Determinación de la individualidad y el temperamento de ejemplares cachorros y juveniles de lobo mexicano (Canis lupus baileyi) en los zoológicos de Chapultepec y San Juan de Aragón

Abstract

Studies of individuality in non-human animal species have been developing more and more since the second half of the 20th century. In the case of canids, most of the research has been carried out in dogs (Canis familiaris), but in other Species of the genus such as wolves, specifically the Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi), have not been investigated in what individuality and in what temperament the specimens could be classified. The objective of this study is, precisely, to classify the cubs and juveniles that are housed in the Chapultepec and San Juan de Aragón zoos, this may be relevant since the Mexican wolf is in danger of extinction, an individuality study of these specimens can help to select the most suitable individuals, ethologically speaking, to be reproduced and released. For this study, 7 specimens belonging to two different litters were considered; at the Chapultepec zoo, the litter studied includes four cubs; two females and three males, while two juvenile males were studied at the Aragon zoo. Observations were made to record the number of behaviors displayed by each specimen, later these records were emptied into a database to be able to analyze them using the Microsoft Excel program. Once having the analysis of the behaviors displayed by the specimens, the personality classification of the specimens was made into introverts and extroverts. Specimens A, B and C from Chapultepec and specimens Pakki and Nashoba from Aragón were classified as extroverts, while specimens D and E from Chapultepec were considered introverts. Regarding the affiliative temperament, in the same way, it was considered that specimens A, B, C, Nashoba and Pakki have a friendlier temperament compared to specimens D and E, which have a less affiliative temperament. For the game temperament, the Nashoba and B specimens tend to play more, while the C, D, E and Pakki specimens had less gaming behaviors and do not tend to have this temperament. As for the agonistic temperament, it is difficult to determine it in Chapultepec due to the short amount of time it was observed in this zoo; however, in Aragón it was observed that Nashoba received multiple attacks from his father and for this reason he was separated from the group, while Pakki remained with few agonistic interactions until November 2021 in which they increased and he was also separated from the group, both can be considered submissive.