Centered at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, we are a small group of students, managers and scientists engaged in a collaborative learning project to develop innovative large herd scenarios for exotic hoofstock management.
Watching animals for extended periods of time is always an interesting experience. Often times it can be incredibly boring, because animals spend a lot of time sleeping, eating, or just simply laying around. The waterbuck at Fossil Rim were no different, so recording/analyzing some of the focals (like the first one below) was a long and arduous process.
But watching the waterbuck for hours at a time was essential to understanding the way these organisms operate and exactly how the new management plan was affecting their lives. And in the process, they shared with us some moments that we will never forget. Below are some amazing clips of waterbuck fighting, reproducing, and even bonding with each other in a way that touches and warms the heart.
From our preliminary observations of the sable, their courtship behavior is very similar to the waterbuck. I have a hunch that all the antelope species have similar courtship behaviors, coded in the genes they share due to similar ancestry. The actual courtship behaviors look very instinctive to me, although the timing and sequencing varies with individuals, their age, familiarity and timing relative to ovulation.
For the waterbuck, we observed that the young vasectomized bull joined up with the females and acted very similar to his father, the previous vasectomized bull. In 2010, the intact bull joined up with the females and calves during the spring breeding period.
The sable stay much closer to each other compared to the waterbuck.
During the Behavioral Ecology class field trip in June, we took some more video of courtship in sable, addax and deer. Our plan is to post that video for online viewing in September.
I have been watching the sable herd since the beginning of September here at Fossil Rim, using an ad. lib. technique. At the moment the herd consists of a vasectomised male, a castrated male, a young whole male, 15 females and 8 calves (5 males, 3 females).
Unfortunately as the main breeding season has finished I have not seen a lot of courting behaviour. But this is also positive as it means that hopefully the majority of the females have been bred and will calve next year.
Mainly I have observed aggressive behaviour and dominance displays by the vasectomised male towards the castrated male, who responds submissively as expected. Some aggression between the females and the larger males and calves has also been noted, usually around feeding areas.
The castrated male typically follows the herd at a distance and will also keep a distance between himself and the herd while grazing and resting. This does not always work to placate the dominant male however, and he will often chase the castrated male away from the herd.
We had to separate the dominant male from the herd for a week due to injury, and it was interesting to see how the rest of the herd behaved in his absence. The castrated male was readily accepted by the rest of the herd and stayed amongst the herd for the duration.
Upon his return, the dominant male reasserted his position immediately and harrassed the castrated male for almost an hour, despite the castrated male showing submission continuously.
The intact bulls were switched into the addax and sable herds on Wed. I have been getting some great videos of the males. Email me if you want a link to the videos: j-packard@tamu.edu
The sable bull integrated well into the herd from the beginning. He took over following a female in estrous, who had also been attractive to the vasectomized bull before the switch. The females accepted the return of the intact bull. I had to chuckle, watching the young males and calves approach and follow the intact bull, as if they were his "fan club". He was not aggressive to them.
Early in the week, the intact male sable showed definite herding behavior, moving the females away from the gemsbok feeding at troughs. However, I did not see that again. The intact sable bull was not aggressive to other species.
When first introduced, I thought the intact addax bull was acting more like an inexperienced subadult, than a breeding bull (he was born in 2006). He was only doing foreleg lifts in response to a female actively rubbing against him and apparently in standing heat. He chased a female all over the pasture, as if she was trying to get rid of him but he was not getting the message. At one point, they even ran circles around a clump of trees!
After a couple days, the intact addax bull settled into following and lying near the female(s) that he was tending. He showed full courtship behavior.
A couple young males engaged in gentle horn pressing. It did not seem like serious fighting because they traded roles, as if playing. At least one or both of them had been showing some sporadic courtship behavior, but not directed toward the same females that were attractive to the breeding bull. They seemed to avoid the breeding bull, and I did not see him show any agressive actions to them.
The addax bull was not aggressive toward other species. He was not aggressive toward calves. Occasionally the calves approached him, but not as distinctly as the sable calves approached the sable bull. However, there are only 4 calves in the addax herd and 12 in the sable herd.
The sable calves are very cohesive, laying out in distinctive groups, almost touching each other. A couple times, one sable calf got separated and stood there bleating. A juvenile approached, another calf approached. Then they all joined the rest of the herd, which had moved off into the distance. It was as if the juveniles were watching out for the kids and keeping them together with the herd.
The sable i-male was switched with the sable v-male. Several females that were held out because they were not scheduled to become pregnant, also were returned.
Watching animals for extended periods of time is always an interesting experience. Often times it can be incredibly boring, because animals spend a lot of time sleeping, eating, or just simply laying around. The waterbuck at Fossil Rim were no different, so recording/analyzing some of the focals (like the first one below) was a long and arduous process.
