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Improving captive environments for primates has been an important tool to enhance animal welfare. One method has been to provide primates with naturalistic vegetated enclosures to promote species‐specific behaviors, enhancing interactions with their social and natural environment, such as an increase in feeding, foraging, and positive social behaviors such as play. To investigate the benefits in which living in naturalistic environments promote general animal well‐being, we observed immature and adult males living in two outdoor housed groups of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) in the Kyoto University Primate Research Institute (KUPRI), Inuyama, Japan, from June of 2015 until June 2016. One enclosure was naturally vegetated and the other was not. We recorded male activity budgets, affiliative (groom, play) behaviors, and rates of agonistic interactions. To examine health status, we recorded and compared coat conditions for both groups. We found that males in the vegetated enclosure spent more time in social play than males in the non‐vegetated enclosure, while males in the non‐vegetated enclosure displayed more stereotypic behaviors and agonistic interactions. We recorded better coat conditions in the vegetated enclosure males while rates of social grooming or self‐grooming were no different between males in the two enclosures. The males in the vegetated enclosure did not have activity budgets more similar to their wild counterparts; but they spent more time in feeding‐related activities and less time resting, which was more similar to their wild counterparts than males in the non‐vegetated enclosure. Our findings suggest that individuals housed in naturalistic environments have significantly greater behavioral and physical markers of wellbeing than those housed in unnatural, large outdoor enclosures. Although we found that males in both types of enclosures overall had similar time budgets to males in the wild, the detailed behavioral and health results suggest that the welfare benefits to males were greater in the vegetated enclosure, compared with non‐vegetated enclosures. Efforts to mimic more natural environments should promote the well‐being of primates. Highlights: Male monkeys living in enriched vegetated enclosures had better coat conditions and positive social behaviors such as play while monkeys living in non‐vegetated enclosures displayed more stereotypic behaviors and agonistic interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Giraffes live in a fission-fusion society (Bercovitch & Berry, 2012; Carter et al., 2013), with adult males often solitary, moving among female herds as a roaming reproductive strategy to assess female reproductive status (Bercovitch et al., 2006; Dagg, 2014). Actual values of hormone metabolite concentrations are only added for the female and the "winning" bull (M5) gl On day 6 M5 joined the herd and approached F19. We also observed F19 neck rubbing against M4's hindquarters, an affiliative giraffe behaviour (see Table 1 for daily descriptions of behaviours). Afterwards, M5 began mate guarding and cofeeding with F19, and several hours after the fight M5 started bumping into F19 and tapping against her hind legs using his front leg, a bull giraffe courtship activity. [Extracted from the article]

Abstract: Body size influences metabolic rate, which impacts feeding ecology. Body mass differs by sex in size‐dimorphic species, such as giraffes, and also by age. Giraffes reside in a fission–fusion social system, which influences feeding ecology due to frequent changes in group size and composition. We analysed 40 years of feeding records collected from a population of Thornicroft's giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis thornicrofti) living in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia. We examined the influence of herd composition, age and sex on diet. Solitary males and herd males did not differ in diet. Dietary diversity was comparable for females and males, with sex differences in plant species eaten present during the dry season. Age differences in feeding ecology were pronounced, with juveniles often feeding on bushes and smaller trees, while adults tended to feed upon taller trees. Both sexes have evolved foraging strategies that maximize nutrient and energy intake commensurate with their reproductive strategies, with male metabolic requirements sometimes greater, and sometimes less, than that of females. We propose that females are not exchanging foraging efficiency with reproductive tactics by feeding on smaller trees in the open, but are increasing prospects for their calves to survive when confronted with interspecific competition by browsers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gestation and longevity scale with body mass across taxa, yet within size dimorphic taxa, males tend to have reduced lifespans compared with females. Testing life history models, and accounting for sex differences in longevity, requires obtaining accurate longitudinal data from wild populations. We provide the first report describing key life history parameters from a long-term study of giraffes in Africa. We followed a population of Thornicroft's giraffe ( Giraffa camelopardalis thornicrofti) in Zambia for over 40 years. Maximum longevity among females was approximately 28 years, with lifespan accounting for 81% of the variance in lifetime reproductive success. Average adult female life expectancy was no different than average adult male life expectancy. However, the breeding lifespan of males was about half that of females, while maximum lifespan of males was 75% that of females. Our findings support the suggestion that sex differences in maximum lifespan arise from stronger selection for lengthy lives in females than in males. Among females, longer lives are associated with greater reproductive output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obtaining longitudinal data about the feeding ecology of long-lived iteroparous mammals is rare, but enhances our understanding of how the environment influences niche breadth and dietary diversity within a species. We analysed forty years of feeding records obtained from a population of Thornicroft's giraffes ( Giraffa camelopardalis thornicrofti) living in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia. Giraffes are browsers that have been reported to feed primarily upon Acacia leaves, but their feeding ecology in some locations conflict with this interpretation. Giraffes in the Luangwa Valley fed on 93 identified plant species, but only a few contributed to the bulk of the diet. Niche breadth