How can leadership processes in European bison be used to improve the management of free-roaming herds

Ramos, Amandine; Manizan, Lola; Rodríguez, Esther; Kemp, Yvonne J. M.; Sueur, Cédric

doi:10.1007/s10344-018-1175-0

Cited by 10 publications

(16 citation statements)

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“…In this context, the members of the social intraherd network may tend to follow one or more leader(s) [3], which are animals that more frequently initiate collective movements [4]. These animals are often preferably selected by herdsmen/conservationists in domestic/rewilding scenarios for the maintenance of group cohesion in farmland activities [5] and free-roaming herds [6]. Consequently, the study of the initiation and propagation of collective movements on the basis of sociodemographic attributes may not only permit better understanding of how species-specific social structure affects animal space use patterns, but also reveal breeding criteria to facilitate the labor of domestic gregarious animals' handlers.…”

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confidence: 99%

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The Youngest, the Heaviest and/or the Darkest? Selection Potentialities and Determinants of Leadership in Canarian Dromedary Camels

Pastrana

González

Ciani

et al. 2021

Animals

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Several idiosyncratic and genetically correlated traits are known to extensively influence leadership in both domestic and wild species. For minor livestock such as camels, however, this type of behavior remains loosely defined and approached only for sex-mixed herds. The interest in knowing those animal-dependent variables that make an individual more likely to emerge as a leader in a single-sex camel herd has its basis in the sex-separated breeding of Canarian dromedary camels for utilitarian purposes. By means of an ordinal logistic regression, it was found that younger, gelded animals may perform better when eliciting the joining of mates, assuming that they were castrated just before reaching sexual maturity and once they were initiated in the pertinent domestication protocol for their lifetime functionality. The higher the body weight, the significantly (p < 0.05) higher the score in the hierarchical rank when leading group movements, although this relationship appeared to be inverse for the other considered zoometric indexes. Camels with darker and substantially depigmented coats were also significantly (p < 0.05) found to be the main initiators. Routine intraherd management and leisure tourism will be thus improved in efficiency and security through the identification and selection of the best leader camels.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As stated in [6], leadership is expected to be a complex, multifactorial interaction process, far from a strictly despotic action. Various characteristics have been indicated in literature to affect movement control in animal groups.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Youngest, the Heaviest and/or the Darkest? Selection Potentialities and Determinants of Leadership in Canarian Dromedary Camels

Pastrana

González

Ciani

et al. 2021

Animals

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“…According to several authors (Anderson, 2007;Keshavarzi et al, 2020;Ramos et al, 2018), 122 one interesting strategy for the use of virtual fences to control a group, without equipping all 123 individuals, would be to fit the GPS system on well-identified leaders and take into account 124 the phenomena of social facilitation. The analysis of these behavioural processes therefore 125 appears to be potentially useful for the management of herd movements in both pastoral and 126 wild environments.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Old individuals 208 are always described as having a greater knowledge and experience of the environment, and 209 would therefore be more likely to evaluate the risks and make ecologically relevant decisions 210 for their group (McComb et al, 2011, 2001; Wittemyer et al, 2005). An old age can thus be a 211 prerequisite to being a good leader in ungulates(Ramos et al, 2018;Reinhardt, 1983).212 Hierarchical status can also play an important role in leadership distribution and following 213 success (Sueur et al, 2018). In equids, which live in harem-type structures, the most frequent 214 leaders are often the dominant individuals (Feist and McCullough, 1976; Krueger et al, 2014; 215 Petit and Bon, 2010).…”

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“…In this case, the 400 leadership behaviour applied to the system of virtual barriers seems to be difficult to envisage 401 to contain an entire herd(Keshavarzi et al, 2020). This is especially true for species with large 402 groups and a "fission-fusion" dynamics(Ramos et al, 2018(Ramos et al, , 2015. It thus appears interesting 403 to better understand social behaviours in ungulates, more specifically by identifying the 404 profiles of individuals that potentially influence the movements and reactions of the others, 405 before considering virtual fence, applied to the leadership pattern, as an innovative 406 management tool.…”

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How leadership could be used to manage domestic and wild ungulate herds

Ramos

Bousquet

Sueur

2021

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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In increasingly anthropized landscapes, it is essential to understand animal 11 behaviour, and especially the movement patterns of domestic and wild species to ensure their 12 management and conservation. More specifically, cohabitation between human populations 13 and wildlife could be improved through the study of habitat use by groups of animals in terms 14 of decision-making processes and leadership phenomena. Landscape anthropization 15 particularly affects ungulates due to the increasing rarity of available territories for the grazing 16 of domestic herds or the reintroduction of wild ones. To avoid damage to agricultural and 17 private land, most herbivores are managed by herders, or contained in enclosed areas. 18Although this conventional management method is efficient, fences are costly and restrictive 19 and contribute to the loss of genetic diversity by isolating other wild animal populations. A 20 new system of herd management would be to replace conventional fences with virtual fencing 21 systems to manage species of interest. This innovative method consists of GPS systems with a 22 warning and punishing device attached to the animal that is triggered when the animal 23 approaches the virtual limits of allocated territory. The most consistent way to control a group 24 using virtual fences would be to fit the device on the identified leaders, who influence overall 25 group decisions. In ungulates, older dominant females are generally more likely to lead 26 collective movements and be followed by other group members because of their greater 27 knowledge of the surrounding environment, their higher physiological needs during calving 28 and their numerous social relationships in the group. These individual characteristics make 29 them key individuals in the organisation of social groups, so they could be targeted for the 30 development of virtual fence systems and the management of wildlife and livestock.

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