Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A case of female-perpetrated infanticide in captive white-lipped deer (Cervus albirostris)

  • Short Communication
  • Published:
Journal of Ethology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Although infanticide is widespread among mammals, this phenomenon in ungulates, and more specifically in cervids, remains very rare. We report a case of infanticide in a captive group of white-lipped deer (Cervus albirostris). The infanticide of a non-filial newborn female calf was carried out by two females. The attack was intentional and the attackers killed the calf by biting it and kicking it with their forelegs. The mother of the calf, which was multiparous, witnessed the scene, but no important intervention of the mother was recorded during the attack. This is the first report of female-perpetrated infanticide among cervids. Resource competition, adoption avoidance, pathological behaviour of the infanticidal individuals, and social hierarchy competition may explain the killing.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Agrell J, Wolff JO, Ylönen H (1998) Counter-strategies to infanticide in mammals: costs and consequences. Oikos 83:507–517

    Google Scholar 

  • Andersson A, Valros A, Rombin J, Jensen P (2011) Extensive infanticide in enclosed European wild boars (Sus scrofa). Appl Anim Behav Sci 134:184–192

    Google Scholar 

  • Archie EA, Morrison TA, Foley CAH, Moss CJ, Alberts SC (2006) Dominance rank relationships among wild female African elephants, Loxodonta africana. Anim Behav 71:117–127

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartoš L, Madlafousek J (1994) Infanticide in a seasonal breeder: the case of red deer. Anim Behav 47:217–219

    Google Scholar 

  • Beaudrot LH, Kahlenberg SM, Marshall AJ (2009) Why male orangutans do not kill infants. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 63:1549–1562

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Cassini MH (1998) Inter-specific infanticide in South American otariids. Behaviour 135:1005–1012

    Google Scholar 

  • Ceacero F, García AJ, Landete-Castillejos T, Bartoš L, Bartošová J, Gallego L (2012) Benefits for dominant red deer hinds under a competitive feeding system: food access behavior, diet and nutrient selection. PLOS ONE 7:e32780. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0032780

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ceacero F, Pluháček J, Landete-Castillejos T, García AJ, Gallego L (2015) Inter-specific differences in the structure and mechanics but not the chemical composition of antlers in three deer species. Ann Zool Fenn 52:368–376

    Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH, Greenwood PJ, Powell RP (1976) Ranks and relationships in Highland ponies and Highland cows. Z Tierpsychol 41:202–216

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH, Brotherton PNM, Smith R, McIlrath GM, Kansky R, Gaynor D, O´Riain MJ, Skinner JD (1998) Infanticide and expulsion of females in a cooperative mammals. Proc R Soc Lond B 265:2291–2295

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH, Hodge SJ, Flower TP, Spong GF, Young AJ (2010) Adaptive suppression of subordinate reproduction in cooperative mammals. Am Nat 176:664–673

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Culot L, Lledo-Ferrer Y, Hoelscher O, Muňoz Lazo FJJ, Huynen M-C, Heymann EW (2011) Reproductive failure, possible maternal infanticide, and cannibalism in wild moustached tamarins, Saguinus mystax. Primates 52:179–186

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Digby L (2000) Infanticide by female mammals: implications for the evolution of social systems. In: van Schaik CP, Janson CH (eds) Infanticide by males and its implications. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 423–446

    Google Scholar 

  • Digby L, Saltzman W (2009) Balancing cooperation and competition in callitrichid primates: examining the relative risk of infanticide across species. In: Ford SM, Porter LM, Davis LC (eds) The smallest antropoids. Developments in primatology: progress and prospects. Springer, New York, pp 135–153

    Google Scholar 

  • Dinerstein E, Wemmer C, Mishra H (1988) Adoption in greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis). J Mammal 69:813–814

    Google Scholar 

  • Dobson FS, Cheesser RK, Zinner B (2000) The evolution of infanticide: genetic benefits of extreme nepotism and spite. Ethol Ecol Evol 12:131–148

    Google Scholar 

  • Duncan P (1982) Foal killing by stallions. Appl Anim Ethol 8:567–570

    Google Scholar 

  • Ebensperger LA (1998) Strategies and counterstrategies to infanticide in mammals. Biol Rev 73:321–346

    Google Scholar 

  • Feh C, Munkhtuya B (2008) Male infanticide and paternity analyses in a socially natural herd of Przewalski’s horses: sexual selection? Behav Process 78:335–339

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fischhoff IR, Sundaresan SR, Larkin HM, Sellier M-J, Cordingley JE, Rubenstein DI (2010) A rare fight in female plains zebra. J Ethol 28:201–205

    Google Scholar 

  • Geist V (1998) Deer of the world. Their evolution, behaviour, and ecology. Stackpole, Mechanicsburg

