population successfully increased their defensive bunching behaviour to the greater threat associated with three lions, whereas the Pilanesberg elephants appeared unable to make the same distinction. Our findings indicate that profound disruption experienced early in life and the lack of older adults to learn from has impaired the ability of the Pilanesberg elephants to make accurate assessments of predatory threat. We suggest that, in addition to population size, conservation practitioners need to consider the crucial role of social structure and knowledge transmission in these highly social and long-lived species. Abstract The transmission of reliable information between individuals is crucial for group-living animals. This is particularly the case for cognitively advanced mammals with overlapping generations that acquire detailed social and ecological knowledge over long lifetimes. Here, we directly compare the ecological knowledge of elephants from two populations, with radically different developmental histories, to test whether profound social disruption affects their ability to assess predatory threat. Matriarchs (≤50 years of age) and their family groups received playbacks of three lions versus a single lion roaring. The family groups in the natural Amboseli population (Kenya) reliably assessed the greater predatory threat presented by three lions roaring versus one. However, in the socially disrupted Pilanesberg population (South Africa), no fine-scale distinctions were made between the numbers of roaring lions. Our results suggest that the removal of older and more experienced individuals in highly social species, such as elephants, is likely to impact the acquisition of ecological knowledge by younger group members, particularly through the lack of opportunity for social learning and cultural transmission of knowledge. This is likely to be exacerbated by the trauma experienced by juvenile elephants that witnessed the culling of family members and were translocated to new reserves. With increasing levels of anthropogenic disturbance, it is important that conservation practitioners consider the crucial role that population structure and knowledge transfer plays in the functioning and resilience of highly social and long-lived species.
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Wiśniewska M, Puga-Gonzalez I, Lee P, Moss C, Russell G, Garnier S, Sueur C. Simulated poaching affects global connectivity and efficiency in social networks of African savanna elephants—An exemplar of how human disturbance impacts group-living species. PLoS Comput Biol 2022; 18:e1009792. [PMID: 35041648 PMCID: PMC8797174 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2021] [Revised: 01/28/2022] [Accepted: 12/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Selective harvest, such as poaching, impacts group-living animals directly through mortality of individuals with desirable traits, and indirectly by altering the structure of their social networks. Understanding the relationship between disturbance-induced, structural network changes and group performance in wild animals remains an outstanding problem. To address this problem, we evaluated the immediate effect of disturbance on group sociality in African savanna elephants—an example, group-living species threatened by poaching. Drawing on static association data from ten free-ranging groups, we constructed one empirically based, population-wide network and 100 virtual networks; performed a series of experiments ‘poaching’ the oldest, socially central or random individuals; and quantified the immediate change in the theoretical indices of network connectivity and efficiency of social diffusion. Although the social networks never broke down, targeted elimination of the socially central conspecifics, regardless of age, decreased network connectivity and efficiency. These findings hint at the need to further study resilience by modeling network reorganization and interaction-mediated socioecological learning, empirical data permitting. The main contribution of our work is in quantifying connectivity together with global efficiency in multiple social networks that feature the sociodemographic diversity likely found in wild elephant populations. The basic design of our simulation makes it adaptable for hypothesis testing about the consequences of anthropogenic disturbance or lethal management on social interactions in a variety of group-living species with limited, real-world data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maggie Wiśniewska
- Department of Biological Sciences, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Ivan Puga-Gonzalez
- Institutt for global utvikling og samfunnsplanlegging, Universitetet i Agder, Kristiansand, Norway
- Center for Modeling Social Systems at NORCE, Kristiansand, Norway
| | - Phyllis Lee
- Amboseli Trust for Elephants, Nairobi, Kenya
- Faculty of Natural Science, University of Stirling, Stirling, United Kingdom
| | | | - Gareth Russell
- Department of Biological Sciences, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey, United States of America
| | - Simon Garnier
- Department of Biological Sciences, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey, United States of America
| | - Cédric Sueur
- Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC, UMR 7178, Strasbourg, France
- Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France
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14
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Lee PC, Moss CJ, Njiraini N, Poole JH, Sayialel K, Fishlock VL. Cohort consequences of drought and family disruption for male and female African elephants. Behav Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arab148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Cohort effects, reflecting early adversity or advantage, have persisting consequences for growth, reproductive onset, longevity, and lifetime reproductive success. In species with prolonged life histories, cohort effects may establish variation in age-sex structures, while social structure may buffer individuals against early adversity. Using periods of significant ecological adversity, we examined cohort effects for male and female elephants (Loxodonta africana) over almost 50 years in Amboseli, Kenya. Mortality spiked during severe droughts with highest mortality among calves under 2 years and females over 40 years. Deaths of oldest females resulted in social disruption via matriarch turnover, with potential impacts on resource acquisition for survivors. We predicted that survivors of high mortality and social challenges would have altered life-history trajectories, with later age at first reproduction and reduced age-specific fertility for females and slow transitions to independence and late-onset of potential mating or musth among males. Contrary to expectations, there were no persisting early drought effects on female age at first conception while matriarch loss around puberty accelerated reproductive onset. Experience of an early life drought did not influence age-specific reproductive rates once females commenced reproduction. Males who survived an early drought exhibited complex consequences: male age at family independence was later with larger peer cohort size, but earlier with drought in year of independence (13.9 vs 14.6 years). Early drought had no effect on age at first musth, but male reproductive onset was weakly associated with the number of peers (negative) and age at independence (positive).
