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Further evidence for sex differences in suckling behaviour of captive plains zebra foals

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Abstract

Sex differences in suckling behaviour could be explained either by different maternal investment or by different behaviour of young. Previously, we found sex differences in rejection and termination of suckling bouts in captive plains zebras (Equus burchellii). In this study, we analysed the length of suckling bout interruptions and unsuccessful subsequent attempts which followed a successful suckling bout in plains zebra foals at Dvůr Králové Zoo. When a suckling bout was interrupted, male foals resumed the bout sooner than female foals. The probability of a subsequent attempt decreased with increasing age in female foals but did not change in male foals. These results demonstrate higher effort in suckling interest by male foals, who tried to suckle more than female foals. Although we found sex bias in the effort to suckle, which suggested higher parent–offspring conflict in male offspring, we cannot omit a sex bias in milk supply by the mother.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the staff of the Zoological Garden at Dvůr Králové, in particular Luděk Čulík, Miroslava Doležalová, Aleš Kopecký, Pavel Moucha, Jan Pařík, Barbara Raková, Kristina Tomášová, Miroslav Špráchal and Dana Holečková. The manuscript was much improved by comments from Jana Pluháčková, Radka Šárová and José L. A. Panamá. We highly appreciated the help of Sarah King who improved the English. The project was supported by grant no. 523/08/P313 from the Czech Science Foundation and by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic (MZe0002701404).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ethology, Institute of Animal Science, Přátelství 815, 104 00, Prague, Czech Republic

    Jan Pluháček, Jitka Bartošová & Luděk Bartoš

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

    Jan Pluháček

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  1. Jan Pluháček
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  2. Jitka Bartošová
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  3. Luděk Bartoš
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Correspondence to Jan Pluháček.

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Pluháček, J., Bartošová, J. & Bartoš, L. Further evidence for sex differences in suckling behaviour of captive plains zebra foals. acta ethol 14, 91–95 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-011-0091-z

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