Inter-annual patterns of aggression and pair bonding in captive American flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber)

Abstract

Because zoos typically house animals for extended periods of time, longitudinal studies can play an important role in evaluating and optimizing animal care and management. For example, information on patterns of aggression and mating behavior across years can be used to monitor well-being, assess response to changes to group composition, and promote successful reproduction. Here, we report on patterns of aggression and pair bonding by American flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber) at the Audubon Zoo, New Orleans USA across 4 years (2012-2015), a period that included a simultaneous introduction and removal of individuals in 2014. At the population level, overall rates and social network indices of aggressive interactions were relatively stable over the study period, without a strong signal of the 2014 replacement event. At the individual level, flamingos exhibited a high degree of within-individual consistency in levels of aggression initiated (W = 0.530, P < 0.001), and received (W = 0.369, P = 0.042). In terms of pair bonds, females re-paired with the same individuals across years more frequently (between 58% and 100% from year to year) than they switched mates, and no bonds were established between pre-existing and introduced individuals. These findings indicate a high degree of stability in aggression and pair bonding behavior in this population of captive flamingos, at both the population and individual level. Longitudinal studies such as this one provide an opportunity to better our understanding of flamingos and other long-lived, group-living animals along with their management needs, especially in terms of maintaining social cohesion in captivity and improving captive breeding programs.

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

“…Studying long-term bonds within captive giraffe herds and evaluating how relationships mirror those documented in wild herds helps provide valuable data to evidence how to maintain a good quality of life for such social species in captivity. The relevance of SNA to determine a network's structure and bond stability, and to answer questions relating to changes in associations over time or differences between sexes (Rose & Croft, 2017 as well as identifying differences in types of social interaction performed around enclosure resources or the context for specific social behaviors (Frumkin et al, 2016;Hinton et al, 2013;Hughes & Driscoll, 2014) has been demonstrated in other gregarious captive species.…”

Genetic admixture between captive-bred and wild individuals affects patterns of dispersal in a brown trout (Salmo trutta) population

“…Similarly, more aggressive and bold individuals should disperse less, because they can successfully hold on to resources and to avoid costs of dispersal (Cote et al 2010;Hudina et al 2015). Given that captive-bred individuals tend to show a lower propensity for exploration (Robert et al 1987;Johnsson and Abrahams 1991) and higher aggression and dominance levels (Kelley et al 2006;Frumkin et al 2016), we may expect captive-bred individuals to show a less pronounced dispersal behavior than wild ones. Alternatively, larger or heavier individuals with higher growth rate may show higher dispersal propensity and move over longer distances (Debeffe et al 2014;Radinger and Wolter 2014;Dahirel et al 2015).…”

Patterns of nocturnal activity in captive greater flamingos

“…As captive flamingos are often housed in large flocks, in relatively naturalistic exhibits they can be good models for behavioral study (King, ) and assessment of nocturnal activity and space use may provide important information that can be used to make improvements to captive care (Rose, Croft, & Lee, ). Previous captive flamingo research has focused on aspects of diurnal behavior, such as social and aggressive interactions (Anderson, Williams, & Bono, ; Frumkin et al, ; Hinton et al, ; Rose, ; Rose and Croft, ), nesting and courtship display (Farrell, Barry, & Marples, ; Hughes, Raynes, Driscoll, & Babler, ; Studer‐Thiersch, ), and flock management (Lindgren and Pickering, ; ickering, Creighton, & Stevens‐Wood, ; Pickering & Duverge, ). However, currently there is limited information on the nocturnal behavior of flamingos in captivity.…”