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Affiliation(s)
- Phyllis C Lee
- Amboseli Trust for Elephants, Langata, Nairobi, Kenya
- Behaviour & Evolution Research Group, Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
| | | | | | - Joyce H Poole
- ElephantVoices, Buskhellinga 3, 3236 Sandefjord, Norway
| | | | - Vicki L Fishlock
- Amboseli Trust for Elephants, Langata, Nairobi, Kenya
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life & Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, UK
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15
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Maldonado‐Chaparro AA, Chaverri G. Why do animal groups matter for conservation and management? CONSERVATION SCIENCE AND PRACTICE 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/csp2.550] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | - Gloriana Chaverri
- Sede del Sur, Universidad de Costa Rica Golfito Costa Rica
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Ancón Panama
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16
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Gnanapragasam JJ, Ekanayake KB, Ranawana K, Symonds MRE, Weston MA. Civil War Is Associated with Longer Escape Distances among Sri Lankan Birds. Am Nat 2021; 198:653-659. [PMID: 34648400 DOI: 10.1086/716660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
AbstractWar influences wildlife in a variety of ways but may influence their escape responses to approaching threats, including humans, because of its effect on human populations and behavior and landscape change. We collected 1,400 flight initiation distances (FIDs) from 157 bird species in the dry zone of Sri Lanka, where civil war raged for 26 years, ending in 2009. Accounting for factors known to influence FIDs (phylogeny, starting distance of approaches, body mass, prevailing human density, group size, and location), we found that birds have longer FIDs in the part of the dry zone that experienced civil war. Larger birds-often preferred by human hunters-showed greater increases in FID in the war zone, consistent with the idea that war was associated with greater hunting pressure and that larger birds experienced longer-lasting trauma or had more plastic escape behavior than smaller species. While the mechanisms linking the war and avian escape responses remain ambiguous, wars evidently leave legacies that extend to behavioral responses in birds.
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Muller Z, Harris S. A review of the social behaviour of the giraffe
Giraffa camelopardalis
: a misunderstood but socially complex species. Mamm Rev 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/mam.12268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Zoe Muller
- School of Biological Sciences University of Bristol Bristol Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue Bristol BS8 1TQ UK
| | - Stephen Harris
- School of Biological Sciences University of Bristol Bristol Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue Bristol BS8 1TQ UK
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18
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Athira TK, Vidya TNC. Elephant Social Systems: What Do We Know and How Have Molecular Tools Helped? J Indian Inst Sci 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s41745-021-00226-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Brakes P, Carroll EL, Dall SRX, Keith SA, McGregor PK, Mesnick SL, Noad MJ, Rendell L, Robbins MM, Rutz C, Thornton A, Whiten A, Whiting MJ, Aplin LM, Bearhop S, Ciucci P, Fishlock V, Ford JKB, Notarbartolo di Sciara G, Simmonds MP, Spina F, Wade PR, Whitehead H, Williams J, Garland EC. A deepening understanding of animal culture suggests lessons for conservation. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20202718. [PMID: 33878919 PMCID: PMC8059593 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2718] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2020] [Accepted: 03/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
A key goal of conservation is to protect biodiversity by supporting the long-term persistence of viable, natural populations of wild species. Conservation practice has long been guided by genetic, ecological and demographic indicators of risk. Emerging evidence of animal culture across diverse taxa and its role as a driver of evolutionary diversification, population structure and demographic processes may be essential for augmenting these conventional conservation approaches and decision-making. Animal culture was the focus of a ground-breaking resolution under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), an international treaty operating under the UN Environment Programme. Here, we synthesize existing evidence to demonstrate how social learning and animal culture interact with processes important to conservation management. Specifically, we explore how social learning might influence population viability and be an important resource in response to anthropogenic change, and provide examples of how it can result in phenotypically distinct units with different, socially learnt behavioural strategies. While identifying culture and social learning can be challenging, indirect identification and parsimonious inferences may be informative. Finally, we identify relevant methodologies and provide a framework for viewing behavioural data through a cultural lens which might provide new insights for conservation management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philippa Brakes
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
- Whale and Dolphin Conservation, Brookfield House, Chippenham, Wiltshire SN15 1LJ, UK
| | - Emma L. Carroll
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
- Sea Mammal Research Unit, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 8LB, UK
| | - Sasha R. X. Dall
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Sally A. Keith
- Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK
| | | | - Sarah L. Mesnick
- Marine Mammal and Turtle Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0203, USA
| | - Michael J. Noad
- Cetacean Ecology and Acoustics Laboratory, School of Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland, QLD 4343, Australia
| | - Luke Rendell
- Sea Mammal Research Unit, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 8LB, UK
- Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9TH, UK
| | - Martha M. Robbins
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Christian Rutz
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9TH, UK
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Andrew Whiten
- Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9JP, UK
| | - Martin J. Whiting
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Lucy M. Aplin
- Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell 78315, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78467, Germany
| | - Stuart Bearhop
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Paolo Ciucci
- Department of Biology and Biotechnologies, University of Rome La Sapienza, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Vicki Fishlock
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
- Amboseli Trust for Elephants, Langata 00509, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - John K. B. Ford
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | | | - Mark P. Simmonds
- Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Bristol BS40 5DU, UK
- Humane Society International, London N1 7LY, UK
| | - Fernando Spina
- Istituto Superiore Protezione Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), I-40064 Ozzano Emilia (BO), Italy
| | - Paul R. Wade
- Marine Mammal Laboratory, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries, Seattle, WA 98115, USA
