Respiratory Disease Risk of Zoo-Housed Bonobos Is Associated with Sex and Betweenness Centrality in the Proximity Network

Infectious diseases can be considered a threat to animal welfare and are commonly spread through both direct and indirect social interactions with conspecifics. This is especially true for species with complex social lives, like primates. While several studies have investigated the impact of sociali...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Animals (Basel) 2021-12, Vol.11 (12), p.3597
Main Authors: Torfs, Jonas R R, Eens, Marcel, Laméris, Daan W, Staes, Nicky
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Animal welfare
Behavior
Bridges
Captivity
Conspecifics
disease
Disease control
Disease transmission
Epidemics
Females
Health risks
Immune system
Infections
Infectious diseases
Influence
Males
Monkeys & apes
Morbidity
Parasites
Pathogens
Primates
Proximity
Respiratory diseases
Risk
Sex
Sex differences
Sexual behavior
Signs and symptoms
Social behavior
Social factors
Social interactions
Social networks
Social organization
social position
social-network analysis
Tuberculosis
welfare
Winter
Zoo animals
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Summary:Infectious diseases can be considered a threat to animal welfare and are commonly spread through both direct and indirect social interactions with conspecifics. This is especially true for species with complex social lives, like primates. While several studies have investigated the impact of sociality on disease risk in primates, only a handful have focused on respiratory disease, despite it being a major cause of morbidity and mortality in both wild and captive populations and thus an important threat to primate welfare. Therefore, we examined the role of social-network position on the occurrence of respiratory disease symptoms during one winter season in a relatively large group of 20 zoo-housed bonobos with managed fission-fusion dynamics. We found that within the proximity network, symptoms were more likely to occur in individuals with higher betweenness centrality, which are individuals that form bridges between different parts of the network. Symptoms were also more likely to occur in males than in females, independent of their social-network position. Taken together, these results highlight a combined role of close proximity and sex in increased risk of attracting respiratory disease, two factors that can be taken into account for further welfare management of the species.
ISSN:2076-2615
2076-2615
DOI:10.3390/ani11123597