Top‐predator carrion is scary: Fight‐and‐flight responses of wild boars to wolf carcasses

Abstract

Predation risk largely constrains prey behavior. However, whether predators may be scary also after death remains unexplored. Here, we describe the “fight‐and‐flight” responses of a prey, the wild boar ( Sus scrofa ), to carcasses of (a) its main predator, the gray wolf ( Canis lupus ) and (b) a carnivore that very rarely kills wild boars, the red fox ( Vulpes vulpes ), in the western Alps (Italy). We recorded the behavior of wild boars at 10 wolf and 9 fox carcass sites. We found eight “fight‐and‐flight” responses toward wolf carcasses, and none toward fox carcasses. Our results suggest that carnivore carcasses may indeed be scary; fear responses toward them are dependent on the species to which the carcass belongs; and animals approaching the carcasses are feared mainly when the latter are relatively fresh. This emphasizes the multiple and complex roles that carrion plays in the landscape of fear and opens exciting ecological, epidemiological, and evolutionary research avenues.

Infection risk associated with carnivore carcasses may govern trophic interactions between maggots and insectivorous passerine birds

“…There might be several alternative explanations for the observed behaviour. One possibility is that birds may have refrained from approaching the carcasses because of the potential presence of raccoons, which are potential predators, instilling fear in them [19]. However, although this alternative explanation cannot be rejected at this point, birds feeding on maggots near carcasses exhibited no heightened vigilance or other signs of alertness.…”

Evaluating the Presence of Disgust in Animals

“…However, there are other instances, where scavenger avoidance of carnivore carrion does not represent disgust. In one example, wild boar displayed fight and flight (fear) responses on discovering carcasses of its main predator, the gray wolf [46]. No such responses were evident toward fox (a non-predator) carcass sites.…”

When aposematism is not enough: Exotic Rattus rattus shows no mercy for carcasses of Salamandra salamandra in insular populations

“…However, no direct evidence of R. rattus consuming aposematic fire salamanders has been reported to date, and the role of rats as possible predators of fire salamanders has only been suspected (Pezaro et al., 2018 ; Velo‐Antón & Cordero‐Rivera, 2017 ). Here, I take advantage of the use of carcasses and camera trapping (a method with recent interest studying scavenging behaviours, e.g., Redondo‐Gómez et al., 2023 ) to show, for the first time, R. rattus as a consumer of the aposematic and toxic S. salamandra , while speculate about its role as a predator of these phenotypic and behavioural divergent insular salamander populations.…”