- School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Hal Whitehead
- Biology Department, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H4R2
| | - James Williams
- Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Monkstone House, Peterborough PE1 1JY, UK
| | - Ellen C. Garland
- Sea Mammal Research Unit, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 8LB, UK
- Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9TH, UK
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Anthropogenic Influences on Distance Traveled and Vigilance Behavior and Stress-Related Endocrine Correlates in Free-Roaming Giraffes. Animals (Basel) 2021; 11:ani11051239. [PMID: 33923117 PMCID: PMC8145588 DOI: 10.3390/ani11051239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2021] [Revised: 04/16/2021] [Accepted: 04/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Change in an animal’s behavior due to anthropogenic influences is often expressed in a change in movement patterns and increased vigilance and can result in the secretion of stress-related hormones. However, animals can get habituated to human presence after repeated stimulation. We aimed to obtain a first insight into the effect of human observers on the behavior and stress-related hormone concentrations of free-roaming giraffes as well as their habituation process. Giraffes walked further distances and had elevated fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGCM) concentration (stress hormone) in the presence of humans, but anthropogenic influences on their distance walked and fGCM concentration decreased with the increase of habituation. The giraffes were vigilant towards human observers; however, the percentage of time spent on observing a human observer did not decrease with the increase of habituation. Abstract Giraffes are an important tourist attraction, and human presence to wildlife is increasing. This has an impact on an animal’s behavior and its endocrine correlates. Studies on other species show alterations in movement patterns, vigilance, and stress-related hormone levels in the presence of humans. Limited information is available on how anthropogenic activities alter giraffe’s behavior, social structure, and related endocrine parameters. The purpose of this study was to obtain insight into anthropogenic influences on giraffe’s behavior and adrenal activity. We used GPS devices mounted onto giraffes to compare the distance walked in the presence or absence of human observers. We also conducted behavioral observations to assess their vigilance and collected fecal samples to analyze their fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGCM) concentrations. Giraffes walked significantly further distances in the presence of humans, but the cumulative time that observers were present decreased the hourly distance walked with an observer present, suggesting that the giraffes were becoming habituated. The number of observers present significantly increased the percentage of time spent on observing an observer as well as the number of unhabituated individuals present in the herd. The percentage of time spent observing a human observer did not decrease with the increase of habituation. Last, fGCM concentrations increased with human presence but decreased when individuals became habituated to human presence. More research is needed to understand the effect of anthropogenic influences in different scenarios (e.g., tourism, vehicles, hunting, etc.).
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21
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Zanette LY, Clinchy M. Ecology and Neurobiology of Fear in Free-Living Wildlife. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ECOLOGY, EVOLUTION, AND SYSTEMATICS 2020. [DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-011720-124613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
The ecology of fear concerns the population-, community-, and ecosystem-level consequences of the behavioral interactions between predators and prey, i.e., the aggregate impacts of individual responses to life-threatening events. We review new experiments demonstrating that fear itself is powerful enough to affect the population growth rate in free-living wild birds and mammals, and fear of large carnivores—or the human super predator—can cause trophic cascades affecting plant and invertebrate abundance. Life-threatening events like escaping a predator can have enduring, even lifelong, effects on the brain, and new interdisciplinary research on the neurobiology of fear in wild animals is both providing insights into post-traumatic stress (PTSD) and reinforcing the likely commonality of population- and community-level effects of fear in nature. Failing to consider fear thus risks dramatically underestimating the total impact predators can have on prey populations and the critical role predator-prey interactions can play in shaping ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liana Y. Zanette
- Department of Biology, Western University, London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada;,
| | - Michael Clinchy
- Department of Biology, Western University, London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada;,
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22
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Prado NA, Carlstead K, Malloy EJ, Paris S, Wielebnowski N, Rockwood LL, Brown JL. Ovarian cyclicity and prolactin status of African elephants (Loxodonta africana) in North American zoos may be influenced by life experience and individual temperament. Horm Behav 2020; 125:104804. [PMID: 32531397 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2020] [Revised: 04/21/2020] [Accepted: 06/05/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Hyperprolactinemia is an endocrine disorder associated with infertility in many species, including elephants. In a recent survey of zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), over half of African elephant females (N = 101) were not cycling normally, 30% of which exhibited hyperprolactinemia. We examined whether life experience and temperament predict ovarian cyclicity and circulating prolactin status in individual African elephant females. We hypothesized that, similar to humans, acyclicity and hyperprolactinemia in elephants will be associated with an apprehensive or fearful, anxious temperament, and an increased number of potentially challenging life events (transfers, deaths and births). Ninety-five adult African elephant females housed at 37 AZA institutions were included in this study. Blood samples were collected twice a month for 1 year to determine ovarian cycle (cycling, n = 44; irregular, n = 13; non-cycling, n = 38) and prolactin (normal, n = 44; low; n = 23; high; n = 28) status. Keeper ratings on a 6-point scale were obtained on 32 temperament traits in 85 of these elephants. We determined that giving birth and being exposed to herd mates entering the facility were positively associated with normal ovarian cycle and prolactin profiles. By contrast, age, serum cortisol, and an increased number of herd mates leaving a facility were negatively associated with both. Contrary to our hypothesis, hyperprolactinemia was associated with a popular and caring temperament rating, whereas consistently low prolactin was associated with a fearful, apprehensive temperament. These findings indicate that pituitary-ovarian function may be impacted by life history (cyclicity) and temperament (prolactin), which should be taken into consideration when making management decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalia A Prado
- Center for Species Survival, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Front Royal, VA, USA.
