Multi-male captive groups of endangered dama gazelle: Social rank, aggression, and enclosure effects

Abstract

A study carried out in four multi‐male groups of captive dama gazelle (Gazella dama mhorr) characterized the social rank order of males and possible enclosure effects on aggression rate. A strong relationship between rank and age was found. The results also showed that dominant individuals in the two smallest enclosures were more aggressive than their herdmates, suggesting a more stressful environment, which might precipitate unstable or challenged hierarchies when the animals live in a more restricted enclosure. Subordinate males performed submissive responses at a higher frequency, irrespective of the size of the enclosure. The frequency of interactions between the gazelles, on the other hand, was affected by enclosure size, since high‐ranking males showed higher values than low‐ranking males in the two smallest enclosures. Frequencies of aggressive acts, retreats, and related interactions were similar in all the herds. Implications for the management of the species in captivity are discussed. Zoo Biol 19:121–129, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Dominance relationships among male hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas)

“…In many mammal species, age has been proved to be a good predictor of male dominance status (van Noordwijk and van Schaik 1985;Cassinello and Pieters 2000;Roden et al 2005). In baboons, studies have reported that male dominance rank follows a pattern of age dependence.…”

Dominance relationships among male hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas)

“…In many mammal species, age has been proved to be a good predictor of male dominance status (van Noordwijk and van Schaik 1985;Cassinello and Pieters 2000;Roden et al 2005). In baboons, studies have reported that male dominance rank follows a pattern of age dependence.…”

Interrelationship among spatial cohesion, aggression rate, counter-aggression and female dominance in three lemur species

“…We demonstrate here in three species of lemurs that spatial proximity among group members was associated with differences in rates of aggression, dominance style and degree of female dominance over males. Studies in captivity support our finding for the association between stronger cohesion and higher rates of aggression in other species of lemur (Digby and Stevens 2007;Cherevko 2020), as well as in other taxa such as gazelles (Cassinello and Pieters 2000), horses (Flauger and Krueger 2013), apes (Sannen et al 2004, but see de Waal 1989), chickens (Estevez et al 2002), cows (DeVries et al 2004, pigs (Remience et al 2008) and kangaroos (Höhn et al 2000)). Yet, in our study in the wild, how and why strong cohesion in ring-tailed lemurs is maintained despite a high rate of aggression is unclear since individuals could flee or spread out to avoid costly fights.…”

Factors affecting captive female giraffe stress response: Male presence, small enclosure, and low temperature

“…In addition to the effect of male presence on female social interactions, agonistic interactions were found to be more frequent in the small outdoor enclosure (Hypothesis 3), whereas the frequencies of approach (by F2) and affiliative interactions (by both females) did not differ between enclosure sizes. Therefore, the smaller enclosure triggered a higher rate of aggression in giraffes which correlates with findings for Asiatic wild horses (Equus przewalskii), dama gazelles (Gazella dama mhorr), and Père David's deer (Elaphurus davidianus) (Cassinello & Pieters, 2000;Hogan et al, 1988;Li et al, 2007). This result suggests that to evaluate giraffe welfare from the aspect of social enrichment, the frequency of agonistic interaction could be an important parameter to define whether the current enclosure size is appropriate.…”

Dominance relationships among male hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas)

“…In many mammal species, age has been proved to be a good predictor of male dominance status (van Noordwijk and van Schaik 1985;Cassinello and Pieters 2000;Roden et al 2005). In baboons, studies have reported that male dominance rank follows a pattern of age dependence.…”

Interrelationship among spatial cohesion, aggression rate, counter-aggression and female dominance in three lemur species

“…We demonstrate here in three species of lemurs that spatial proximity among group members was associated with differences in rates of aggression, dominance style and degree of female dominance over males. Studies in captivity support our finding for the association between stronger cohesion and higher rates of aggression in other species of lemur (Digby and Stevens 2007;Cherevko 2020), as well as in other taxa such as gazelles (Cassinello and Pieters 2000), horses (Flauger and Krueger 2013), apes (Sannen et al 2004, but see de Waal 1989), chickens (Estevez et al 2002), cows (DeVries et al 2004, pigs (Remience et al 2008) and kangaroos (Höhn et al 2000)). Yet, in our study in the wild, how and why strong cohesion in ring-tailed lemurs is maintained despite a high rate of aggression is unclear since individuals could flee or spread out to avoid costly fights.…”

Factors affecting captive female giraffe stress response: Male presence, small enclosure, and low temperature

“…In addition to the effect of male presence on female social interactions, agonistic interactions were found to be more frequent in the small outdoor enclosure (Hypothesis 3), whereas the frequencies of approach (by F2) and affiliative interactions (by both females) did not differ between enclosure sizes. Therefore, the smaller enclosure triggered a higher rate of aggression in giraffes which correlates with findings for Asiatic wild horses (Equus przewalskii), dama gazelles (Gazella dama mhorr), and Père David's deer (Elaphurus davidianus) (Cassinello & Pieters, 2000;Hogan et al, 1988;Li et al, 2007). This result suggests that to evaluate giraffe welfare from the aspect of social enrichment, the frequency of agonistic interaction could be an important parameter to define whether the current enclosure size is appropriate.…”

Dominance relationships among male hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas)

“…In many mammal species, age has been proved to be a good predictor of male dominance status (van Noordwijk and van Schaik 1985;Cassinello and Pieters 2000;Roden et al 2005). In baboons, studies have reported that male dominance rank follows a pattern of age dependence.…”

Interrelationship among spatial cohesion, aggression rate, counter-aggression and female dominance in three lemur species

“…We demonstrate here in three species of lemurs that spatial proximity among group members was associated with differences in rates of aggression, dominance style and degree of female dominance over males. Studies in captivity support our finding for the association between stronger cohesion and higher rates of aggression in other species of lemur (Digby and Stevens 2007;Cherevko 2020), as well as in other taxa such as gazelles (Cassinello and Pieters 2000), horses (Flauger and Krueger 2013), apes (Sannen et al 2004, but see de Waal 1989), chickens (Estevez et al 2002), cows (DeVries et al 2004, pigs (Remience et al 2008) and kangaroos (Höhn et al 2000)). Yet, in our study in the wild, how and why strong cohesion in ring-tailed lemurs is maintained despite a high rate of aggression is unclear since individuals could flee or spread out to avoid costly fights.…”

Factors affecting captive female giraffe stress response: Male presence, small enclosure, and low temperature

“…In addition to the effect of male presence on female social interactions, agonistic interactions were found to be more frequent in the small outdoor enclosure (Hypothesis 3), whereas the frequencies of approach (by F2) and affiliative interactions (by both females) did not differ between enclosure sizes. Therefore, the smaller enclosure triggered a higher rate of aggression in giraffes which correlates with findings for Asiatic wild horses (Equus przewalskii), dama gazelles (Gazella dama mhorr), and Père David's deer (Elaphurus davidianus) (Cassinello & Pieters, 2000;Hogan et al, 1988;Li et al, 2007). This result suggests that to evaluate giraffe welfare from the aspect of social enrichment, the frequency of agonistic interaction could be an important parameter to define whether the current enclosure size is appropriate.…”