Social Organization, Mating System, and Feeding Behavior

Abstract

Horses are highly social ungulates, yet life in groups has inherent costs: it increases both the competition for food and the transmission of diseases (Alexander 1974), to cite only two. In other social species, grouping can allow animals to exploit their food resources better (e.g., large carnivores, Schaller 1972, Kruuk 1972; frugivorous primates, Wrangham 1980; birds, Wittenberger and Hunt 1985) and to reduce their chances of being predated (Treisman 1975, Pulliam and Caraco 1984, Mangel 1990).