Ethological investigations on a herd of plains zebra in a safari park: Time-budgets, reproduction and food competition

Abstract

The social organization of a herd of 25 plains zebras under safari park conditions and the time-budgets of 18 individuals from this herd were investigated. The zebras had organized themselves in harem groups. Stallions appeared to spend more time acting socially than did other sex-age classes and they spent less time feeding. Social behaviours were mainly directed against other stallions. Stallions were also more on the alert. The time-budget of safari park zebras largely agrees with that of their wild counterparts. From data on time budgets and from differences in the reproductive output of adults of different ranks it is concluded that differential access to food plays an important role in the safari park.