Collective movements during visits to water bodies in wild Asian elephants

Mizuno, Kaori, Ranjeewa, Ashoka DG ORCID: 0000-0003-2022-6237, Kutsukake, Nobuyuki and Padmalal, Kalinga UKG (2023) Collective movements during visits to water bodies in wild Asian elephants. Journal of Ethology, 41. pp. 223-230. doi:10.1007/s10164-023-00790-5

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14035 Mizuno, Ranjeewa, Kutsukake, Padmalal (2023) Collective movements during visits to water bodies in wild Asian elephants.pdf - Accepted Version
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Abstract

Collective movements feature multiple consecutive processes involving diferent types of initiative behavior. It remains unclear whether, and to what extent, the same individual consecutively performs diferent initiative behaviors in a single collective-movement event. We conducted behavioral observations of wild Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) visiting a water body in Udawalawe National Park, Sri Lanka. We analyzed 32 collective-movement events involving 51 individually identifed adult females. We used randomization tests to compare the observed and expected frequencies of initiative behavior by a particular individual. We found that adults were more likely to exhibit such behavior than the expected frequencies. We also found that a single female, generally the oldest female, consecutively engaged in three types of initiative behavior more frequently than expected, although their occurrence did not constitute the majority of cases (6/23). This low consecutiveness among Asian elephants may be related to their fssion–fusion dynamics and lack of core groups. Our results highlight the importance of analyzing multiple initiative behaviors associated with collective movement.

Item Type: Article
Article Type: Article
Subjects: Q Science > QL Zoology
Divisions: Schools and Research Institutes > School of Education and Science
Research Priority Areas: Place, Environment and Community
Depositing User: Ashoka Deegoda Gamage
Date Deposited: 28 May 2024 11:39
Last Modified: 22 Jun 2024 04:15
URI: https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/14035

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