1. Social Dominance and enclosure space use in a reduced size pack of captive
African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus)
•Focal animal sampling
•Behavior was recorded and classified as
affiliative, neutral, or aggressive.
•Enclosure was divided into 6 divisions and the
location of the dogs was recorded.
•Chi-squared test was used to analyze data
•The male showed affiliative behavior towards the
female, an indication of that he recognizes the female
as his social dominant (Figure 1).
•The female was the pack leader 85.7% of the time
and the male was the leader 14.3% of the time.
•When food enrichment was present the male initiated
aggressive behavior directed towards the female
(Figure 2).
•Every division of the enclosure was utilized by the
male and female (Figures 3 and 4).
•The results support the hypothesis that the social
hierarchy amongst the African wild dogs is not as
rigid as a natural pack dynamic.
•The female seems to be dominant in a social
context, but when food is present the male wins in
aggressive stand offs indicating dominance.
•The enclosure is appropriate because they are
utilizing all of the divisions.
•They have a preference for certain divisions of the
enclosure, but use each of them indicates that they
are not constrained into any one division.
•The insights this study provides on the dogs’
social hierarchy, pack dynamic, and enclosure use
in captivity can help guide zookeepers in their
handling decisions to best promote the welfare and
conservation of the African wild dog.
How is the order of the social hierarchy affected
in a pack of captive African wild dogs that is
much smaller than a natural pack?
Is the zoo enclosure appropriate for the African
wild dogs?
•The Audubon Zoo in New Orleans currently
houses a reduced pack of only two African wild
dogs which creates the opportunity to observe their
dominance behaviors and their pack dynamic in
captivity.
•H1: The reduced pack size influences the order of
the social hierarchy because the natural pack
dynamic is altered.
•The male will be subordinate to the female, but will
also display dominant behaviors.
•When food enrichment is present the male will
show more displays of aggressive behavior towards
the female.
•H2: The use of the enclosure will reveal if it is
appropriate for them.
•All divisions of the enclosure will be utilized
because it’s sufficiently large enough for the dogs.
I would like to thank the Audubon Zoo Staff; specifically, EJ
and Chelsey who gave me the idea for my project and the
tools to execute it. I would also like to thank Dr. Jordan
Karubian, Erik Enbody, and my fellow students for providing
valuable insight and guidance during the development and
execution of my project.
Introduction
Methods
Acknowledgements
Conclusions
The male was the only initiator of aggression and was
successful in each aggressive face off (n=11).
Figure 1 Title Figures 3 and 4
ResultsFigure 2Questions Figure 1
Above: The most frequently used divisions were 2 and 6 and they contained a greater variety of structures than the other
divisions. Below: The male had a greater frequency of entrances into more of the divisions of the enclosure than the female
( =104.89, df=5, P<0.001).
Sophie Kontur
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, U.S.A.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Affiliative Aggressive
NumberofObservations
Type of Behavior
Male
Female
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Neutral Affiliative Aggressive
NumberofObservations
Type of Behavior
Male
Female
The male shows significantly more affiliative and
aggressive behavior than the female ( =6.39, df=2,
P=0.04).
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
1 2 3 4 5 6
Numberof
Observations
Enclosure Division
Male
Female
1
2
3
4
5
6
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