Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Life Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Western Kentucky University

2011

Series

Addo Elephant National Park South Africa

Articles 1 - 1 of 1

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Factors Influencing Travel Order As Proxy For Leadership And Trade-Offs In Activity Budgets In Lactating And Nonlactating African Savanna Elephants, Malgorzata Wisniewska Dec 2011

Factors Influencing Travel Order As Proxy For Leadership And Trade-Offs In Activity Budgets In Lactating And Nonlactating African Savanna Elephants, Malgorzata Wisniewska

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Nutritional and energetic needs of female mammals depend upon size or reproductive investment and shape individual activity budgets and behavioral patterns. To maximize nutritional and energetic intake females may increase time allocated to foraging or access resources through risk-prone behaviors, represented as aggression or leadership. Conversely, to minimize nutritional and energetic spending females may engage in risk-averse activities such as resting or nonaggressive social interactions. Females with the highest needs should exhibit activities and behaviors that facilitate the greatest nutritional and energetic returns or highest metabolic savings. The propensity for risk-prone behaviors may be greater among older as well as …