Are octopuses special? Mind, sociality and life history

Understanding the Umwelt or being-ness of an octopus is a fascinating problem. Mather’s review provides us with significant insights into the ways of living of non-humans that exploit a perceptual and physical world we can only guess at. Octopus “distributed minds” call into question our primate-based understandings of the importance of sociality and the pace of life in the evolution of complex perceptual and behavioural abilities

Are octopuses special? Mind, sociality and life history

Understanding the Umwelt or being-ness of an octopus is a fascinating problem. Mather’s review provides us with significant insights into the ways of living of non-humans that exploit a perceptual and physical world we can only guess at. Octopus “distributed minds” call into question our primate-based understandings of the importance of sociality and the pace of life in the evolution of complex perceptual and behavioural abilities

Global ivory trade has been banned for decades, so why are there still stockpiles?

First paragraph: China is the most recent nation to destroy its ivory stockpile. It is the world’s largest market for illegal ivory, and the move is welcome news for threatened elephant populations. Read article on The Conversation website: https://theconversation.com/global-ivory-trade-has-been-banned-for-decades-so-why-are-there-still-stockpiles-2202

Can We Sustainably Harvest Ivory?

This work was unfunded, DL and PL thank their families for their comprehension. PL thanks C. Moss and many private donors for supporting the Amboseli data collection. We thank Enrico Pirotta for early discussions about the model and reviewers whose suggestions improved the manuscript.Peer reviewedPostprintPostprin

Status of Zanzibar red colobus and Sykes's monkeys in two coastal forests in 2005

We censused two discrete subpopulations of the endangered Zanzibar red colobus (Procolobus kirkii) and sympatric Sykes's monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis albogularis) between February 2004 and September 2005 in two coastal forests in Zanzibar, including the northernmost (Kiwengwa-Pongwe Forest) and some of the southernmost (Uzi and Vundwe Islands) extents of P. kirkii's range. Surveys totalled 365 hours and 307.8 km along >16 km of line transects; 472 sightings were made (Red colobus n = 252; Sykes's monkey n = 220). The southern forests (coral rag with adjacent mangrove) of Uzi and Vundwe Islands were found to support P. kirkii at a higher estimated density (29.6 groups/km²) relative to the northern coral rag forest (lacking mangrove) in Kiwengwa-Pongwe (7.5 groups/km²). However, for red colobus in coral rag, up to c.40% these "groups" could be "sub-groups" based on our observations of consistent fission-fusion and small groups seen during the census (6.63 ± 0.4SE in Kiwengwa, 6.64 ± 0.33SE in Uzi) and behavioral follows in this habitat type. We therefore also include density estimates expressed as individuals/km² (49.72 individuals/km2 in Kiwengwa, 196.32 individuals/km² in Uzi). On Uzi and Vundwe Islands, colobus densities were higher than those of Sykes's monkey (Sykes's monkey density = 18.9 groups/km²), while we found no difference between the density of these two taxa in Kiwengwa (Sykes's monkey density = 8.1 groups/km²) where encounters with humans were more frequent, vegetation was more disturbed, and the two species often associated. Although these populations represented a fraction of the historical total population of red colobus and Sykes's monkeys on Zanzibar, their estimated abundance was significant, and their marginal habitat and unprotected status were important in the general context of primate conservation in unprotected and fragmented landscapes

Wild Western Lowland gorillas signal selectively using odor

Mammals communicate socially through visual, auditory and chemical signals. The chemical sense is the oldest sense and is shared by all organisms including bacteria. Despite mounting evidence for social chemo-signalling in humans, the extent to which it modulates behavior is debated and can benefit from comparative models of closely related hominoids. The use of odor cues in wild ape social communication has been only rarely explored. Apart from one study on wild chimpanzee sniffing, our understanding is limited to anecdotes. We present the first study of wild gorilla chemo-communication and the first analysis of olfactory signalling in relation to arousal levels and odor strength in wild apes. If gorilla scent is used as a signalling mechanism instead of only a sign of arousal or stress, odor emission should be context specific and capable of variation as a function of the relationships between the emitter and perceiver(s). Measured through a human pungency scale, we determined the factors that predicted extreme levels of silverback odor for one wild western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) group silverback. Extreme silverback odor was predicted by the presence and intensity of inter-unit interactions, silverback anger, distress and long-calling auditory rates, and the absence of close proximity between the silverback and mother of the youngest infant. Odor strength also varied according to the focal silverback's strategic responses during high intensity inter-unit interactions. Silverbacks appear to use odor as a modifiable form of communication; where odor acts as a highly flexible, context dependent signalling mechanism to group members and extra-group units. The importance of olfaction to ape social communication may be especially pertinent in Central African forests where limited visibility may necessitate increased reliance on other senses

Play in Elephants: Wellbeing, Welfare or Distraction?

We explore elephant play behaviour since (a) play has been proposed to represent a potential welfare indicator; and (b) play has been associated with long-term survival in the wild. We categorised play into four types, and investigate both social (gentle, escalated-contact) and non-social (lone-locomotor, exploratory-object) play from observations made on wild (Asian N = 101; African N = 130) and captive (Asian N = 8; African N = 7) elephant calves ranging in age from birth to five years. Social play was the most frequent type of play among immature elephants, accounting for an average of 3%–9% of active time. Non-social play accounted for an additional 1%–11% of time. The most time spent in play was seen in captive Asian calves, particularly at the ages of 1–6 months, while wild African calves spent the least time in play overall, even though they had the greatest number and most diverse range of play partners available. We assessed calf energetics using time spent suckling, resting, moving and independent feeding. Time spent playing was unrelated to time spent suckling but negatively associated with time spent independently feeding. There were no associations with time spent moving or resting. Maternal energy via lactation was unrelated to play early in life, but energy acquired independently may constrain or enable play. Play, while a potential indicator of compromised welfare for many species when absent, can act as a highly stimulating activity for captive elephants in the absence of other forms of arousal

A “halfway house” for improving captive welfare

It is certainly time to aim for higher quality management strategies for Thailand’s captive elephants, and to engage with sustainable livelihoods for traditional mahouts. Baker & Winkler’s proposal to rewild Thai elephants by placing them under the guardianship of Karen mahouts is recognized as not “wild” since it remains a form of management requiring elephants to live under the control of human caregivers. We applaud the positive welfare aims of this proposal; however, we caution that few of the long-term consequences for elephants or habitats can be known, and further considerations of elephant population dynamics and forest ecosystems are required if these proposals are to be successful for conservation and elephant welfare

African elephant play, competence and social complexity

Play in African elephants (Loxodonta africana) is a life-long activity, with both males and females engaging in a variety of forms of play into their 40s and 50s. Play represents a potentially enriching social and physical activity for elephants, but also one with energetic costs and other risks. Having followed a cohort of individually recognized elephants from birth to adulthood in Amboseli, Kenya, we suggest here some long-term consequences for the role of play in the development of social and physical skills in elephants. Playful elephant calves appeared to be individuals with greater capacity to resist growth insults or stresses and had a reduced risk of dying as adults. The sexes differed in the social contexts and consequences of their early play experiences. Juvenile males used play as a mechanism to enable relaxed contacts with relative strangers, providing vital physical and behavioral information about future friends, associates and reproductive competitors. Females, by contrast, used play as one of the many mechanism for sustaining their social, protective and leadership roles within families

Human impact on western lowland gorilla behaviour

First paragraph: Western lowland gorilla tourism exists on a considerably smaller scale than that of the high profile mountain gorillas. Yet the successful habituation of several western lowland gorilla groups, combined with demand from international tourists and revenue expectations from local governments, have resulted in the expansion of western gorilla tourist programs and increasing research presence. A major concern of ape tourism is the heightened risk of human-ape disease transmission, which can have severe consequences for habituated ape populations. Chronic stressors may act to lower ape immunity and thus increase their susceptibility to disease. Guidelines have been designated to diminish these risks, such as a minimum observer-gorilla distance of 7 m. However, this distance limit is based mainly on mountain gorilla disease transmission risks and takes little account of the potential psychological impact of close human presence. The Bai Hokou study site, located in the Dzanga-Sangha Protected Areas Complex of the Central African Republic, was selected in 1997 to develop a long-term gorilla habituation project for ecotourism and research. One of Bai Hokou's tenets is to monitor human impact when following western lowland gorillas, identify potential negative triggers, and through this process learn how to best minimize the disturbance caused by human observers following habituated or semi-habituated groups. This study forms the second stage of a longer-term project designed to evaluate human impact on one particular western gorilla group at different stages of the habituation process