Department of Biological Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Am J Primatol. 2011 Aug;73(8):748-57. doi: 10.1002/ajp.20903. Epub 2010 Nov 30.
Social network analysis (SNA) is rapidly gaining popularity in primatology, but its application to the management of zoo-housed primates has been largely overlooked. Here I use SNA techniques to explore the social structure of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) housed in the new "Budongo Trail" exhibit at Edinburgh Zoo, UK. Given that individuals have extensive space (2332 m(2)), and access to several interconnected exhibit sections, I test the hypothesis that individuals are able to choose to interact with specific social partners. Spatial association and social interaction data were recorded from 400 focal watches on 11 individuals, and association, affiliative, and agonistic networks were constructed. Matrix correlations showed that individuals who spent time in close proximity were likely to affiliate with one another, but spatial association did not predict the frequency of agonistic encounters. Cluster analysis revealed significantly distinct sub-groups in the affiliative network (but not association or agonistic networks) in line with maternal kinship. Overall my findings support the hypothesis that the Budongo Trail exhibit facilitates the expression of social preferences, and suggests that SNA can be a useful tool to study zoo primates when proximity between individuals is not forced (i.e. in large, modern exhibits). Now that I have validated a set of SNA methods for this community, they can be used to trace changes in social dynamics over a longer time period, and ultimately assist zoo staff in their management decisions.
社会网络分析（SNA）在灵长类动物学中迅速流行起来，但它在圈养灵长类动物管理中的应用在很大程度上被忽视了。在这里，我使用 SNA 技术来探索英国爱丁堡动物园新的“布顿戈小径”展区中圈养的黑猩猩（Pan troglodytes）的社会结构。鉴于个体拥有广阔的空间（2332 平方米），并可以进入几个相互连接的展区，我测试了个体能够选择与特定社交伙伴互动的假设。从 11 只个体的 400 次焦点观察中记录了空间关联和社交互动数据，并构建了关联、亲和和攻击网络。矩阵相关性表明，近距离相处的个体更有可能相互亲和，但空间关联并不能预测攻击事件的频率。聚类分析显示，在亲和网络中（而不是在关联或攻击网络中）存在明显不同的亚群，与母系亲缘关系一致。总的来说，我的研究结果支持了“布顿戈小径”展区有助于表达社交偏好的假设，并表明 SNA 可以成为研究动物园灵长类动物的有用工具，尤其是在个体之间的距离不是强制的情况下（即在大型、现代化的展区中）。既然我已经验证了一套适用于该群体的 SNA 方法，那么它们就可以用来追踪更长时间内社会动态的变化，并最终帮助动物园工作人员做出管理决策。
