Influence of food distribution on behavior in captive bongos, Taurotragus euryceros: An experimental investigation
✍ Scribed by Udo Ganslosser; Christine Brunner
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1997
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 68 KB
- Volume
- 16
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0733-3188
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
A feeding experiment was conducted to test if Bongo antelopes, being selective feeders searching for clumped quality food, show similar behavior changes as primates under similar conditions. One group of 3 females and 3 calves at Dvur Kralove Zoo was either fed clumped (all food, i.e., leaves and branches of 4 species of tree plus rye grass in one heap), or the same amount distributed over as many heaps as animals present. No increase in agonistic interactions under clumped conditions was found, but non-agonistic and sociopositive patterns increased significantly. Intake of low quality food increased under clumped conditions. Social distances and enclosure use were not significantly different. These findings are in accordance with predictions from models developed for primate feeding strategies, and suggest that selectively feeding antelopes possess behavioral mechanisms for tension-reduction similar to "contest-type" primates.