Using behavioral observations and keeper questionnaires to assess social relationships among captive female African...

Free-ranging African elephants are highly social animals that live in a society where age, size, kinship, and disposition all contribute to social rank. Although captive elephant herds are small and largely comprises of unrelated females, dominance hierarchies are common. The goal of this study was to delineate how the behavior of captive female African elephants varies with respect to age and social rank based on a combination of keeper questionnaires and behavioral observations. "Body movements" and "trunk to" behaviors of 33 nonpregnant female African elephants housed at 14 North American zoos were recorded over 8 hr. Keepers at each facility also rated each elephant based on a series of questions about interactions with herdmates. The assessment of social rank based on observations correlated strongly with ranks assigned by keepers via the questionnaires. Observations and questionnaire responses indicated that body weight of the female, and to a lesser extent age, were significantly related to rates and types of "body movements" and that these demographic factors dictate the captive elephant hierarchy, similar to that observed in the wild. Many of the observed "body movements," such as back away, displace, push, and present, were correlated with keeper questionnaire responses about elephant interactions. However, none of the "trunk to" behaviors were related to age, size, or questionnaire responses even though they occurred frequently. In conclusion, we demonstrated that short-term behavioral observations and keeper questionnaires provided similar behavioral profiles for female African elephants housed in North American zoos.