چرا سرعت؟ تأثیر اجتماعی، مسکن، مدیریت، تاریخ زندگی و خصوصیات جمعیت شناختی بر کلیشه های حرکتی در فیل ها

Stereotypic behaviors (SB) are common in zoo-housed elephants, and these behaviors can be performed at high rates. Elephants perform different SB forms (e.g., weaving, pacing), but no published studies have evaluated the factors contributing to the development or performance of these different forms. Instead, as with most SB studies across species, elephant studies have relied on analyses that aggregate all SB forms, which limits the development and testing of form-specific hypotheses or abatement practices. Our objectives were to characterize the SB forms of North American zoo elephants and use multivariable epidemiological models to test form-specific hypotheses. We videotaped 77 elephants (African: N = 5 males, 31 females; Asian N = 8 males, 33 females) at 39 zoos who performed SBs and used a novel classification scheme and 5-min instantaneous samples to characterize their SB forms. Locomotor and whole-body SBs were the most common, but most elephants who performed locomotor SBs also performed whole-body SBs. Thus, we characterized each elephant according to whether it included locomotion in its SB repertoire [Locomotor Presence (LP)] or only whole-body movements. We used binomial regression models fitted with generalized estimating equations to test hypotheses about which of 26 social, housing, management, life history, and demographic variables were most associated with LP. The odds of LP increased by 26% for every 10% increase in time housed separately (odds ratio = 1.026, p = 0.04), 96.2% for every additional social group with which an elephant had contact (odds ratio = 1.962, p = 0.01), and 46% for every 10% increase in time housed indoors (odds ratio = 1.046, p = 0.01). Age was non-significantly confounded with all three variables. We hypothesize that the social variables in our models increase LP risk because they are associated with uncontrollable social group changes, anticipation of potentially rewarding social experiences, or the frustration of social behaviors. The housing variable included in our model likely increases LP risk because indoor spaces are less complex, resulting in the channeling of walking or social avoidance behaviors into more simplistic movements. Overall, our results suggest that elephant managers may best be able to prevent locomotor SB by enhancing their elephants’ social environment and the spatial complexity of their enclosures. Future research should focus on determining whether addressing the risk factors for LP results in less frequent performance and identifying other temporally proximate eliciting factors.