Social significance of trunk use in captive Asian elephants

Yasui, Saki; Idani, Gen’ichi

doi:10.1080/03949370.2016.1179684

Cited by 10 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Based on this concept, we suggest that social context can favour or at least modify the expression of lateralization of trunk use in elephants as compared with non-social context. Elephants use their trunks in various aspects of intraspecific interactions, for example, in tactile, chemosensory and display behaviour (e.g., Rasmussen and Schulte, 1998;Loizi et al, 2009;Yasui and Idani, 2016). Here we assessed lateralized use of the trunk during feeding and social contacts in wild Asian elephants.…”

Section: Animal Behaviourmentioning

confidence: 99%

Context-dependent lateralization of trunk movements in wild Asian elephants

Giljov

Silva

Karenina

2017

BioComm

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Asymmetrical trunk use in elephants represents a distinctive example of motor lateralization. Previous studies have shown that trunk movements in the elephant behaviour associated with feeding is lateralized at the individual, but not the population level. The manifestation of lateralized behaviour depends on the nature of the behaviour and is usually more pronounced in social context. Therefore, we hypothesized that population-level lateralization of trunk use in elephants is manifested in social behaviour. One-sided biases in trunk movements were assessed in wild individually-identified Asian elephants during feeding (tearing off a tuft of grass) and social interactions (trunk-to-mouth contacts and trunk-to-genitals contacts between male initiator and female recipient). In feeding, lateralization at the individual and population levels was estimated based on 50 lateral trunk uses per individual. In social interactions, only the population-level bias was assessed using a single trunk contact from each individual. For trunk movements during feeding, elephants showed robust individual preferences, but no population-level lateralization. The distribution of right-and left-trunkers in the present study did not differ significantly from that obtained in previous studies of both the same elephant population and geographically distinct population. No population-level bias in trunk movements during trunk-to-mouth contacts was revealed. In trunk-to-genitals contacts, in contrast, a population-level lateralization was found. Right-sided trunk movements prevailed in males touching females. While individual preferences for feeding, combined with the absence of one-sided population bias, is obviously a species-typical characteristic of Asian elephants, social behaviour, such as male-female socio-sexual contacts, can elicit population-level lateralization of trunk use in this species. The right-sided bias in trunk-to-genitals contacts may reflect lateralization of olfactory perception. If this is the case, the revealed lateralization indicates a right-hemispheric advantage in the processing of social information which is consistent with the general tendency in mammals.

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Section: Animal Behaviourmentioning

confidence: 99%

Context-dependent lateralization of trunk movements in wild Asian elephants

Giljov

Silva

Karenina

2017

BioComm

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“…Positive interaction networks were more complex and interlinked than negative interaction networks, and no extreme aggression was observed. Positive interactions strengthen social bonds of animals [1,4] and thus it would be expected that all individuals would benefit from engaging in these types of interactions to some degree. Positive interactions included the entire herd, whereas negative interactions were restricted to specific individuals or a subset of individuals from the entire social group.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Animal "friendships" or relationships can be assessed via proximity to others [2,3] or through physical interactions [2], with strong social relationships being characterised by frequent and symmetrical affiliative social interactions that are consistent over time [2]. Tactile behaviour is an important part of the maintenance of social relationships in several mammalian species [4], playing a role in establishing, maintaining and reinforcing social bonds [5,6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Understanding Temporal Social Dynamics in Zoo Animal Management: An Elephant Case Study

