Do wild animals recognize their relatives if they run into each other (dog, pet)
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Do wild animals recognize their relatives if they run into each other?
Do animals lets say solitary ones like bears ever visit their mothers? Will the papa bear know who his own cubs are so he does not end up eating them like he would to other cubs?
During mating season, will the relatives know each other and avoid mating each other?
"Results from our integrated behavioural, genetic, and demographic evaluation support our hypothesis that inbreeding avoidance is present in the African wild dog, and suggest that individuals within this species have the capacity to discriminate between kin and non-kin through ‘recognition by association’. These animals most likely learned during rearing to recognize familiar individuals."
"Evidence supports the hypothesis that inbreeding avoidance is achieved by means of male-biased dispersal but also indicates that competition (for mates or resources) modifies dispersal patterns."
In other words, boy bears tend to leave the area where they were born, reducing the odds of mating with a related girl bear.
How does a lion know he fathered the cubs? I suspect he smells it. I have ZERO backup on this idea but am intrigued as we filter tens of thousands of scents into our brain without realizing it, as per British "smell studies".
We "process" all kinds of chemicals without being conscious about their impact. I intrigued as it's a survival skill. Any time I haven't paid attention to my personal signals i.e. "just don't like that person but don't know why", I've usually paid the price.
From many years of observing white tail deer, I think deer only recognize their mothers during the first year, then that memory fades. Older does will chase their male offspring off after the first year to avoid inbreeding with their mothers and sisters. The buck will wander about until he establishes a home range of his own. I have a doe who spent her first year living in a thick patch of heavy cover not 35 yards from my house. She used to come out during the day to feed on the edge of my yard and watch me work. This year she has her first single fawn, and has moved to the other side of the house in a larger, thicker patch of cover, and is not so cavalier about my presence, when she sees me, she now takes her fawn and skeedaddles, Her female offspring will stay with her a year or so until she has her own fawn. I don't think they recognize each other after that.
From many years of observing white tail deer, I think deer only recognize their mothers during the first year, then that memory fades. Older does will chase their male offspring off after the first year to avoid inbreeding with their mothers and sisters. The buck will wander about until he establishes a home range of his own. I have a doe who spent her first year living in a thick patch of heavy cover not 35 yards from my house. She used to come out during the day to feed on the edge of my yard and watch me work. This year she has her first single fawn, and has moved to the other side of the house in a larger, thicker patch of cover, and is not so cavalier about my presence, when she sees me, she now takes her fawn and skeedaddles, Her female offspring will stay with her a year or so until she has her own fawn. I don't think they recognize each other after that.
Here is an article about the deer hierarchy: https://www.deerworlds.com/deer-social-structure/. However, for most of their observations, I have found examples of the exact opposite like: "For the females, the social structure among them is more peaceful and friendly." I have watched many doe and usually you have one dominate doe. She gets to eat first and anybody that challenges her will end up with a swift kick. She can stay as head of the females for years as long as her health holds out. Another example is the articles statement: "The dominant buck gets to decide which range will be his home area and other males have to stay out of there or they will be met with a very angry and aggressive individual that can injure or kill them." I have watched as many large buck like to hang out together. Maybe some just like to swap stories? Some will not even challenge others to mate.
Every time somebody makes up rules, in nature, you can find exceptions.
Just because one of those animals avoids breeding with a relative... do they 'know' it's a relative or do they simply adhere to a biologic aversion to mating with that other one not knowing the reason why?
A lot of white tail deer behavior depends on the quality of the habitat. If there is an abundance of food, feeding is without challenge. if food is scarce; like in deep winter, the older matriarchs get to feed first, and even the fawns of the year may starve. If the habitat is healthy, and there are a lot of does, buck fights are rare, if does are thinly spread out over the habitat, there will be fights among the older bucks. Over 30+ years of hunting in rich habitat, there were many does and fawns and I never saw bucks fight, as there were plenty of mating partners. Of course I hunted in a compressed area of about 10 square miles. In sprawling big woods habitat, where deer are spread thinly, bucks fight for what does are available. The bucks in my area don't have to travel far to find an abundance of does to breed, and the many corn fields provide food well into the winter months.
A lot of white tail deer behavior depends on the quality of the habitat. If there is an abundance of food, feeding is without challenge. if food is scarce; like in deep winter, the older matriarchs get to feed first, and even the fawns of the year may starve. If the habitat is healthy, and there are a lot of does, buck fights are rare, if does are thinly spread out over the habitat, there will be fights among the older bucks. Over 30+ years of hunting in rich habitat, there were many does and fawns and I never saw bucks fight, as there were plenty of mating partners. Of course I hunted in a compressed area of about 10 square miles. In sprawling big woods habitat, where deer are spread thinly, bucks fight for what does are available. The bucks in my area don't have to travel far to find an abundance of does to breed, and the many corn fields provide food well into the winter months.
We had one huge doe onetime and it did not matter how many horns the bucks had on their heads; they were not going to deprive her - she ate first! She probably had a good fifty pounds on our largest bucks. They can be very quick with their front feet; its almost like watching a kangaroo box. We thought that she caught many of the large buck off guard; they were not expecting to get challenged by a large, kicking, doe.
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Animal recognition