ReplyDeleteBut watching the waterbuck for hours at a time was essential to understanding the way these organisms operate and exactly how the new management plan was affecting their lives. And in the process, they shared with us some moments that we will never forget. Below are some amazing clips of waterbuck fighting, reproducing, and even bonding with each other in a way that touches and warms the heart.
Lucifer Laying Down
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gb6W_9AIN0
Lucifer vs. An Addax
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5syi2yS6824
Lucifer Courting A Female
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAV-NKRcD3A
Lucifer and a Calf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmBMVmsRIuc
View Justin's videos of the sable posted on Dr. Hoof Stock's YouTube account:
ReplyDeletesable playlist http://www.youtube.com
email me for the sign-in info: j-packard@tamu.edu
From our preliminary observations of the sable, their courtship behavior is very similar to the waterbuck. I have a hunch that all the antelope species have similar courtship behaviors, coded in the genes they share due to similar ancestry. The actual courtship behaviors look very instinctive to me, although the timing and sequencing varies with individuals, their age, familiarity and timing relative to ovulation.
ReplyDeleteFor the waterbuck, we observed that the young vasectomized bull joined up with the females and acted very similar to his father, the previous vasectomized bull. In 2010, the intact bull joined up with the females and calves during the spring breeding period.
ReplyDeleteThe sable stay much closer to each other compared to the waterbuck.
Pita, I'd be interested in hearing more about your observations, please comment here!
ReplyDeleteDuring the Behavioral Ecology class field trip in June, we took some more video of courtship in sable, addax and deer. Our plan is to post that video for online viewing in September.
ReplyDeleteI have been watching the sable herd since the beginning of September here at Fossil Rim, using an ad. lib. technique. At the moment the herd consists of a vasectomised male, a castrated male, a young whole male, 15 females and 8 calves (5 males, 3 females).
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately as the main breeding season has finished I have not seen a lot of courting behaviour. But this is also positive as it means that hopefully the majority of the females have been bred and will calve next year.
Mainly I have observed aggressive behaviour and dominance displays by the vasectomised male towards the castrated male, who responds submissively as expected. Some aggression between the females and the larger males and calves has also been noted, usually around feeding areas.
ReplyDeleteThe castrated male typically follows the herd at a distance and will also keep a distance between himself and the herd while grazing and resting. This does not always work to placate the dominant male however, and he will often chase the castrated male away from the herd.
We had to separate the dominant male from the herd for a week due to injury, and it was interesting to see how the rest of the herd behaved in his absence. The castrated male was readily accepted by the rest of the herd and stayed amongst the herd for the duration.
ReplyDeleteUpon his return, the dominant male reasserted his position immediately and harrassed the castrated male for almost an hour, despite the castrated male showing submission continuously.
The intact bulls were switched into the addax and sable herds on Wed. I have been getting some great videos of the males. Email me if you want a link to the videos: j-packard@tamu.edu
ReplyDeleteThe sable bull integrated well into the herd from the beginning. He took over following a female in estrous, who had also been attractive to the vasectomized bull before the switch. The females accepted the return of the intact bull. I had to chuckle, watching the young males and calves approach and follow the intact bull, as if they were his "fan club". He was not aggressive to them.
ReplyDeleteEarly in the week, the intact male sable showed definite herding behavior, moving the females away from the gemsbok feeding at troughs. However, I did not see that again. The intact sable bull was not aggressive to other species.
When first introduced, I thought the intact addax bull was acting more like an inexperienced subadult, than a breeding bull (he was born in 2006). He was only doing foreleg lifts in response to a female actively rubbing against him and apparently in standing heat. He chased a female all over the pasture, as if she was trying to get rid of him but he was not getting the message. At one point, they even ran circles around a clump of trees!
After a couple days, the intact addax bull settled into following and lying near the female(s) that he was tending. He showed full courtship behavior.
A couple young males engaged in gentle horn pressing. It did not seem like serious fighting because they traded roles, as if playing. At least one or both of them had been showing some sporadic courtship behavior, but not directed toward the same females that were attractive to the breeding bull. They seemed to avoid the breeding bull, and I did not see him show any agressive actions to them.
The addax bull was not aggressive toward other species. He was not aggressive toward calves. Occasionally the calves approached him, but not as distinctly as the sable calves approached the sable bull. However, there are only 4 calves in the addax herd and 12 in the sable herd.
The sable calves are very cohesive, laying out in distinctive groups, almost touching each other. A couple times, one sable calf got separated and stood there bleating. A juvenile approached, another calf approached. Then they all joined the rest of the herd, which had moved off into the distance. It was as if the juveniles were watching out for the kids and keeping them together with the herd.
The sable i-male was switched with the sable v-male. Several females that were held out because they were not scheduled to become pregnant, also were returned.
ReplyDelete