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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Evaluation Of The Impacts Of Radio-Marking Devices On Feral Horses And Burros In A Captive Setting, Kathryn A. Schoenecker, Sarah R. B. King, Gail H. Collins Jan 2020

Evaluation Of The Impacts Of Radio-Marking Devices On Feral Horses And Burros In A Captive Setting, Kathryn A. Schoenecker, Sarah R. B. King, Gail H. Collins

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Radio-collars and other radio-marking devices have been invaluable tools for wildlife managers for >40 years. These marking devices have improved our understanding of wildlife spatial ecology and demographic parameters and provided new data facilitating model development for species conservation and management. Although these tools have been used on virtually all North American ungulates, their deployment on feral horses (Equus ferus caballus) or burros (E. asinus) has been limited. To determine if radio-collars and radio-tags could be safely deployed on feral equids, we conducted a 1-year observational study in 2015 to investigate fit and wear of radio-collars …


Sociality Increases Juvenile Survival After A Catastrophic Event In The Feral Horse (Equus Caballus), Cassandra M.V. Nuñez, James S. Adelman, Daniel I. Rubenstein Jan 2015

Sociality Increases Juvenile Survival After A Catastrophic Event In The Feral Horse (Equus Caballus), Cassandra M.V. Nuñez, James S. Adelman, Daniel I. Rubenstein

Cassandra M.V. Nuñez

In several social species, adult associations have been linked to individual fitness. Less is known about offspring associations and the mechanisms by which they may influence fitness. We investigate the effects of sociality on juvenile survival in feral horses (Equus caballus). We use foal degree (number of associates) and foal weight (number of interactions) to assess sociality’s importance to foal survival of a catastrophic event, the gathering and removal of 40% of the horse population. We found that 1) foal degree was a better predictor of foal survival than was foal weight; 2) following the gather, foals with access to …


A Free-Ranging, Feral Mare Equus Caballus Affords Similar Maternal Care To Her Genetic And Adopted Offspring, Cassandra M.V. Nuñez, James S. Adelman, Daniel I. Rubenstein Nov 2013

A Free-Ranging, Feral Mare Equus Caballus Affords Similar Maternal Care To Her Genetic And Adopted Offspring, Cassandra M.V. Nuñez, James S. Adelman, Daniel I. Rubenstein

Cassandra M.V. Nuñez

Adoption of nongenetic offspring occurs in a variety of species but is rare in equids. We report a case of adoption by a free-ranging, feral mare Equus caballus and compare the maternal care received by her genetic offspring (born 1995) to that of her adopted offspring (born 1996) for the first 30 weeks of development. We compare five measures of care: (1) total time spent suckling, (2) mare aggression during suckling, (3) number of mare-terminated suckling bouts, (4) contact maintenance, and (5) mare-foal distance. For most behaviors, we detected no difference in the mare’s treatment of the two foals; however, …