Williams

Bremner‐Harrison

Hall

et al. 2020

Animals

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Zoo animal management procedures which lead to changes to social groups can cause disruption in social hierarchies and the temporary breakdown of social relationships. Animals have different roles in social networks. Understanding individual positions in social networks is important for effective management and ensuring positive welfare for all animals. Using elephants as a case study, the aim of this research was to investigate temporal social dynamics in zoo animals. Behavioural data were collected between January 2016 and February 2017 from 10 African and 22 Asian elephants housed at seven zoos and safari parks in the UK and Ireland. Social interactions were defined as positive physical, positive non-physical, negative physical or negative non-physical. Social network analysis explored social relationships including the fluidity of networks over time and dyadic reciprocity. Social interaction networks were found to be fluid but did not follow a seasonal pattern. Positive interaction networks tended to include the entire social group whereas negative interactions were restricted to specific individuals. Unbalanced ties were observed within dyads, suggesting potential inequalities in relationships. This could impact on individual experiences and welfare. This research highlights subtle temporal dynamics in zoo elephants with the potential for species-level differences. Similar temporal dynamics may also be present in other socially housed zoo species. This research thus provides evidence for the importance of understanding the social networks of zoo animals over longer periods of time. Understanding social networks enables pro-active and evidence-based management approaches. Further research should seek to identify the minimum sampling efforts for social networks in a range of species, to enable the implementation of regular monitoring of social networks and thus improve the welfare of social species under human care.

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“…Positive physical interactions in this study were predominantly categorised as trunk to- behaviours (touching another elephant with the trunk in a non-aggressive manner) or social play. Trunk to- behaviours are a means of providing reassurance and comfort in elephants [58]. Positive interactions and specifically conspecific play were related to the presence of calves in groups and age of individuals, which was predicted based on knowledge of wild elephant social group structures.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Interactions in Zoo-Housed Elephants: Factors Affecting Social Relationships

Williams

Carter

Hall

et al. 2019

Animals

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Simple SummaryIn the wild, elephants live in large, complex social groups. Herds consist of a mixed structure of related females and their calves. One area of concern regarding the maintenance of zoo elephants has been the inability to provide them with social groupings that reflect wild group structure, and whether this impacts on their welfare. Here, we investigated whether a number of factors at the individual (e.g., personality, age or relatedness to others) and zoo (e.g., herd size, presence of calves in the group) level affected the frequency of social interactions in zoo elephant herds. Interactions were defined as positive or negative and then subdivided into physical and non-physical interactions. Social interactions were found to be related to age, personality, presence of calves in the herd, relatedness to other elephants in the herd and species (African or Asian). Calves engaged in the greatest amount of positive interactions but no extreme aggression was observed between any individuals, which was considered indicative of good social management. Increasing understanding about social structures that are affecting elephant relationships enables targeted management plans to be created, in order to provide elephants with the most appropriate social environments. These findings support the recommendations that elephants should be housed in related herds with multiple ages wherever possible, but they also highlight that unrelated elephants can still form compatible and successful social groups.AbstractElephants have complex social systems that are predominantly driven by ecological factors in situ. Within zoos, elephants are held in relatively static social groups and the factors observed driving social relationships in the wild are largely absent. Little research has investigated the effect of social group factors in zoos on elephant social interactions. The aim of this research was to establish whether there is a relationship between social group factors and social behaviour, in order to identify factors that make elephant herds more or less likely to be compatible. Results will facilitate recommendations for optimum social groupings for zoo elephants. Behavioural data quantifying social interactions were collected between January 2016 and February 2017 at seven UK and Irish zoos and safari parks from 10 African and 22 Asian elephants. Social interactions were split into four categories: positive physical, positive non-physical, negative physical and negative non-physical. Social interactions were related to age (positive physical higher and negative non-physical lower in calves than adults), personality (elephants with higher sociability scores engaged in more positive interactions and less negative interactions), presence of calves in the herd (herds with calves had more positive non-physical), relatedness to other elephants in the herd (positive non-physical were higher when relatives were in the group and negative non-physical were higher between unrelated elephants) and species (Asian elephants engag...

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Social significance of trunk use in captive Asian elephants

Cited by 10 publications

References 48 publications

Context-dependent lateralization of trunk movements in wild Asian elephants

Context-dependent lateralization of trunk movements in wild Asian elephants

Understanding Temporal Social Dynamics in Zoo Animal Management: An Elephant Case Study

Social Interactions in Zoo-Housed Elephants: Factors Affecting Social Relationships

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