was quite large (Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index H′ = 3.699) and about 13% more diverse during the dry, than wet, season. Key species eaten during the dry season were very consistent across decades, with Kigelia africana and Capparis tomentosa prominent at this time. The evolutionary ecology of giraffes has probably benefitted from a foraging strategy that includes a variable and high-quality diet during the hot, dry season, when feeding pressures are greatest. Giraffe feeding ecology has evolved in conjunction with their physiology, anatomy and morphology, resulting in an animal that is well adapted for survival in an arid environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In cohesive social groups, travel progressions are often led by dominant or older individuals, but the leadership traits of individuals residing in flexible social systems are poorly known. Giraffe reside in herds characterized by fission-fusion dynamics frequently mediated by kinship. We analyzed 41 years (1971-2012) of longitudinal data collected from a community of Thornicroft's giraffe ( Giraffa camelopardalis thornicrofti) living around South Luangwa National Park, Zambia, to assess the characteristics of herd leaders. Movement of giraffe in a single file progression was not associated with either season or time of day, but progressions were significantly more likely to occur when giraffe traveled in open areas. The oldest female in a herd was significantly more likely to be at the front position than expected, occupying the leadership niche on 79% of observations. We reason that matriarchal leadership in giraffe, as in African elephants, Loxodonta africana, is associated with resource learning. Giraffe societies are constructed on a heretofore unrecognized foundation that integrates relatedness and familiarity with matriarchal leadership in herd movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temporary all-male social groups are formed in a number of animal species. We examined 34 years of data collected from 36 male Thornicroft's giraffe in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia, to test a set of predictions related to five possible functions of all-male herds (predator protection, practicing aggressive skills, prolonging life, nutritional demands and resource learning). We found that all-male herds were significantly smaller than mixed-sex herds, usually contained a mature bull, and were not dependent upon season or habitat. Dyadic associations between males in single sex herds were quite weak, with <25% of potential male dyads sighted together in an all-male herd. Our data are best explained as a resource learning strategy adopted by males to obtain more extensive knowledge about the habitat, including both food and female distribution. However, other benefits in the form of predator protection, dietary intake and sharpening competitive skills for future contests over estrous females also seem to mediate formation of giraffe all-male groups. We conclude that the primary advantage of roaming in all-male herds changes during the life history of males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Birth site location can have enormous implications for female reproductive success. Some ungulate species demonstrate consistent birth site fidelity, while others shift birth locations during their lifetimes as a function of ecological and social factors. We plotted 39 years of birth records from a wild population of Thornicroft's giraffe, Giraffa camelopardalis thornicrofti, to test the hypothesis that giraffe use consistent locations for birth. Data from 29 calves born to nine females revealed that birth seasonality was absent and that ecological zone had no significant impact on birth locations. Consecutive births by individual females were not limited to certain locations, with the distance between sequential birth sites tending to be greater if a calf failed to survive the first year of life. Our evidence conflicts with the suggestion that giraffe cows regularly return to special locations for bearing calves. We suggest that the choice of birth location is a function of nonseasonal breeding, predator pressure and extensive variation in microhabitat characteristics within ecological zones. Female giraffe have evolved a flexible reproductive strategy, whereby they regulate choice of birth site location based upon their past reproductive history, current ecological conditions (including both resource availability and predator pressure) and present social surroundings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic studies not only contribute substantially to our current understanding of the natural variation in behavior and health in many species, they also provide the basis of numerous in vivo models of human traits. Despite the many challenges posed by the high level of biological and social complexity, a long lifespan and difficult access in the field, genetic studies of primates are particularly rewarding because of the close evolutionary relatedness of these species to humans. The free-ranging rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) population on Cayo Santiago (CS), Puerto Rico, provides a unique resource in this respect because several of the abovementioned caveats are of either minor importance there, or lacking altogether, thereby allowing long-term genetic research in a primate population under constant surveillance since 1956. This review summarizes more than 40 years of genetic research carried out on CS, from early blood group typing and the genetic characterization of skeletal material via population-wide paternity testing with DNA fingerprints and short tandem repeats (STRs) to the analysis of the highly polymorphic DQB1 locus within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). The results of the paternity studies also facilitated subsequent studies of male dominance and other factors influencing male reproductive success, of male reproductive skew, paternal kin bias, and mechanisms of paternal kin recognition. More recently, the CS macaques have been the subjects of functional genetic and gene expression analyses and have played an important role in behavioral and quantitative genetic studies. In addition, the CS colony has been used as a natural model for human adult-onset macular degeneration, glaucoma, and circadian rhythm disorder. Our review finishes off with a discussion of potential future directions of research on CS, including the transition from STRs to single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) typing and whole genome sequencing., (© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)