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilchrist JS (2006) Female eviction, abortion, and infanticide in banded mongooses (Mungos mungo): implications for social control of reproduction and synchronized parturition. Behav Ecol 17:664–669

    Google Scholar 

  • Gray ME (2009) An infanticide attempt by a free-roaming feral stallion (Equus caballus). Biol Lett 5:23–25

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gray ME, Cameron EZ, Peacock MM, Thain DS, Kirchoff VS (2012) Are low infidelity rates in feral horses due to infanticide? Behav Ecol Sociobiol 66:529–537

    Google Scholar 

  • Groves CP, Grubb P (2011) Ungulate taxonomy. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore

    Google Scholar 

  • Hilário RR, Ferrari SF (2010) Double infanticide in a free-ranging group of buffy-headed marmosets, Callithrix flaviceps. J Ethol 28:195–199

    Google Scholar 

  • Hrdy SB (1979) Infanticide among animals: a review, classification, and examination of the implications for the reproductive strategies of females. Ethol Sociobiol 1:13–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Hrdy SB (2016) Variable postpartum responsiveness among humans and other primates with “cooperative breeding”: a comparative and evolutionary perspective. Horm Behav 77:272–283

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kleiman DG, Thompson KV, Baer CB (2010) Wild mammals in captivity. Principles and techniques. University of Chicago Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Krause F, Wallschläger D, Kern C (2011) Chronoethologische Untersuchung zur Jungtierentwicklung beim Weißlippenhirsch (Cervus albirostris) im Tierpark Berlin. Zool Garten NF 80:213–238

    Google Scholar 

  • Leslie DM Jr (2010) Przewalskium albirostre (Artiodactyla: Cervidae). Mamm Species 42:7–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewison R (1998) Infanticide in the hippopotamus: evidence for polygynous ungulates. Ethol Ecol Evol 10:277–286

    Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd PH, Rasa OAE (1989) Status, reproductive success and fitness in Cape mountain zebras (Equus zebra zebra). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 25:411–420

    Google Scholar 

  • Lukas D, Huchard E (2014) Sexual conflict. The evolution of infanticide by males in mammalian societies. Science 346:841–844

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lukas D, Huchard E (2018) The evolution of infanticide by females in mammals. BioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/405688

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manning CJ, Dewsbury DA, Wakeland EK, Potts WK (1995) Communal nesting and communal nursing in house mice, Mus musculus domesticus. Anim Behav 50:741–751

    Google Scholar 

  • Mattioli S (2011) Family Cervidae (deer). In: Wilson DE, Mittermeier RA (eds) Handbook of the mammals of the world. 2. Hoofed mammals. Lynx, Barcelona, pp 350–443

    Google Scholar 

  • Miura S, Kaji K, Ohtaishi N, Koizumi T, Tokida K, Wu J (1993) Social organization and mating behaviour of white-lipped deer in the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, China. In: Ohtaishi N, Sheng H-I (eds) Deer of China. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 220–234

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller-Using D, Schloeth R (1967) Das Verhalten der Hirsche (Cervidae). Handb Zool 8(10):1–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Nogueira SLG, Otta E, Dias CTD, De Carvalho A (1999) Determination of the causes of infanticide in capybara (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris) groups in captivity. Appl Anim Behav Sci 62:351–357

    Google Scholar 

  • Packard JM, Babbitt KJ, Hannon PG, Grant WE (1990) Infanticide in captive collared peccaries (Tayassu tajacu). Zoo Biol 9:49–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Palombit RA (2015) Infanticide as sexual conflict: coevolution of male strategies and female counterstrategies. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 7:a017640

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Persson J, Willebrand T, Landa A, Andersen R, Segerström P (2003) The role of intraspecific predation in the survival of juvenile wolverines Gulo gulo. Wildl Biol 9:21–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Pluháček J, Bartoš L (2000) Male infanticide in captive plains zebra (Equus burchelli). Anim Behav 59:689–694

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pluháček J, Bartoš L (2005) Further evidence for male infanticide and feticide in captive plains zebra, Equus burchelli. Folia Zool 54:258–262

    Google Scholar 

  • Pluháček J, Bartoš L, Čulík L (2006a) High-ranking mares of captive plains zebra Equus burchelli have greater reproductive success than low-ranking ones. Appl Anim Behav Sci 99:315–329

    Google Scholar 

  • Pluháček J, Bartoš L, Víchová J (2006b) Variation in incidence of male infanticide within subspecies of plains zebra (Equus burchelli). J Mammal 87:35–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Pluháček J, Ceacero F, Lupták P (2015) First records of preorbital gland opening in rare wild barasingha (Rucervus duvaucelii) in social contexts may help to explain this phenomenon in cervids. Behav Process 119:28–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Pohle C (2002) Notizen zur Fortpflanzung und Geweihzyklus beim Weißlippenhirsch (Cervus albirostris) im Tierpark Berlin. Milu 10:540–544

