Amazing stuff! For some odd reason, the University of Zurich filed this research under the term of "Feministisches Netzwerk" (feminist network, see also screen print below).
"The findings ... show how important the relationship between two individual females is in gorilla society. ...
Moving into different groups is key in shaping the animals' social structure. It's something that both males and females do - females will sometimes move several times throughout their lives.
This dispersal, as it's known, plays a role in avoiding inbreeding, spreading gene diversity and shaping social relationships. ...
Working in partnership with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, at a field site that has been monitored since 1967, ... were able to track those movements.
Pouring through decades of information on the animals' lives, the scientists followed the "dispersals" of 56 female mountain gorillas - examining which new group they chose to join and why. ...
The gorillas avoided groups that had males they were likely to be related to, but the presence of females they knew also "mattered a lot" ...
The females gravitated towards their "friends", even if the animals had been apart for many years.
They would often gravitate to a group with females they had grown up with, even if that was many years ago. They also sought out individuals with whom they had made a social connection - perhaps played and interacted with - recently. ..."
From the abstract:
"Dispersal is a fundamental aspect of many animal societies, impacting gene flow, knowledge transmission, culture and individual fitness. However, little is known about the information individuals use when dispersing.
Mountain gorillas exhibit a flexible dispersal pattern with 50% of both sexes dispersing, and females often dispersing multiple times. Using two decades of data including 152 dispersals from 56 females, we examined how familiarity with individuals in other groups influenced dispersal.
We found that females avoided groups containing males from their natal group, but preferred groups containing females they had previously resided with, particularly those from their natal group.
This suggests that females prioritize the maintenance of female relationships in their dispersal decisions, while reducing inbreeding risks. Joining a new group can be costly and these pre-existing relationships may reduce dispersal costs.
These findings highlight the capacity for wider-scale societies to both shape and be shaped by dispersal decisions, with long-term inter-group relationships representing potential sources of information and support in the dispersal process. This contributes to a better understanding of not only population dynamics in this endangered ape, but also of the foundation of our own flexible society, characterized by individuals moving between social groups throughout their lifetimes."
Networks of Female Friends Help Gorillas Move between Groups (original news release) "New research from the University of Zurich suggests that gorillas may be using a similar strategy as humans: when moving to a new social group, female gorillas seek out groups containing females they have lived with in the past and avoid males they grew up with."
Dispersed female networks: female gorillas’ inter-group relationships influence dispersal decisions (no public access)
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