A case of allosuckling in wild guanacos (Lama guanicoe)

Zapata, Beatriz; Gaete, Gabriela; Correa, Loreto; González, Benito A.; Ebensperger, Luis A.

doi:10.1007/s10164-008-0127-7

Cited by 19 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Instead, the herd stayed together and never used the whole paddock area at the same time. Moreover, allonursing was recorded recently in a free‐ranging population of guanacos (Zapata et al. 2009), an unusual piece of evidence that has been reported in only half ungulate species in which allonursing has been reported (for a review see Víchová 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Among South American camelids, allonursing has been observed in free ranging (Zapata et al. 2009) and captive guanacos (Zapata et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among South American camelids, allonursing has been observed in free ranging (Zapata et al 2009) and captive guanacos . Guanacos are monotocous, highly social, monomorphic animals that exhibit a resource defense polygyny mating system (Franklin 1983).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Allonursing in Captive Guanacos, Lama guanicoe: Milk Theft or Misdirected Parental Care?

2009

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Females in several ungulates transfer milk to non‐filial (NF) offspring, in a process known as allonursing. This behavior is less common in monotocous species, including most ungulates, and it has been associated with parasitic behavior of calves or mothers who have lost their own offspring. To examine whether the calves ‘steal’ milk from the females or whether females fail to discriminate their own calves in guanacos, allonursing behavior was observed. If milk theft drives allonursing, mothers should reject NF offspring, they should search for their own calves, and calves attempting to suckle from alien mothers should adopt parallel (as opposed to the anti‐parallel) position during allonursing. Alternatively, if allonursing is caused by mothers unable to discriminate own offspring, mothers are not expected to reject NF offspring, and alien calves should use parallel and antiparallel position similarly when allonursing. Allonursing was investigated during the first 3 mo of lactation in two groups of captive guanacos composed of 15 and 14 mother‐calf pairs, respectively. While 40% and 62.5% of mothers in groups 1 and 2 performed allonursing, high individual variation prevailed; some females exhibited this behavior infrequently (4.1% and 6.5 % in groups 1 and 2). The rejection rate to NF nursing attempts was threefold higher than the rejection rate to filial nursing attempts. The occurrence of nursing to NF was associated to a parallel posture by the calves. Our findings suggest that ‘milk theft’ is a more plausible hypothesis to explain allonursing in guanacos than ‘misdirected parental care’.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Among South American camelids, allonursing has been observed in free ranging (Zapata et al. 2009) and captive guanacos (Zapata et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Allonursing in Captive Guanacos, Lama guanicoe: Milk Theft or Misdirected Parental Care?

2009

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“…The kin selection hypothesis did not seem to be a major factor in this study, as the females were not related to each another. Based on the findings of Zapata et al [19], [20] on another camelid, the guanaco, we predicted the milk-theft hypothesis be the main cause why the camel calves sucked from non-maternal females. If this was valid we predicted that (i) a calf would suck from the non-maternal dam standing in other than antiparallel sucking position so that it was more difficult for the dam to distinguish the calf's identity or to threat the non-filial calf.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…However, allosuckling has been described in other camelids. Zapata et al [19] reported incidental allosuckling occurrence in wild guanacos ( Lama guanicoe ) and regular occurrence of allosuckling in captive farmed guanacos as behaviours that were consistent with the milk-theft hypothesis and a compensation theory [20], [21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Camel Calves as Opportunistic Milk Thefts? The First Description of Allosuckling in Domestic Bactrian Camel (Camelus bactrianus)

2013

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Allosuckling is a situation when a female nurses a non-filial offspring. It was described in various ungulate species; however for camels this is the first description of this behaviour. The aim of the study was to assess the occurrence of allosuckling in captive camels (Camelus bactrianus) and to test whether it can be explained as a ‘milk-theft’ (opportunistic behaviour of calves) or alternatively as an altruistic behaviour of females. During 2005 and 2007, nine camel females and ten calves in four zoological gardens in the Czech Republic were observed. In total, 373 sucking bouts were recorded, from which 32 were non-filial (the calf sucked from the non-maternal female). Allosuckling regularly appeared in captive camel herds. As predicted for the milk-theft explanation, the non-filial calves sucked more often in the lateral position and even did not suck in the antiparallel position at all. The non-filial calves preferably joined the filial calf when sucking but in five cases (15.6% of non-filial sucking bouts) the calves sucked from non-maternal dam without the presence of filial calf. We then expected the differences in terminations of sucking bouts by females but did not find any difference in sucking terminations for filial and non-filial calves. As the calves were getting older, the incidence of allosucking increased. This was probably because skills of the calf to outwit the non-maternal dam increased and/or the older calves might be more motivated for allosucking due to the weaning process. Finally, duration of a sucking bout was shorter with non-filial than filial calves. The results of the study support the hypothesis of ‘milk theft’, being mostly performed by calves behaving as opportunistic parasites, but we cannot reject certain level of altruism from the allonursing females or their increased degree of tolerance to non-filial calves.

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Allosuckling in southern right whale calves

Sprogis,

Christiansen

2024

Mamm Biol

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Allosuckling, the suckling of milk from a non-biological mother, occurs in some species of mammals. Allosuckling has not been quantified in baleen whale calves; therefore, we examine allosuckling in southern right whales (SRWs; Eubalaena australis) off Australia. SRWs are listed as Endangered under the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act as their numbers remain below the estimated historical abundance. On a small aggregation area, where there were three mother–calf pairs present, we aimed to quantify the proportion of time that calves allosuckled relative to the time spent filial suckling. To achieve this, we conducted unmanned aerial vehicle focal follows on mother–calf pairs and video recorded all interactions among pairs (n = 22 interactions, 3 h total observation time). During interactions, allosuckling occurred in seven interactions, and filial nursing occurred in 11 interactions. One of the calves performed allosuckling, and it was the largest calf with the largest mother. The calf allosuckled from both of the non-biological mothers present. The average proportion of time allosuckling per interaction was 4% (95% CI = ± 0.01, range = 0–0.25), whilst filial nursing for the same calf was 8% (95% CI = ± 0.02, range = 0–0.37). It is important to understand the frequency of allosuckling, and to quantify the energetic benefits for allosuckling calves and the energetic cost incurred by targeted non-biological mothers. This is particularly pertinent for capital breeders who do not replenish lost energy reserves until they migrate to their feeding grounds.

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A case of allosuckling in wild guanacos (Lama guanicoe)

Cited by 19 publications

References 21 publications

Allonursing in Captive Guanacos, Lama guanicoe: Milk Theft or Misdirected Parental Care?

Allonursing in Captive Guanacos, Lama guanicoe: Milk Theft or Misdirected Parental Care?

Camel Calves as Opportunistic Milk Thefts? The First Description of Allosuckling in Domestic Bactrian Camel (Camelus bactrianus)

Allosuckling in southern right whale calves

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