Network analysis of social changes in a captive chimpanzee community following the successful integration of two adult groups
Open accessAbstract
Chimpanzees are highly territorial and have the potential to be extremely aggressive toward unfamiliar individuals. In the wild, transfer between groups is almost exclusively completed by nulliparous females, yet in captivity there is often a need to introduce and integrate a range of individuals, including adult males. We describe the process of successfully integrating two groups of chimpanzees, each containing 11 individuals, in the Budongo Trail facility at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland's Edinburgh Zoo. We use social network analysis to document changes in group dynamics within this population over the 16 months following integration. Aggression rates were low overall and members of the two original groups engaged in significantly fewer aggressive interactions over time. Association and grooming data indicate that relationships between members of the original groups became stronger and more affiliative with time. Despite these positive indicators the association data revealed the continued existence of two distinct subgroups, a year after integration. Our data show that when given complex space and freedom to exhibit natural fission-fusion groupings, in which the chimpanzees choose whom they wish to associate and interact with, the building of strong affiliative relationships with unfamiliar individuals is a very gradual process.
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“Providing chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ) with the opportunity to engage in fission-fusion dynamics, akin to those found in wild populations, led to lower rates of aggression [7].”
- Authors
- SCHEL, A. M., RAWLINGS, B., CLAIDIÈRE, N., WILKE, C., WATHAN, J., RICHARDSON, J., PEARSON, S., S. HERRELKO, E., WHITEN, A., & SLOCOMBE, K.
- Affiliations
- University of York (GB)
- University of St Andrews (GB)
- Department of Psychology University of York York United Kingdom
- Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (GB)
- Royal Zoological Society of Scotland Edinburgh Zoo Edinburgh United Kingdom
- Corresponding author
- SLOCOMBE, KATIE
- ORCID
- Venue
- American Journal of Primatology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2012-11-28
- Volume
- 75
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 254-266
- ISSN
- 0275-2565 (ISSN-L)
- 1098-2345
- OpenAlex
- W1545849685
- Cited by
- 65
- References
- 45
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 6 · 2013: 4
- FWCI
- 4.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Locations
- American Journal of Primatology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Stirling Online Research Repository (University of Stirling) (submittedVersion)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/G00613X/1)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Keywords
- chimpanzees, group integration, social network analysis, affiliative relationships, grooming, association behavior, aggression, fission-fusion dynamics, territoriality, subgroups
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Animals, Zoo, Pan troglodytes, Female, Male, Models, Biological, Scotland, Social Behavior
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