Social Relationships of Captive Bachelor Przewalski’s Horses and Their Effect on Daily Activity and Space Use

Abstract

'Aleksandra Górecka-Bruzda' 'Giuseppe De Rosa'] Title: Simple Summary Studying social relationships and their effects on access to resources of endangered species maintained in captivity is important for ensuring well-being and success of potential releases into the wild. Here, we detail the relationships and daily activities, including space use, of endangered Przewalski’s horses kept in a zoo setting to better understand how to meet the needs of older male (bachelor) horses, an understudied stratum of sociobiology. In our study, we observed nine males (aged 6-21 years) housed together at the Askania-Nova Biosphere Reserve, Ukraine, collecting 65 h of behavioural data. We found that these males naturally split into three distinct subgroups based on their closeness in space and social interactions. Importantly, these subgroups behaved differently when it came to feeding, socializing, and moving but similarly when it came to devoting time to resting and being alert. Horses from different subgroups synchronized their behaviour and used key locations and, hence, resources of hay and water unequally. Our approach may help identify socially important traits, e.g., regarding the most suitable individuals for future releases into the wild, while also pointing out socially driven differences in access to resources that may be acted upon by managers to ensure equity in access to resources.