Survey of current group demographics and management practices of bachelor groups of western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) across North America.
bachelor
gorilla
management
protocols
training
Journal
Zoo biology
ISSN: 1098-2361
Titre abrégé: Zoo Biol
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 8807837
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
Nov 2022
Nov 2022
Historique:
revised:
05
01
2022
received:
04
11
2020
accepted:
18
01
2022
pubmed:
10
2
2022
medline:
15
12
2022
entrez:
9
2
2022
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
Recommendations for the successful management and maintenance of bachelor groups of western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) in zoological settings have been an increasingly prevalent focus within the zoological community. Over the past two decades, studies have examined the impact of various environmental factors on the stability of bachelor groups, proposed management strategies for bachelor groups, and compared behavioral trends between bachelor and mixed-sex groups. These studies have clearly demonstrated that bachelor groups are complex social units that require specialized management approaches. In this study, we aimed to assess the extent to which bachelor group management across North American zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums aligns with established recommendations. We distributed a comprehensive survey broadly encompassing habitat and housing, aggression and wounding, group demographics, feeding, and training to the 22 zoos housing bachelor groups as of 2019. We received completed surveys from 19 zoos, representing a total of 21 social units and 59 individual gorillas. We used descriptive statistics to represent the range of current management strategies across the surveyed population and ANOVAs to assess significant variation in key demographic variables. Our results demonstrate that a majority of zoos have adopted the best practices for the formation of social groups established by Stoinski et al. in 2004. However, there is much less standardization across zoos in protocols surrounding training and feeding. Additionally, important variables in the assessment of wounding, such as time of day and location, are often unknown or not observed by animal care professionals. We highlight these two areas as being of particular focus in developing and adhering to consistent protocols across institutions.
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
512-521Informations de copyright
© 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.
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