    Google Scholar 

  • Pusey A, Murray C, Wallauer W, Wilson M, Wroblewski E, Goodall J (2008) Severe aggression among female Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii at Gombe National Park, Tanzania. Int J Primatol 29:949–973

    Google Scholar 

  • Rimbach R, Pardo-Martinez A, Montes-Rojas A, Di Fiore A, Link A (2012) Interspecific infanticide and infant-directed aggression by spider monkeys (Ateles hybridus) in a fragmented forest in Colombia. Am J Primatol 74:990–997

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ryder OA, Massena R (1988) A case of male infanticide in Equus przewalskii. Appl Anim Behav Sci 21:187–190

    Google Scholar 

  • Šárová R, Špinka M, Stěhulová I, Ceacero F, Šimečková M, Kotrba R (2013) Pay respect to the elders: age, more than body mass, determines dominance in female beef cattle. Anim Behav 86:1315–1323

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith DW, Metz MC, Cassidy KA, Stahler EE, McIntyre RT, Almberg ES, Stahler DR (2015) Infanticide in wolves: seasonality of mortalities and attacks at dens support. J Mammal 96:1174–1183

    Google Scholar 

  • Somers MJ, Rasa AE, Penzhorn BL (1995) Group structure and social behavior of warthog Phacochoerus aethiopicus. Acta Theriol 40:257–281

    Google Scholar 

  • Stockley P, Bro-Jørgensen J (2011) Female competition and its evolutionary consequences in mammals. Biol Rev 86:341–366

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thouless CR, Guinness FE (1986) Conflict between red deer hinds: the winner always wins. Anim Behav 34:1166–1171

    Google Scholar 

  • Topola R (2011) White-lipped deer (Przewalskium albirostris)—monitoring stud book 2010. ŁódźZoo, Łódź

    Google Scholar 

  • Tortato FR, Devlin AL, Hoogesteijn R, May JA, Frair JL, Crawshaw PG, Izzo TJ, Quigley HB (2017) Infanticide in a jaguar (Panthera onca) population-does the provision of livestock carcasses increase the risk? Acta Ethol 20:69–73

    Google Scholar 

  • Townsend SW, Slocombe KE, Thompson ME, Zuberbühler K (2007) Female-led infanticide in wild chimpanzees. Curr Biol 17:R355–R356

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tuomi J, Agrell J, Mappes T (1997) On the evolutionary stability of female infanticide. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 40:227–233

    Google Scholar 

  • van Schaik CP, Jansen CH (2000) Infanticide by males and its implications. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead GK (1993) The Whitehead encyclopedia of deer. Swan Hill Press, Shewbury

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson DE, Mittermeier RA (2011) Handbook of the mammals of the world. 2. Hoofed mammals. Lynx, Barcelona

    Google Scholar 

  • Yu Y, Miura S, Pen J, Ohtaishi N (1993) Parturition and neonatal behavior of white-lipped deer. In: Ohtaishi N, SHeng H-I (eds) Deer of China. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 235–241

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to the editor and four anonymous referees for their critical review and very valuable suggestions, which greatly improved the final version of the manuscript, and to Anton Baer for professional language editing.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ústí nad Labem Zoo, Drážďanská 454/23, Ústí nad Labem, 40007, Czech Republic

    Pavel Král

  2. Podvinný mlýn 2134/17, Praha 9, Libeň, 19000, Czech Republic

    Jiří Bukovský

  3. Department of Ethology, Institute of Animal Science, Přátelství 815, Praha-Uhříněves, 104 00, Czech Republic

    Jan Pluháček

  4. Ostrava Zoo, Michálkovická 197, 710 00, Ostrava, Czech Republic

    Jan Pluháček

  5. Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 1760, České Budějovice, 37005, Czech Republic

    Marie Voldřichová & Jan Robovský

  6. National Museum of Agriculture—Ohrada, Ohrada 17, Hluboká nad Vltavou, 37341, Czech Republic

    Marie Voldřichová

  7. Liberec Zoo, Masarykova 1347/31, Liberec, 46001, Czech Republic

    Jan Robovský

Authors
  1. Pavel Král
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jiří Bukovský
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jan Pluháček
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Marie Voldřichová
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jan Robovský
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jan Robovský.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. All procedures carried out in studies involving animals were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution or practice at which the studies were conducted. This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Král, P., Bukovský, J., Pluháček, J. et al. A case of female-perpetrated infanticide in captive white-lipped deer (Cervus albirostris). J Ethol 37, 377–382 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-019-00603-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-019-00603-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation