Mating strategies of male feral goats: a problem in optimal foraging

Dunbar, R. I. M.; Buckland, David; Miller, David M.

doi:10.1016/s0003-3472(05)80695-5

Cited by 91 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…This dominance ranking appears to be largely an age-related dominance, and the ranks are established during the period when the males are associating in all-male groups before the rut begins. As opposed to the temperate-zoned ungulates, like red deer (C. elaphus) and other cervids, which typically invest much time and energy in reproductive behaviour (Bützler 1974;Clutton-Brock et al 1982;Dunbar et al 1990;Geist 1970), male kudu invest little time and energy and fight especially infrequently during the rutting season.…”

Section: Courtship and Mating Behaviour And Sexual Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Observations on the population structure and behaviour of two differently managed populations of the greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros, Pallas 1766) in Namibia

Annighöfer

Schütz

2011

Eur J Wildl Res

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Observations were made on two populations of the greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) in Namibia to investigate the influence of differing management strategies (trophy hunting vs. venison production) on the population structure, behaviour and ecology of these antelope with regard to population persistence. The population structure on both study sites was similar despite different management strategies. However, the percentage of males in respective age classes differed significantly. All sex ratios were clearly female-biased, even though at birth they are close to parity, indicating sex-and age-specific mortality. Matriarchal groups were larger than groups led by bulls. The group size reached a maximum during the breeding season (rut). The male age classes accompanying females in this season differed strongly between the two study sites. The behavioural patterns shown by kudu over the course of a 12-h period (esp. feeding and locomotion) were also significantly different for the two populations. The results suggest that the management strategies can have an impact on behaviour and population structure of T. strepsiceros and may affect the overall fitness of the population.

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Section: Courtship and Mating Behaviour And Sexual Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Observations on the population structure and behaviour of two differently managed populations of the greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros, Pallas 1766) in Namibia

Annighöfer

Schütz

2011

Eur J Wildl Res

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“…Recent reviews of life history of ungulates therefore concentrate entirely on females (Gaillard, Festa-Bianchet & Yoccoz, 1998;Gaillard et al, 2000). Some models of optimal male mating strategies have been reported (Hogg, 1984;Gosling, 1986;Dunbar, Buckland & Miller, 1990;Sandell & Liberg, 1992;Forchhammer & Boomsma, 1998), but generally the life history of males has received much less attention. The somatic weight loss during an annual cycle in males is equal to (Bobek, Perzanowski & Weiner, 1990) or greater than it is in females (Leader-Williams & Ricketts, 1981;Pérez-Barbería, Mutuberria & Nores, 1998), and there is often a high frequency of antler wounding (Kitchen, 1974;Geist, 1986).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of reproductive effort in male ungulates

Langvatn²,

2004

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In ungulates, males and females have contrasting life histories, as usually only the females raise the young. How reproductive effort in males varies with individual level and population level characteristics has received little attention in the literature. Using published information on direct (weight loss during the rut) and indirect (rutrelated changes in activity budgets, fighting frequency, etc.) measures of reproductive effort, we tested whether effort in males increased with (H 1 ) increasing age, (H 2 ) increasing body size, (H 3 ) decreasing population density, (H 4 ) increasingly female-biased sex ratio and with a younger male age structure. Consistent with H 1 , reproductive effort was consistently higher in prime-aged than in younger males in a large number of studies. Among younger males, sub-adult males had an equal or higher effort than yearling males. Prime-aged males had more typical rutting behaviour (e.g. roaring, tending, fighting and chasing frequencies) and they often lowered their intake of forage during the rut. However, reproductive effort usually declined for very old age classes. Reproductive effort increased with size (H 2 ) also after accounting for age. Data on effort vs (H 3 ) density and (H 4 ) sex ratio/male age structure were inconclusive. Clearly, far more studies relating effort to population characteristics are needed before the rutting ecology of male ungulates can be understood.

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“…Free-living adult males in New Zealand herds weigh up to 1.85 times more than females (Kirton 1970;Rudge 1990). Sexual segregation of the herd occurs after kidding, but during mating males engage in intense competition for limited oestrous females (Dunbar et al 1990). For males, access to oestrous females is correlated with large body and horn size (Shank 1972;Rudge 1990).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mother‐offspring interactions in feral goats—a behavioural perspective of maternal investment

Alley

Fordham

Minot

1995

New Zealand Journal of Zoology

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In a herd of captive feral goats, suckling behaviour, mother-offspring distance, kid activity, and kid growth were measured during the first 3 months of life to investigate whether male kids gained greater maternal investment than female kids. Male kids were born heavier and grew faster than female kids. Single male kids suckled more frequently than their female counterparts. Other measurements of suckling behaviour including suckling bout duration, total time spent suckling, and the proportion of suckling bouts initiated and terminated by the offspring showed no significant differences between the sexes. Spatial relationships between mothers and their offspring did not differ between male and female kids. Activity budgets showed that female kids spent more time grazing than male kids, but males spent more time involved in play and exploratory activities. Difficulties in the interpretation of three proximate measures of maternal investment-suckling behaviour, growth rate, and activity budget-highlight the need for a more direct measure of maternal investment, such as an accurate assessment of milk intake.

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Mating strategies of male feral goats: a problem in optimal foraging

Cited by 91 publications

References 15 publications

Observations on the population structure and behaviour of two differently managed populations of the greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros, Pallas 1766) in Namibia

Observations on the population structure and behaviour of two differently managed populations of the greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros, Pallas 1766) in Namibia

Patterns of reproductive effort in male ungulates

Mother‐offspring interactions in feral goats—a behavioural perspective of maternal investment

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