SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR AND PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT AS A TOOL FOR IMPROVING THE MANAGEMENT OF CHEETAHS (ACINONYX JUBATUS) IN CAPTIVITY Carly CHADWICK School of Environment and Life Sciences University of Salford, Salford, UK Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, January 2014 Contents List of Tables .............................................................................................................................. v List of Figures ........................................................................................................................... vii List of Equations ......................................................................................................................... x Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... xi Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... 1 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 2 1.1. Background .................................................................................................................. 2 1.2. Overview of the thesis ................................................................................................. 4 2. Literature Review .................................................................................................................. 6 2.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 6 2.2. Maintenance of social groups in captivity ................................................................... 6 2.3. Current status of the cheetah in the wild .................................................................... 11 2.4. Low genetic variation in the cheetah ......................................................................... 13 2.5. Cheetah reproduction in captivity .............................................................................. 17 2.6. Cheetah social organisation ....................................................................................... 20 2.6.1. Sociality in wild cheetahs ................................................................................... 20 2.6.2. Cheetah social groups in captivity ...................................................................... 25 2.7. Animal personality ..................................................................................................... 27 2.7.1. Personality and captive breeding: individual breeding success.......................... 31 2.7.2. Personality and captive breeding: pair compatibility ......................................... 32 2.7.3. Personality and social groups ............................................................................. 34 2.8. Felid personality ........................................................................................................ 37 2.8.1. Cheetah personality ............................................................................................ 39 2.9. Research aim and objectives ...................................................................................... 42 2.9.1. Aim ..................................................................................................................... 42 2.9.2. Objectives and hypotheses.................................................................................. 42 2.10. Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 44 i 3. Methods ............................................................................................................................... 46 3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 46 3.2. Behavioural observations ........................................................................................... 46 3.3. Indices of association ................................................................................................. 50 3.3.1. Association in captive animals ........................................................................... 55 3.4. The use of GIS in studies of animal behaviour .......................................................... 57 3.5. Assessing animal personality ..................................................................................... 63 3.5.1. Methods of data collection ................................................................................. 63 3.5.2. Reliability of ratings ........................................................................................... 65 3.5.3. Validity of ratings ............................................................................................... 70 3.5.4. Methods of assessing felid personality ............................................................... 72 3.6. Ethical approval ......................................................................................................... 75 3.7. Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 75 4. The effects of social group housing on captive cheetah behaviour ..................................... 76 4.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 76 4.1.1. Background ......................................................................................................... 76 4.1.2. Objective and hypothesis .................................................................................... 78 4.1.3. Outline of the chapter ......................................................................................... 79 4.2. Study sites and subjects ............................................................................................. 79 4.2.1. Africa Alive! ....................................................................................................... 85 4.2.2. Banham Zoo ....................................................................................................... 86 4.2.3. Chester Zoo ........................................................................................................ 87 4.2.4. Exmoor Zoo ........................................................................................................ 88 4.2.5. Marwell Wildlife ................................................................................................ 88 4.2.6. Paignton Zoo ...................................................................................................... 89 4.2.7. Paradise Wildlife Park ........................................................................................ 90 4.2.8. Port Lympne ....................................................................................................... 90 4.2.9. West Midland Safari Park................................................................................... 91 4.2.10. Wildlife Heritage Foundation ......................................................................... 93 4.2.11. ZSL Whipsnade Zoo ....................................................................................... 93 4.3. Procedures .................................................................................................................. 94 4.3.1. Behavioural observations ................................................................................... 94 ii 4.3.2. Institutional breeding success ............................................................................. 97 4.3.3. Data analysis ....................................................................................................... 98 4.4. Results ...................................................................................................................... 100 4.4.1. Activity and pacing behaviour .......................................................................... 100 4.4.2. Social interactions ............................................................................................ 103 4.4.3. Institutional reproductive success ..................................................................... 106 4.5. Discussion ................................................................................................................ 107 4.6. Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 115 5. Association patterns among group-housed cheetahs ......................................................... 117 5.1. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 117 5.1.1. Background ....................................................................................................... 117 5.1.2. Objective and hypothesis .................................................................................. 119 5.1.3. Outline of the chapter ....................................................................................... 120 5.2. Procedures ................................................................................................................ 120 5.2.1. Collection of location data ...............................................................................