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The environment matters: season and female contact affect the behavior of captive Addax nasomaculatus male antelope

The environment matters: season and female contact affect the behavior of captive Addax... The addax antelope (Addax nasomaculatus) is a species under serious threat of extinction, as it is more abundant in captivity than in the wild. However, little is known about its basic biology. The aims of this study were to determine how locomotor, feeding, aggressive, marking, and sexual behavior of male addax allocated in all-male groups vary with season and with female contact (i.e., biostimulation). The study was conducted in captive conditions, in two groups of adult males: one with no-physical contact with females, aside from visual and olfactory interactions (CF group, n = 4), and another group completely isolated from females (IF group, n = 4). The frequency of behaviors was recorded during the daytime, 4 days per season (total time of observation = 256 h). Lying, standing, walking, aggressive, marking, grazing, and ruminating behaviors as well as water and supplement consumptions varied with season (all p < 0.05). The lying, walking, marking, grazing, and ruminating behaviors were more frequently observed for CF than IF males (all p < 0.05). Also, all behaviors, except for marking, varied with the interaction between the group and seasons (all p < 0.05). Sexual behavior was extremely scarce, so it was not possible to analyze how it varied with seasons and the group. The present study suggests that management program and housing conditions, especially in ex situ breeding plans, should consider the influence of the season and the sociosexual context on the behavior of addax males. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png acta ethologica Springer Journals

The environment matters: season and female contact affect the behavior of captive Addax nasomaculatus male antelope

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References (59)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) under exclusive licence to ISPA, CRL 2023. corrected publication 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
ISSN
0873-9749
eISSN
1437-9546
DOI
10.1007/s10211-023-00419-3
Publisher site
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Abstract

The addax antelope (Addax nasomaculatus) is a species under serious threat of extinction, as it is more abundant in captivity than in the wild. However, little is known about its basic biology. The aims of this study were to determine how locomotor, feeding, aggressive, marking, and sexual behavior of male addax allocated in all-male groups vary with season and with female contact (i.e., biostimulation). The study was conducted in captive conditions, in two groups of adult males: one with no-physical contact with females, aside from visual and olfactory interactions (CF group, n = 4), and another group completely isolated from females (IF group, n = 4). The frequency of behaviors was recorded during the daytime, 4 days per season (total time of observation = 256 h). Lying, standing, walking, aggressive, marking, grazing, and ruminating behaviors as well as water and supplement consumptions varied with season (all p < 0.05). The lying, walking, marking, grazing, and ruminating behaviors were more frequently observed for CF than IF males (all p < 0.05). Also, all behaviors, except for marking, varied with the interaction between the group and seasons (all p < 0.05). Sexual behavior was extremely scarce, so it was not possible to analyze how it varied with seasons and the group. The present study suggests that management program and housing conditions, especially in ex situ breeding plans, should consider the influence of the season and the sociosexual context on the behavior of addax males.

Journal

acta ethologica – Springer Journals

Published: Jun 1, 2023

Keywords: Biostimulation; Female effect; Ruminant; Endangered; Ex situ conservation

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