| | - Kathy Carlstead
- Center for Species Survival, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Front Royal, VA, USA
| | - Elizabeth J Malloy
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Stephen Paris
- Center for Species Survival, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Front Royal, VA, USA
| | | | - Larry L Rockwood
- Department of Biology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA
| | - Janine L Brown
- Center for Species Survival, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Front Royal, VA, USA
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23
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le Roex N, Ferreira SM. Age structure changes indicate direct and indirect population impacts in illegally harvested black rhino. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0236790. [PMID: 32726369 PMCID: PMC7390388 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0236790] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2019] [Accepted: 07/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Overharvesting affects the size and growth of wildlife populations and can impact population trajectories. Overharvesting can also severely alter population structure and may result in changes in spatial organisation, social dynamics and recruitment. Understanding the relationship between overharvesting and population growth is therefore crucial for the recovery of exploited species. The black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis; black rhino) is a long-lived megaherbivore native to sub-Saharan Africa, listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Since 2009, the targeted illegal killing of rhino for their horns has escalated dramatically in South Africa. Given their slow life trajectories, spatial structure and social dynamics, black rhino may be susceptible to both direct and indirect impacts of overharvesting. Our study compared black rhino demography before and during extensive poaching to understand the impact of illegal killing. The population exhibited significant changes in age structure after four years of heavy poaching; these changes were primarily explained by a decrease in the proportion of calves over time. Population projections incorporating both direct poaching removals and decreased fecundity/recruitment were most similar to the observed demographic profile in 2018, suggesting that indirect impacts are also contributing to the observed population trajectory. These indirect impacts are likely a result of decreased density, through processes such as reduced mate-finding, population disturbance and/or increased calf predation. This study illustrates the combined effect of direct and indirect impacts on an endangered species, providing a more comprehensive approach by which to evaluate exploited populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikki le Roex
- Scientific Services, South African National Parks, Skukuza, South Africa
- Institute for Communities and Wildlife in Africa (iCWild), Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- * E-mail:
| | - Sam M. Ferreira
- Scientific Services, South African National Parks, Skukuza, South Africa
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24
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Bond ML, König B, Lee DE, Ozgul A, Farine DR. Proximity to humans affects local social structure in a giraffe metapopulation. J Anim Ecol 2020; 90:212-221. [PMID: 32515083 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2020] [Accepted: 04/14/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Experimental laboratory evidence suggests that animals with disrupted social systems express weakened relationship strengths and have more exclusive social associations, and that these changes have functional consequences. A key question is whether anthropogenic pressures have a similar impact on the social structure of wild animal communities. We addressed this question by constructing a social network from 6 years of systematically collected photographic capture-recapture data spanning 1,139 individual adult female Masai giraffes inhabiting a large, unfenced, heterogeneous landscape in northern Tanzania. We then used the social network to identify distinct social communities, and tested whether social or anthropogenic and other environmental factors predicted differences in social structure among these communities. We reveal that giraffes have a multilevel social structure. Local preferences in associations among individuals scale up to a number of distinct, but spatially overlapping, social communities, that can be viewed as a large interconnected metapopulation. We then find that communities that are closer to traditional compounds of Indigenous Masai people express weaker relationship strengths and the giraffes in these communities are more exclusive in their associations. The patterns we characterize in response to proximity to humans reflect the predictions of disrupted social systems. Near bomas, fuelwood cutting can reduce food resources, and groups of giraffes are more likely to encounter livestock and humans on foot, thus disrupting the social associations among group members. Our results suggest that human presence could potentially be playing an important role in determining the conservation future of this megaherbivore.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monica L Bond
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.,Wild Nature Institute, Concord, NH, USA
| | - Barbara König
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Derek E Lee
- Wild Nature Institute, Concord, NH, USA.,Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Arpat Ozgul
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Damien R Farine
- Department of Collective Behavior, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany.,Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.,Center for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
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25
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Rose PE, Croft DP. Evaluating the social networks of four flocks of captive flamingos over a five-year period: Temporal, environmental, group and health influences on assortment. Behav Processes 2020; 175:104118. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2020.104118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2019] [Revised: 02/28/2020] [Accepted: 03/25/2020] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
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26
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Thornley R, Spencer M, Zitzer HR, Parr CL. Woody vegetation damage by the African elephant during severe drought at Pongola Game Reserve, South Africa. Afr J Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/aje.12736] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Reece Thornley
- Department of Earth, Ocean, and Ecological Sciences School of Environmental Sciences University of Liverpool Liverpool UK
| | - Matthew Spencer
- Department of Earth, Ocean, and Ecological Sciences School of Environmental Sciences University of Liverpool Liverpool UK
| | | | - Catherine L. Parr
- Department of Earth, Ocean, and Ecological Sciences School of Environmental Sciences University of Liverpool Liverpool UK
- Department of Zoology & Entomology University of Pretoria Pretoria South Africa
- School of Animal, Plant & Environmental Sciences University of Witwatersrand Johannesburg South Africa
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27
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Zemanova MA. Towards more compassionate wildlife research through the 3Rs principles: moving from invasive to non-invasive methods. WILDLIFE BIOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.2981/wlb.00607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Miriam A. Zemanova
- M. A. Zemanova (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5002-3388) ✉ , Dept of Philosophy, Univ. of Basel, Steinengraben 5, CH-4051 Basel, Switzerland
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28
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Affiliation(s)
- Tristan Derham
- School of Natural Sciences and Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH) University of Tasmania Hobart Tas. Australia
| | - Freya Mathews
- College of Arts Social Sciences and CommerceLa Trobe University Bundoora Vic. Australia
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29
