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. 2023 Mar 27;70(2):182-194.
doi: 10.1093/cz/zoad011. eCollection 2024 Apr.

Social networks of reintroduced Przewalski's horses in the Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area (Mongolia)

Anna Bernátková  1 , Ganbaatar Oyunsaikhan  2 , Jaroslav Šimek  3 , Martina Komárková  3 , Francisco Ceacero  1
Affiliations

Social networks of reintroduced Przewalski's horses in the Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area (Mongolia)

Anna Bernátková et al. Curr Zool. .

Abstract

Analyzing social networks is a powerful tool for understanding the ecology of social species. While most studies focus on the role of each group member, few compare groups with different characteristics. The current population of Przewalski's horses Equus ferus przewalskii at the Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area (Mongolia) includes groups of wild-born and captive-bred individuals with different experiences with the area (acclimatizing, long-term reintroduced, and wild-born), therefore serving as an ideal natural behavioral lab. We filmed 11 groups for 141.5 hours in summer 2018 (July), late spring 2019 (May, June), and autumn 2019 (September, October). Affiliative and agonistic interactions were recorded, and social networks were created. We tested the influence of origin, experience, season, sex, age, relative time belonging to the group, relatedness, and dominance rank on different network indices at the individual and group levels. We found that groups with greater experience in the area are generally better connected than members of the newly formed groups. However, these strong networks were created by wild-born individuals with very low interaction rates. On the contrary, inexperienced groups composed of captive-bred individuals displayed many interactions but created weak social networks. The results show a trend of behavioral transition from acclimatizing through long-term reintroduced to wild-born groups, supporting that the newly formed groups of released Przewalski's horses need time to display the typical social behavior patterns of wild-born individuals. Long-term monitoring of released Przewalski's horses is recommended to promote the success of this reintroduction program.

Keywords: Przewalski’s horses; reintroduction; social behavior; soft-release.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Social networks of the agonistic interactions within adult Przewalski’s horses’ group members. Females are indicated by white, and males by orange color. All the studied groups are shown grouped as wild-born (A), long-term reintroduced (B), and acclimatizing groups (C). The thickness of each dyadic interaction indicates its strength.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Social network of affiliative interactions within adult Przewalski’s horses’ group members. Females are indicated by white, and males by orange color. All the studied groups are shown grouped as wild-born (A), long-term reintroduced (B), and acclimatizing groups (C). The thickness of each dyadic interaction indicates its strength.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Differences in agonistic (top-left figure) and affiliative (rest of the figures) interaction rates and social network measures in the studied Przewalski’s horses according to their origin (captive-breeding vs. wild-born)..
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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