Department of Biology, Regis University, CO, USA.
Department of Animal Wellness and Research, Denver Zoo, CO, USA.
J Appl Anim Welf Sci. 2023 Jul-Sep;26(3):447-462. doi: 10.1080/10888705.2021.1998777. Epub 2021 Nov 11.
To evaluate elephant welfare, it is important to understand their use of time both during day and night. The length of social relationships can influence how much time they spend in different activities. We assessed daytime and nighttime activity budgets of male Asian elephants at Denver Zoo and examined how length of relationships influenced nighttime behavior. Using scan sampling we investigated activity budget and proximity to a conspecific, and used General Estimating Equations to compare them across day and night and across new and established dyads at night. During daytime, elephants spent significantly more time exhibiting affiliative and agonistic behaviors, and in proximity to a conspecific, and less time resting, compared to night. Overnight, the odds of resting were significantly lower in new social dyads compared to established dyads, and new dyads spent more time exhibiting agonistic behavior and in proximity to a conspecific compared to established dyads. Our study suggests that male elephants at Denver Zoo have developed strong relationships and highlights the importance of systematically observing elephants overnight so that managers make decisions that improve animal welfare.
为了评估大象的福利，了解它们在白天和夜间的时间利用情况非常重要。社会关系的长短会影响它们在不同活动中花费的时间。我们评估了丹佛动物园雄性亚洲象的白天和夜间活动预算，并研究了关系的长短如何影响夜间行为。我们使用扫描采样法调查了活动预算和与同类的接近程度，并使用广义估计方程比较了白天和夜间以及夜间新建立和已建立的对偶体之间的差异。在白天，大象与同类的接近程度以及表现出亲和和攻击行为的时间明显多于夜间，休息的时间则相对较少。在夜间，新的社会对偶体比已建立的对偶体休息的可能性显著降低，新的对偶体表现出攻击行为和与同类接近的时间也比已建立的对偶体多。我们的研究表明，丹佛动物园的雄性大象已经建立了牢固的关系，这强调了系统观察大象夜间行为的重要性，以便管理人员做出改善动物福利的决策。
