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A Study of African Wild Ass Behavior Provides Insights into Conservation Issues, Domestication Processes and Archaeological Interpretation

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Abstract

African wild asses (Equus africanus) were the wild ancestors of the donkey and are now critically endangered. Ethological and middle range research on Somali wild asses (E. a. somaliensis) at the Saint Louis Zoo provides insights into social behavior in captive setting and domestication processes. We observed a group of three young female Somali wild asses to develop an ethogram of social behavior in the first phase of a longer-term study of social, sexual, and maternal/infant behavior. The most unexpected finding was the frequency and extent of aggressive interactions, yet they also displayed a preference for close proximity. As the first quantitative study of the social behavior of wild asses, these results provide insights into domestication processes, suggesting that in captivity African wild asses are behaviorally plastic. These findings regarding the behavior of captive wild asses further the goals of both archaeology and conservation biology.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the invitation to participate in the stimulating SAA session in honor of R. Lee Lyman. We thank Martha Fischer Curator of Ungulates/Mammals at the Saint Louis Zoo for supporting this project, Diane Wilson for animal care and coordination, Erin Jones for observations, data summaries, and preliminary analyses, Karen Bauman of the Saint Louis Zoo Research Dept., and Zoo interns and Washington University students, Dan Asin, Lindsey Balogh, Alex Edwards, LeeAndra Luecke, Anna Kolbeck, Diana Jaiyeola, Kate Johnson, Rob Maltby, Blair Roberts, Rebecca Saltzman, and Denise Umpierrez for the assistance with observations. We are grateful to all those who have commented on this paper and improved it in numerous ways.

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  1. Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis, Campus Box 1114, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO, 63130, USA

    Fiona Marshall

  2. Research Department, Saint Louis Zoo, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Cheryl Asa

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  1. Fiona Marshall
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Correspondence to Fiona Marshall.

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Prepared for Fryxell Session in honor of R. Lee Lyman

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Marshall, F., Asa, C. A Study of African Wild Ass Behavior Provides Insights into Conservation Issues, Domestication Processes and Archaeological Interpretation. J Archaeol Method Theory 20, 479–494 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-012-9165-0

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