Análise de rede social e dinâmica espaço-temporal de um grupode macacos-prego (Sapajus libidinosusSPIX, 1823) no zoológicodo Parque Estadual de Dois Irmãos, Recife, PE

Abstract

The growing maintenance of animal specimensin captivity, kept in zoos and sanctuaries, and in Centers of Wild Animals Screening (CETAS), have raised more and more the necessity of newstudy approaches oncaptive animals, as means to reach a higher understanding about the behavioral biology of each species. As such, interventionist actions in spaces of captivity and the adequation of enrichment actions for the betterment of animals’ welfarebecome preponderant. Capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) are animals native to Brasil, which exhibit a varied range of behaviors, both individual and social.At the same time, they are targets of capture fromboth the traffic of wild animals and scientific studies, precisely due to their behavioral variety and apparent inteligence. The Social Network Analysis comes as a tool in the study of social behaviors, becomingan increasingly more commonpracticein researches with primates worldwide. The Parque Estadual deDois Irmãos (PEDI)owns in its animal collectiona group of four individuals of the aforementioned species. As a way to understand the social relations between the individuals and the use of the captivity space by these animals, this project aimed for the statistical analysis of the behaviors of the subjects over space and time. A collection of data fulfilled through the counting of seconds of each activityand its specific place of happeningwas employed for the group analysis. Socially, the animals were evaluated via the production of sociograms, net structures that relate actors inside a group and the relations established between themselves. The chosen methodology was revealing in what concernsthe general aspects of the reproductive colony studied, but it also allowed a visualization of subtle characteristics between the animals and the space occupied by them. The obtaining of diversifieddata allowed for a bigger understanding of the social dynamics involved, and how further actions and researches canbe executed, bringing more pointed results in the analyses that have as aim the betterment of a captive individual’s welfare.