Giraffes Form Complex Relationships: Study

A recent finding states that giraffes form a complex relationship and more social networks than previously thought. This helps in understanding the evolution of animal and human society, reports the official website.

A study conducted by researchers at The University of Queensland (UQ) found that analyzing the complex social relationships among female giraffes helps in understanding the management and conservation of the species.

The study focused on the social grouping of wild giraffes in the Etosha National Park in Namibia. The study observed social groupings of 535 individually wild giraffes.

On observing the social groupings of 535 individually wild giraffes for 14 months, they noticed that the animals involved in complex behavior and social networks.

"Giraffes show a fission-fusion social system, like humans, where individuals temporarily associate so that the numbers and identities of individuals in groups changes frequently," Kerryn Carter, the lead researcher from UQ's School of Biological Sciences, said in a press statement. "Until recently, giraffes were thought to show no apparent pattern to their relationships." 

The occurrence of union between each giraffe pair was estimated. For this, they looked at how much of their dwelling zones overlapped and how often they met.

Previously it was thought that the females interacted without having preference, but from this study they learnt that the females chose to stay in groups with certain chosen females, while shunning the others.

"Surprisingly, home range overlap and kinship together did not explain much about these female-female relationships," Carter continued.

The choice of female association depends on the female's individual social preference, age and reproductive stage. More study is required to understand what factors promote such choice.

Apart from giraffes, such preferred and avoided relationships have been observed in mytois bats, grey kangaroos and bottlenose dolphins.

This study is important for conservation, as it throws light on how disease scatters through a population and how individuals learn about the environment from one another.

The study is processed in the journal Animal Behaviour.