Stealing milk by young and reciprocal mothers: high incidence of allonursing in giraffes, Giraffa camelopardalis

Gloneková, Markéta; Brandlová, Karolína; Pluháček, Jan

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.11.026

Cited by 21 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…It is well established that stable social networks facilitate the survival of the young (Brent et al, ; Brent, Ruiz‐Lambides, & Platt, ; Cameron et al, ; Goldenberg et al, ; Lahdenperä, Mar, & Lummaa, ; Silk et al, , ; Stanton & Mann, ), so it seems plausible that disruption of those networks could influence calf survival, and potentially explain the lack of calves in LNNP. There is evidence of alloparental care in giraffes; young calves are frequently left in a crèche system, cared for by adults other than their mother (Leuthold, ; Pratt & Anderson, , ); there are several reports of allonursing (Gloneková, Brandlová, & Pluháček, ; Gloneková, Vymyslická, Žáčková, & Brandlová, ; Perry, ; Pratt & Anderson, ); and females express distress behaviours following the death of another individual's calf (Bercovitch, ; Strauss & Muller, ). The presence of social bonds between adults may therefore be important to facilitate the survival of calves, so the disruption of those bonds across the population in LNNP may have adversely affected the survival of calves.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) social networks in areas of contrasting human activity and lion density

Raw

Cuthill

2019

Ethology

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The adaptive value of close social bonds and social networks has been demonstrated in a variety of vertebrate taxa. While the effect of predators on populations is well established, disturbance by humans is increasingly being identified as affecting the behaviour and reproductive success of animals and can have significant impacts on their survival. We used a concurrent analysis of two adjacent giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis populations in Kenya to determine whether human activities and high predation affected their social networks. One study site was a premier tourist destination with a high volume of human activity in the form of tourist traffic and lodge infrastructure, alongside a high density of lions which preferentially prey on giraffe calves; the other was a private wildlife conservancy with minimal human activity and no lion population. Giraffes in both networks showed preferred associations and avoidances of other individuals, which were independent of space use. Bond strength was lower in the population exposed to high levels of human activity and lions, and the network had lower density and clustering, and shorter path lengths, suggesting that it was more fragmented. We suggest that human activity and predator density may influence the patterns of social interactions in giraffes and highlight the importance of understanding the impact of tourism and management on the survival and success of wild animal populations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) social networks in areas of contrasting human activity and lion density

Raw

Cuthill

2019

Ethology

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“…This indicates the importance of filial nursing to ensure calf nutrition. According to Gloneková et al (2016), not only female parity affects the probability of successful suckling involving non-filial calves, but also the order of calf suckling (which calf came to suckle first, second, etc.). Thus, other variables should be evaluated, such as age of the calf, age of the nursing female, and hierarchy rank differences between the nursing female and the own mother of the calf.…”

Section: Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of nursing behaviour, sex of the calf, and parity order on milk production of buffaloes

Oliveira

Quirino

Bastos

2017

Rev Colomb Cienc Pecu

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Efecto del ccomportamiento de amamantamiento, sexo del becerro y orden del parto sobre la producción de leche en búfalos Efeito do comportamento de amamentação, sexo do bezerro e ordem de parto sobre a produção de leite em bubalinos AbstractBackground: the allonursing effect on daily milk production (DMP) and total milk production (TMP) has been little explored. Objective: to evaluate the effect of nursing behaviour, sex of the calf and parity order (PO) on DMP and TMP of buffalo cows. Methods: thirty-five buffalo cows and their calves were evaluated. Observations were performed monthly (three consecutive days) from May to November. The nursing behavior was characterized as: 1) isolated filial nursing (IFN); 2) collective filial nursing (CFN), and 3) non-filial nursing (NFN). Cows were grouped into four categories to study the effects of nursing behavior on DMP and TMP: 1) non-permissive (NP); 2) filial permissive (FP); 3) filial and collective filial permissive (FCFP); and 4) filial, collective filial and non-filial permissive (FCFNFP). DMP was recorded three days per month and TMP was calculated as DMP*270 days of lactation. Results: sex of the calf and second and third PO had an effect on nursing behavior (p<0.05). DMP and TMP were significantly affected by calf sex and nursing behaviour (p<0.05). PO had no effect on DMP and TMP. Conclusion: our results suggest that nursing behaviour is associated with milk production in buffalo cows. Buffalo cows that accept all types of nursing behaviour had the highest DMP and TMP. Sex of the calf influenced nursing behaviour, DMP, and TMP, so that buffalo cows with male calves displayed more frequent allonursing behaviour and yielded more milk.

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“…Allonursing in captive giraffes was reported, both in a published study (Gloneková, Brandlová, & Pluháček, ) and in anecdotal reports provided to us. In contrast, sustained allonursing was uncommon in wild giraffes (Gloneková, Vymyslická, Žáčková, & Brandlová, ; Langmann, ; Pratt & Anderson, ; Saito & Idani, ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…Female giraffes tend to associate with related females (Bercovitch & Berry, ; Carter, Seddon, Frère, Carter, & Goldizen, ), so allonursing may impart inclusive fitness benefits if the nonfilial calves share her genes (Hamilton, ). Benefits may also include reciprocity, whether or not the allosucklers are related to her, if her behaviour is reciprocated towards her current (or future) calf by other females at some later date (Trivers, , but see Gloneková et al, which found no evidence of quantitative reciprocity in a captive giraffe population with high allonursing rates). Ungulates can discriminate kin (Cassinello & Calabuig, ), and given that they benefit from living in social groups with their calves reared in crèches, allonursing might be a rare but inevitable consequence of group rearing.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simultaneous multiple‐calf allonursing by a wild Masai giraffe

Bond

Lee

2019

Afr J Ecol

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Stealing milk by young and reciprocal mothers: high incidence of allonursing in giraffes, Giraffa camelopardalis

Cited by 21 publications

References 61 publications

Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) social networks in areas of contrasting human activity and lion density

Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) social networks in areas of contrasting human activity and lion density

Effect of nursing behaviour, sex of the calf, and parity order on milk production of buffaloes

Simultaneous multiple‐calf allonursing by a wild Masai giraffe

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