Search the Article Database:

Search our library of articles, papers and other published materials. You can use keywords or boolean-style search:

Social Network-Proximity Association: Preliminary Evaluation of Giraffe Sociality in a Zoo-Housed Group

Giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) are found in zoos all over the world. In recent years, numerous researchers have documented complex sociality in these mammals. They highlighted that giraffes have non-random preferences in their choices of social partners, which can depend on various factors such as age, sex, and kinship. One of the still little-known aspects is how the social structure of giraffes is formed in captivity. Moreover, the scientific literature about some aspects of the social structure of giraffes in captivity

View Details + Download

A comparative perspective on the evolution of mammalian reactions to dead conspecifics

In a variety of mammalian species, mothers and others care for and/or carry deceased newborns, and sometimes other conspecifics. The rationale for such behavior remains elusive. Based upon field observations of olive baboon (Papio anubis), African elephant (Loxodonta africana), and Thornicroft’s giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) responses to recently dead conspecifics, combined with reports in the literature, a hypothesis is proposed to account for this activity. Among female mammals, lifetime reproductive success is more dependent upon rearing, than production, of offspring. The

View Details + Download

Seasonal changes in social networks of giraffes

Fission-fusion social societies allow animals to respond in a flexible manner to environmental changes by adapting the size and composition of a group. Although group members change frequently in these systems, associations with preferred partners may be found. In this study, we examined the grouping patterns of a population of 80 individual giraffes in a fenced South African game reserve over a 12-month period. Using social network analyses as a tool to evaluate observed associations, we subsequently analysed both sex-

View Details + Download

Fission-fusion dynamics in wild giraffes may be driven by kinship, spatial overlap and individual social preferences

Many species exhibit fission-fusion dynamics, yet the factors that influence the frequent changes in group size and membership in these species have not been widely studied. Social ties may be influenced by kinship but animals may also form preferred associations because of social attraction or may only associate because they have similar habitat preferences. We investigated the association patterns of 535 wild giraffes, Giraffa camelopardalis, in Etosha National Park, Namibia using behavioural and genetic data from individually identified giraffes. We

View Details + Download

Social networks, long-term associations and age-related sociability of wild giraffes

Long-term studies of sociality in wild animals are rare, despite being critical for determining the benefits of social relationships and testing how long such relationships last and whether they change as individuals age. Knowledge about social relationships in animal species that exhibit fission-fusion dynamics can enhance our understanding of the evolution of close social bonds in humans, who also have a fission-fusion social system. We analysed the social network of wild giraffes, Giraffa camelopardalis, in Etosha National Park, Namibia, from

View Details + Download

Age proximity influences herd composition in wild giraffe

In many mammalian species, animals form subunits within larger groups that are often associated with kinship and/or age proximity. Kinship mediates fission/fusion social dynamics of giraffe herds, but the role of age proximity has been unexamined. Here, we analyze 34 years of data from a population of Thornicroft’s giraffe, Giraffa camelopardalis thornicroftii, living in Zambia in order to assess the extent to which age proximity influences herd composition. We show for the first time that calves born into the same cohort

View Details + Download

Gazing at a giraffe gyroscope: where are we going?

Giraffe are popular animals to watch while on wildlife safaris, and feature prominently in zoos, advertisements, toys and cartoons. Yet, until recently, few field studies have focused on giraffe. We introduce this giraffe topic issue with a review essay that explores five primary questions: How many (sub) species of giraffe exist? What are the dynamics of giraffe herds? How do giraffe communicate? What is the role of sexual selection in giraffe reproduction? How many giraffe reside in Africa? A confluence

View Details + Download
© All articles are copyrighted to the original authors/publishers unless otherwise stated. Any PDF files provided by the GRC are for personal use only and may not be reproduced. The files reflect the holdings of the GRC library and only contain pages relevant to giraffe study, and may not be complete. Users are obliged to follow all copyright restrictions.

Privacy Policy Cookie Policy