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Lahdenperä M, Jackson J, Htut W, Lummaa V. Capture from the wild has long-term costs on reproductive success in Asian elephants. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 286:20191584. [PMID: 31594514 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.1584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Capturing wild animals is common for conservation, economic or research purposes. Understanding how capture itself affects lifetime fitness measures is often difficult because wild and captive populations live in very different environments and there is a need for long-term life-history data. Here, we show how wild capture influences reproduction in 2685 female Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) used in the timber industry in Myanmar. Wild-caught females demonstrated a consistent reduction in breeding success relative to captive-born females, with significantly lower lifetime reproduction probabilities, lower breeding probabilities at peak reproductive ages and a later age of first reproduction. Furthermore, these negative effects lasted for over a decade, and there was a significant influence on the next generation: wild-caught females had calves with reduced survival to age 5. Our results suggest that wild capture has long-term consequences for reproduction, which is important not only for elephants, but also for other species in captivity.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - John Jackson
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
| | - Win Htut
- Myanma Timber Enterprise, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Conservation, Yangon, Myanmar
| | - Virpi Lummaa
- Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland
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30
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Dorning J, Harris S. Understanding the intricacy of canid social systems: Structure and temporal stability of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) groups. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0220792. [PMID: 31509536 PMCID: PMC6738593 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2018] [Accepted: 07/23/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Red foxes have a highly flexible social system. Despite numerous studies worldwide, our understanding of the pattern and stability of fox social relationships remains limited. We applied social network analysis to camera trap data collected at high-quality foraging patches to examine the social structure of a population of urban red foxes. Foxes encountered a conspecific on 13% of patch visits, and had significant preferred and avoided companionships in all seasons. They also associated in communities that matched territorial space use, confirming that territories can be analysed separately to increase power without excluding too many social partners. Foxes maintained stable, long-term relationships with other territory residents, but the average longevity of relationships varied seasonally, suggesting that social connectivity, particularly between foxes from different social groups, is influenced by their annual life cycle. The probability of re-association after a given time lag was highest in spring and summer, during cub birth and rearing, and lowest in the winter mating season, when mean relationship duration was shorter. 33% of fox relationships lasted for four consecutive seasons and were probably between territory residents. 14% lasted for around 20 days and were probably between residents and visitors from adjacent territories. The majority (53%) lasted less than one day, particularly during dispersal and mating, and were probably between foxes from non-adjacent social groups. Social structure varied between groups; in one group the death of the dominant male caused significant social disruption for two seasons. This is the first application of social network analysis to multiple red fox social groups. However, our analyses were based on interactions at high quality food patches; social connections may differ when foxes are resting, travelling and foraging elsewhere in their territory. Our results will inform management practices, particularly for disease spread and population control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jo Dorning
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, England, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
| | - Stephen Harris
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, England, United Kingdom
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31
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Henley MD, Cook RM. The management dilemma: Removing elephants to save large trees. KOEDOE: AFRICAN PROTECTED AREA CONSERVATION AND SCIENCE 2019. [DOI: 10.4102/koedoe.v61i1.1564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Abstract
The loss of large trees ( 5 m in height) in Africa’s protected areas is often attributed to the impact by savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana). Concerns have been raised over large tree mortality levels in protected areas such as South Africa’s Kruger National Park (KNP) and in the past, the need to manage its elephant population in order to preserve large trees and biodiversity as a whole. Our review aims to synthesise and discuss the complexities of managing elephants’ effects on the landscape to ensure the survival of large trees, as well as the application purposes of the various lethal and non-lethal elephant mitigation strategies. We further critically evaluate past management strategies, which have solely focused on controlling elephant numbers to protect large trees. Past mitigation strategies focused on managing elephant impact by directly reducing elephant numbers. However, maintaining elephant numbers at a pre-determined carrying capacity level did not prevent the loss of large trees. Research on large tree survival in African savannas has continually exposed the complexity of the situation, as large tree survival is influenced at various demographic stages. In some cases, a coalescence of historical factors may have resulted in what could be perceived as an aesthetically appealing savanna for managers and tourists alike. Furthermore, the past high density of surface water within the KNP homogenised elephant impact on large trees by increasing the encounter rate between elephants and large trees. Our review evaluates how current mitigation strategies have shifted from purely managing elephant numbers to managing elephant distribution across impact gradients, thereby promoting heterogeneity within the system. Additionally, we discuss each mitigation strategy’s occurrence at various landscape scales and its advantages and disadvantages when used to manage impact of elephant on large trees.Conservation implications: A variety of options exist to manage the effects that elephants have on large trees. These options range from large-scale landscape manipulation solutions to small-scale individual tree protection methods. Interactions between elephants and large trees are complex, however, and conservation managers need to consider the advantages and disadvantages of each mitigation strategy to protect large trees.
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Srinivasaiah N, Kumar V, Vaidyanathan S, Sukumar R, Sinha A. All-Male Groups in Asian Elephants: A Novel, Adaptive Social Strategy in Increasingly Anthropogenic Landscapes of Southern India. Sci Rep 2019; 9:8678. [PMID: 31273235 PMCID: PMC6609637 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-45130-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2019] [Accepted: 05/29/2019] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Male Asian elephants are known to adopt a high-risk high-gain foraging strategy by venturing into agricultural areas and feeding on nutritious crops in order to improve their reproductive fitness. We hypothesised that the high risks to survival posed by increasingly urbanising and often unpredictable production landscapes may necessitate the emergence of behavioural strategies that allow male elephants to persist in such landscapes. Using 1445 photographic records of 248 uniquely identified male Asian elephants over a 23-month period, we show that male Asian elephants display striking emergent behaviour, particularly the formation of stable, long-term all-male groups, typically in non-forested or human-modified and highly fragmented areas. They remained solitary or associated in mixed-sex groups, however, within forested habitats. These novel, large all-male associations, may constitute a unique life history strategy for male elephants in the high-risk but resource-rich production landscapes of southern India. This may be especially true for the adolescent males, which seemed to effectively improve their body condition by increasingly exploiting anthropogenic resources when in all-male groups. This observation further supports our hypothesis that such emergent behaviours are likely to constitute an adaptive strategy for male Asian elephants that may be forced to increasingly confront anthropogenically intrusive environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nishant Srinivasaiah
- National Institute of Advanced Studies, Animal Behaviour and Cognition Programme, Bengaluru, 560012, India.
| | - Vinod Kumar
- Foundation for Ecological Research, Advocacy and Learning, Pondicherry, 605101, India
| | - Srinivas Vaidyanathan
- Foundation for Ecological Research, Advocacy and Learning, Pondicherry, 605101, India
| | - Raman Sukumar
- Indian Institute of Science, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Bengaluru, 560012, India
| | - Anindya Sinha
- National Institute of Advanced Studies, Animal Behaviour and Cognition Programme, Bengaluru, 560012, India.,Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Mohanpur, 741246, India
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33
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Wooddell LJ, Kaburu SSK, Dettmer AM. Dominance rank predicts social network position across developmental stages in rhesus monkeys. Am J Primatol 2019; 82:e23024. [DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2019] [Revised: 05/01/2019] [Accepted: 05/27/2019] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Lauren J. Wooddell
- Laboratory of Comparative Ethology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development National Institutes of Health Poolesville Maryland
- Neuroscience and Behavior, California National Primate Research Center University of California Davis California
| | - Stefano S. K. Kaburu
- Laboratory of Comparative Ethology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development National Institutes of Health Poolesville Maryland
- Department of Biomedical Science & Physiology, Faculty of Science and Engineering University of Wolverhampton Wolverhampton UK
| | - Amanda M. Dettmer
- Laboratory of Comparative Ethology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development National Institutes of Health Poolesville Maryland
- Yale Child Study Center Yale School of Medicine New Haven Connecticut
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Barrett B, Zepeda E, Pollack L, Munson A, Sih A. Counter-Culture: Does Social Learning Help or Hinder Adaptive Response to Human-Induced Rapid Environmental Change? Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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35
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Bowyer RT, Boyce MS, Goheen JR, Rachlow JL. Conservation of the world’s mammals: status, protected areas, community efforts, and hunting. J Mammal 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyy180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- R Terry Bowyer
- Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA
| | - Mark S Boyce
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Jacob R Goheen
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
| | - Janet L Rachlow
- Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, USA
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Maldonado-Chaparro AA, Alarcón-Nieto G, Klarevas-Irby JA, Farine DR. Experimental disturbances reveal group-level costs of social instability. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 285:20181577. [PMID: 30429300 PMCID: PMC6253379 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.1577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2018] [Accepted: 10/23/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In group-living species, social stability is an important trait associated with the evolution of complex behaviours such as cooperation. While the drivers of stability in small groups are relatively well studied, little is known about the potential impacts of unstable states on animal societies. Temporary changes in group composition, such as a social group splitting and recombining (i.e. a disturbance event), can result in individuals having to re-establish their social relationships, thus taking time away from other tasks such as foraging or vigilance. Here, we experimentally split socially stable groups of captive zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), and quantified the effects of repeated disturbance events on (1) group foraging efficiency, and (2) co-feeding associations when subgroups were recombined. We found that the efficiency of groups to deplete a rich, but ephemeral, resource patch decreased after just a single short disturbance event. Automated tracking of individuals showed that repeated disturbances reduced efficiency by causing social relationships to become more differentiated and weaker, resulting in fewer individuals simultaneously accessing the patch. Our experiment highlights how short-term disturbances can severely disrupt social structure and group functionality, revealing potential costs associated with group instability that can have consequences for the evolution of animal societies.
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Affiliation(s)
- A A Maldonado-Chaparro
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
- Chair of Biodiversity and Collective Behaviour, Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - G Alarcón-Nieto
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
- Chair of Biodiversity and Collective Behaviour, Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - J A Klarevas-Irby
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
- Chair of Biodiversity and Collective Behaviour, Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - D R Farine
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
- Chair of Biodiversity and Collective Behaviour, Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
- Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK
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Lahdenperä M, Mar KU, Courtiol A, Lummaa V. Differences in age-specific mortality between wild-caught and captive-born Asian elephants. Nat Commun 2018; 9:3023. [PMID: 30087336 PMCID: PMC6081384 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05515-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2017] [Accepted: 07/12/2018] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Wild-capture of numerous species is common for diverse purposes, including medical experiments, conservation, veterinary interventions and research, but little objective data exists on its consequences. We use exceptional demographic records on Asian elephants from timber camps in Myanmar to investigate the long-term consequences of wild-capture during 1951-2000 on their mortality (N = 5150). We show that captured elephants have increased mortality compared to captive-born elephants, regardless of their capture method. These detrimental effects of capture are similar for both sexes but differ substantially according to age. Elephants captured and tamed at older ages show a higher increase in mortality after capture than elephants captured and tamed young. Moreover, the increased mortality risk following capture and taming is still perceived several years after capture. Our results are timely given the continued capture of elephants and other wild animals to supplement captive populations despite the alarming declines of wild populations globally.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Khyne U Mar
- Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014, Turku, Finland
| | - Alexandre Courtiol
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Strasse, Berlin, 10315, Germany
| | - Virpi Lummaa
- Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014, Turku, Finland
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38
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Westley PAH, Berdahl AM, Torney CJ, Biro D. Collective movement in ecology: from emerging technologies to conservation and management. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2018; 373:20170004. [PMID: 29581389 PMCID: PMC5882974 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/09/2018] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent advances in technology and quantitative methods have led to the emergence of a new field of study that stands to link insights of researchers from two closely related, but often disconnected disciplines: movement ecology and collective animal behaviour. To date, the field of movement ecology has focused on elucidating the internal and external drivers of animal movement and the influence of movement on broader ecological processes. Typically, tracking and/or remote sensing technology is employed to study individual animals in natural conditions. By contrast, the field of collective behaviour has quantified the significant role social interactions play in the decision-making of animals within groups and, to date, has predominantly relied on controlled laboratory-based studies and theoretical models owing to the constraints of studying interacting animals in the field. This themed issue is intended to formalize the burgeoning field of collective movement ecology which integrates research from both movement ecology and collective behaviour. In this introductory paper, we set the stage for the issue by briefly examining the approaches and current status of research in these areas. Next, we outline the structure of the theme issue and describe the obstacles collective movement researchers face, from data acquisition in the field to analysis and problems of scale, and highlight the key contributions of the assembled papers. We finish by presenting research that links individual and broad-scale ecological and evolutionary processes to collective movement, and finally relate these concepts to emerging challenges for the management and conservation of animals on the move in a world that is increasingly impacted by human activity.This article is part of the theme issue 'Collective movement ecology'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter A H Westley
- Department of Fisheries, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA
| | - Andrew M Berdahl
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
- School of Aquatic & Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Colin J Torney
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8SQ, UK
| | - Dora Biro
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK
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39
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Abstract
AbstractWith an increase in poaching of elephants Loxodonta africana across Africa, it is vital to know exactly how many elephants remain and where they occur, to ensure that protection and management are planned appropriately. From a nationwide survey we provide current population and distribution data for elephants in South Africa. We consider the viability of elephant populations in the country, as well as some of the management techniques implemented and how effective these are in controlling elephant numbers. According to our surveys there were 28,168 elephants in South Africa as of December 2015, with 78% of these occurring in Kruger National Park and reserves bordering and open to the Park. Of the country's 78 discrete reserves that host elephants, 77% have populations of < 100 elephants, which could mean they are not genetically viable. We discuss our findings in terms of the conservation value of South Africa's elephant reserves, and the animal welfare implications. We recommend that the fragmentation of elephant habitat in the country be addressed through a national elephant management strategy that promotes wildlife corridors between existing, neighbouring elephant reserves.
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40
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Fritz H. Long-term field studies of elephants: understanding the ecology and conservation of a long-lived ecosystem engineer. J Mammal 2017. [DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyx023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
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41
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Baotic A, Stoeger AS. Sexual dimorphism in African elephant social rumbles. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0177411. [PMID: 28489908 PMCID: PMC5425207 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0177411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2016] [Accepted: 04/26/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
This study used the source and filter theory approach to analyse sex differences in the acoustic features of African elephant (Loxodonta africana) low-frequency rumbles produced in social contexts ('social rumbles'). Permuted discriminant function analysis revealed that rumbles contain sufficient acoustic information to predict the sex of a vocalizing individual. Features primarily related to the vocalizer's size, i.e. fundamental frequency variables and vocal tract resonant frequencies, differed significantly between the sexes. Yet, controlling for age and size effects, our results indicate that the pronounced sexual size dimorphism in African elephants is partly, but not exclusively, responsible for sexual differences in social rumbles. This provides a scientific foundation for future work investigating the perceptual and functional relevance of specific acoustic characteristics in African elephant vocal sexual communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anton Baotic
- Mammal Communication Lab, Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Angela S. Stoeger
- Mammal Communication Lab, Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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42
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Breuer T, Maisels F, Fishlock V. The consequences of poaching and anthropogenic change for forest elephants. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2016; 30:1019-1026. [PMID: 26801000 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12679] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2015] [Accepted: 01/17/2016] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Poaching has devastated forest elephant populations (Loxodonta cyclotis), and their habitat is dramatically changing. The long-term effects of poaching and other anthropogenic threats have been well studied in savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana), but the impacts of these changes for Central Africa's forest elephants have not been discussed. We examined potential repercussions of these threats and the related consequences for forest elephants in Central Africa by summarizing the lessons learned from savannah elephants and small forest elephant populations in West Africa. Forest elephant social organization is less known than the social organization of savannah elephants, but the close evolutionary history of these species suggests that they will respond to anthropogenic threats in broadly similar ways. The loss of older, experienced individuals in an elephant population disrupts ecological, social, and population parameters. Severe reduction of elephant abundance within Central Africa's forests can alter plant communities and ecosystem functions. Poaching, habitat alterations, and human population increase are probably compressing forest elephants into protected areas and increasing human-elephant conflict, which negatively affects their conservation. We encourage conservationists to look beyond documenting forest elephant population decline and address the causes of these declines when developing conversation strategies. We suggest assessing the effectiveness of the existing protected-area networks for landscape connectivity in light of current industrial and infrastructure development. Longitudinal assessments of the effects of landscape changes on forest elephant sociality and behavior are also needed. Finally, lessons learned from West African elephant population loss and habitat fragmentation should be used to inform strategies for land-use planning and managing human-elephant interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Breuer
- Global Conservation Program, Wildlife Conservation Society, 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, New York, 10460, U.S.A..
| | - Fiona Maisels
- Global Conservation Program, Wildlife Conservation Society, 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, New York, 10460, U.S.A
- School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, FK9 4LA, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Vicki Fishlock
- School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, FK9 4LA, Scotland, United Kingdom
- Amboseli Trust for Elephants, Langata 00509, Nairobi, P.O. Box 15135, Kenya
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43
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"If it looks like a duck…" - why humans need to focus on different approaches than insects if we are to become efficiently and effectively ultrasocial. Behav Brain Sci 2016; 39:e94. [PMID: 27561700 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x15000977] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
The parallels between the agricultural successes of ultrasocial insects and those of humans are interesting and potentially important. There are a number of important caveats, however, including the relative complexities of insect reproduction, their more rigidly determined altricial patterns of social behaviour, the roles of post-reproductive group members, and differences in the known factors involved in ultrasocietal collapse.
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44
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Cameron EZ, Ryan SJ. Welfare at Multiple Scales: Importance of Zoo Elephant Population Welfare in a World of Declining Wild Populations. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0158701. [PMID: 27415004 PMCID: PMC4945041 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0158701] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2016] [Accepted: 06/20/2016] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Elissa Z. Cameron
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
- * E-mail:
| | - Sadie J. Ryan
- Department of Geography, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
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45
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Prado-Oviedo NA, Bonaparte-Saller MK, Malloy EJ, Meehan CL, Mench JA, Carlstead K, Brown JL. Evaluation of Demographics and Social Life Events of Asian (Elephas maximus) and African Elephants (Loxodonta africana) in North American Zoos. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0154750. [PMID: 27415437 PMCID: PMC4945030 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0154750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2015] [Accepted: 04/16/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
This study quantified social life events hypothesized to affect the welfare of zoo African and Asian elephants, focusing on animals that were part of a large multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional elephant welfare study in North America. Age was calculated based on recorded birth dates and an age-based account of life event data for each elephant was compiled. These event histories included facility transfers, births and deaths of offspring, and births and deaths of non-offspring herd mates. Each event was evaluated as a total number of events per elephant, lifetime rate of event exposure, and age at first event exposure. These were then compared across three categories: species (African vs. Asian); sex (male vs. female); and origin (imported vs. captive-born). Mean age distributions differed (p<0.05) between the categories: African elephants were 6 years younger than Asian elephants, males were 12 years younger than females, and captive-born elephants were 20 years younger than imported elephants. Overall, the number of transfers ranged from 0 to 10, with a 33% higher age-adjusted transfer rate for imported African than imported Asian elephants, and 37% lower rate for imported females than males (p<0.05). Other differences (p<0.05) included a 96% higher rate of offspring births for captive-born females than those imported from range countries, a 159% higher rate of birthing event exposures for captive-born males than for their imported counterparts, and Asian elephant females being 4 years younger than African females when they produced their first calf. In summarizing demographic and social life events of elephants in North American zoos, we found both qualitative and quantitative differences in the early lives of imported versus captive-born elephants that could have long-term welfare implications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalia A. Prado-Oviedo
- Center for Species Survival, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Smithsonian National Zoological Park, Front Royal, Virginia, United States of America
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, United States of America
| | - Mary K. Bonaparte-Saller
- Department of Animal Science and Center for Animal Welfare, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America
| | - Elizabeth J. Malloy
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America
| | | | - Joy A. Mench
- Department of Animal Science and Center for Animal Welfare, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America
| | - Kathy Carlstead
- Independent Researcher, Portland, Oregon, United States of America
| | - Janine L. Brown
- Center for Species Survival, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Smithsonian National Zoological Park, Front Royal, Virginia, United States of America
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46
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Wijayagunawardane MPB, Short RV, Samarakone TS, Nishany KBM, Harrington H, Perera BVP, Rassool R, Bittner EP. The use of audio playback to deter crop-raiding Asian elephants. WILDLIFE SOC B 2016. [DOI: 10.1002/wsb.652] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Missaka P. B. Wijayagunawardane
- Department of Animal Science; University of Peradeniya; Peradeniya 20400 Sri Lanka
- Department of Zoology; University of Melbourne; Parkville VIC 3010 Australia
| | - Roger V. Short
- Department of Zoology; University of Melbourne; Parkville VIC 3010 Australia
| | | | | | - Helena Harrington
- Department of Zoology; University of Melbourne; Parkville VIC 3010 Australia
| | - B. V. P. Perera
- Elephant Transit Home; Department of Wildlife Conservation; Udewalawe Sri Lanka
| | - Roger Rassool
- School of Physics; University of Melbourne; Parkville VIC 3010 Australia
| | - Evan P. Bittner
- Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences; University of Melbourne; Parkville VIC 3010 Australia
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47
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Lahdenperä M, Mar KU, Lummaa V. Short-term and delayed effects of mother death on calf mortality in Asian elephants. Behav Ecol 2015; 27:166-174. [PMID: 26792972 PMCID: PMC4718174 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arv136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2015] [Revised: 05/26/2015] [Accepted: 07/21/2015] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Like humans, elephants are long lived, invest heavily in offspring, and often survive well past last birth, but why do postreproductive lifespans evolve? We show that the proposed higher costs of reproduction to survival of old mothers and need for long parental care of offspring are insufficient to explain the full length of postreproductive lifespan in Asian elephants. Further studies are needed to quantify the evolutionary pressures on postreproductive survival in elephants and other long-lived species. Long-lived, highly social species with prolonged offspring dependency can show long postreproductive periods. The Mother hypothesis proposes that a need for extended maternal care of offspring together with increased maternal mortality risk associated with old age select for such postreproductive survival, but tests in species with long postreproductive periods, other than humans and marine mammals, are lacking. Here, we investigate the Mother hypothesis with longitudinal data on Asian elephants from timber camps of Myanmar 1) to determine the costs of reproduction on female age-specific mortality risk within 1 year after calving and 2) to quantify the effects of mother loss on calf survival across development. We found that older females did not show an increased immediate mortality risk after calving. Calves had a 10-fold higher mortality risk in their first year if they lost their mother, but this decreased with age to only a 1.1-fold higher risk in the fifth year. We also detected delayed effects of maternal death: calves losing their mother during early ages still suffered from increased mortality risk at ages 3–4 and during adolescence but such effects were weaker in magnitude. Consequently, the Mother hypothesis could account for the first 5 years of postreproductive survival, but there were no costs of continued reproduction on the immediate maternal mortality risk. However, the observed postreproductive lifespan of females surviving to old age commonly exceeds 5 years in Asian elephants, and further studies are thus needed to determine selection for (postreproductive) lifespan in elephants and other comparably long-lived species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirkka Lahdenperä
- Section of Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Turku , Turku , Finland and
| | - Khyne U Mar
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Alfred Denny Building, Western Bank , Sheffield S10 2TN , UK
| | - Virpi Lummaa
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Alfred Denny Building, Western Bank , Sheffield S10 2TN , UK
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48
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Nunez CMV, Adelman JS, Rubenstein DI. Sociality increases juvenile survival after a catastrophic event in the feral horse (Equus caballus). Behav Ecol 2014. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/aru163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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49
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Schuttler SG, Whittaker A, Jeffery KJ, Eggert LS. African forest elephant social networks: fission-fusion dynamics, but fewer associations. ENDANGER SPECIES RES 2014. [DOI: 10.3354/esr00618] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
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