Social Behavior in Belugas (Delphinapterus leucas)

Although belugas are considered to be highly affiliative in nature, juvenile females show less social affiliations overall compared to the juvenile males. These social patterns appear to continue into adulthood, since adult female belugas are also reported to have weaker social bonds than males both in the wild (reviewed in Michaud, 2005) and in managed care (Hill et. al., 2016, 2018). •Animals in controlled settings that produce spontaneous behavior that is similar to their free-ranging conspecifics, may be evidence that acontrolled environment is supportive of their welfare. •The purpose of this study was to longitudinally assess social interactions and behaviors among adult belugas. This may allow for a better understanding of behaviors which are universal to the species and behaviors which may be learned within managed care along with the availability of humans to interact with