Social interaction analysis in captive orcas (Orcinus orca)

Abstract

The management of socially complex species in captivity is challenging. Research on their social behavior improves our understanding of interactions in captive animals and captive‐group management. We conducted a detailed analysis of social relationships shown by the orcas kept at Loro Parque zoo and their tendency to reconcile after aggressive episodes. Affiliative interactions were the most frequent social activities compared to agonistic or sexual interactions. Within affiliative behaviors, we documented the pattern “gentle tongue bite”, where an animal touches the other's tongue with his teeth but does not bite it. Affiliative interactions between a specific pair of orcas occurred significantly more often than expected by chance, and together with low levels of agonistic interactions, indicated particular affinity between some individuals. The most frequently observed low‐level agonistic relationship was that of the two older males (Tekoa–Keto); however, they also showed frequent sexual and affiliative interactions. Sexual‐like behaviors (pursuit, mount, and penis between males) were found in both sexes. Finally, the observed corrected conciliatory tendency (31.57%) was within the range described for other primate and cetacean species. This study provides a systematic way to assess social interactions as well as conflict management strategies in cetaceans housed in zoos and zoo‐like facilities and may help to improve animal welfare and management of animals in controlled environments.

Playful mouth‐to‐mouth interactions of belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) in managed care

“…Mammals with fins or flippers rely more heavily on their mouths to manipulate the world, and so may be more likely to use their mouth more in playful contact, like jaw sparring or MtMIs (e.g., see Gentry, 1974 and Llamazares‐Martín & Palagi, 2021, which includes photographs of Steller sea lion, Eumetopias jubatus , and California sea lion pups, Zalophus californianus , respectively, engaging in jaw sparring). Killer whales engage in affiliative gentle tongue biting, in which two animals face each other making gentle contact with their rostrum, followed by one animal opening its mouth and the other lightly holding its partner's tongue in its teeth (Bain, 1986; Martinez & Klinghammer, 1978; Nakamura & Sakai, 2014; Sánchez–Hernández et al, 2019). Irrawaddy dolphins ( Orcaella brevirostris ), a much smaller euryhaline delphinid, often form groups of individuals that face each other and engage in head‐to‐head contact after bouts of chasing and mating (see Sutaria et al, 2019).…”

“…Mouth‐to‐mouth contact has been observed in only a few species of Odontoceti. For example, killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) in managed care use mouth‐to‐mouth tongue touching during affiliative interactions (Bain, 1986; Martinez & Klinghammer, 1978; Nakamura & Sakai, 2014; Sánchez–Hernández et al, 2019). Although rare, mutual mouth contact has also been observed in Atlantic bottlenose dolphins ( T. truncatus ), in both managed care (Overstrom, 1983) and in the wild (Connor et al, 2000).…”

Tactful animals: How the study of touch can inform the animal morality debate

“…A recent study on captive orcas also documents what appears to be vulnerable contact behavior: the orcas were found to occasionally put their snouts together, and then, one of them would insert her tongue into the mouth of the other, who would gently bite it. The authors interpret this as an affiliative gesture (Sánchez-Hernández et al, 2019).…”

Mechanisms of equality and inequality in mammalian societies

“…both sexes philopatric; mixed sexes; piscivore /carnivore (most food is not defendable) intergenerational transfer of ecological knowledge [117] increases survival of grandoffspring [118] poor maternal nutrition negatively affects foetal brains [119] tolerance of co-feeding by non-kin, including feeding by other pods [120,121] post-conflict reconciliation [122] a Philopatry scored as females (F), males, (M), both (B) or neither (N) sex remaining at home into adulthood; social organization reflects the sex composition of adults in the group, where 'mixed' refers to multiple adult males and females in the group; trophic guild reflects the typical diet for a species and whether that food is defendable (yes = defendable; no = non-defendable), for complete set of references, see [54]. For brevity, whenever possible, we cited early review papers.…”