Abstract:
Activity budgets characterize the distribution of behavior over a specified time period. In some cases, having comparable data from free-ranging populations can help inform the management of wildlife in zoos and sanctuaries. For example, although variations exist across subspecies, seasons, and study sites, diurnal activity budgets for free-ranging gorillas largely consist of feeding and resting. Unfortunately, most studies do not consistently differentiate between the type of activities gorillas exhibit while locomoting versus stationary. Therefore, it can be difficult to characterize optimal levels of aerobic activity that might enhance body condition or promote gorilla health in zoos and sanctuaries. In this study, we concurrently measured the mobility state and activity of mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. From June to August 2015, behavioral data were collected using group scan sampling with 15-min intervals in two groups (N = 29 gorillas) monitored by the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International. Overall, gorillas spent significantly more time immobile (85.2% of observations) than mobile (14.8%), revealing energy expenditure levels comparable to western lowland gorillas living in zoos. There was no difference in behavioral diversity when gorillas were mobile versus immobile but adult females exhibited substantially less behavioral diversity while immobile than other age-sex classes. There was more diversity in behaviors following the transition from immobile to mobile than vice versa, particularly for adult females. Future studies should concurrently measure mobility state and behavior to improve the precision of activity budget data and serve as a more useful tool for evaluating optimal activity levels for wildlife in human care.
摘要:
活动预算表征指定时间段内的行为分布。在某些情况下,拥有来自自由放养种群的可比数据可以帮助为动物园和保护区的野生动植物管理提供信息。例如,尽管亚种之间存在差异,季节,和研究网站,自由放养大猩猩的昼夜活动预算主要包括进食和休息。不幸的是,大多数研究并不能一致地区分大猩猩在运动和静止时表现出的活动类型。因此,在动物园和保护区中,很难描述可能会改善身体状况或促进大猩猩健康的最佳有氧活动水平。在这项研究中,我们同时测量了火山国家公园山地大猩猩(大猩猩beringeiberingei)的活动状态和活动,卢旺达。2015年6月至8月,通过DianFossey大猩猩基金会国际监测的两组(N=29只大猩猩),以15分钟的间隔进行分组扫描采样,收集行为数据。总的来说,大猩猩花在不动的时间(85.2%的观测值)明显多于移动的时间(14.8%),揭示了与生活在动物园中的西部低地大猩猩相当的能量消耗水平。大猩猩活动与不活动时的行为多样性没有差异,但成年雌性活动时的行为多样性明显少于其他年龄性别类别。从固定到移动的过渡后,行为的多样性比反之亦然,尤其是成年女性。未来的研究应同时测量移动性状态和行为,以提高活动预算数据的准确性,并作为评估人类护理中野生动物最佳活动水平的更有用工具。