Antipredator tactics are largely maternally controlled in goitered gazelle, a hider ungulate

Abstract

Predation is usually the primary cause of infant death among ungulate species, with the annual variation in the survival of neonates over their first summer a major factor in the population dynamics of many ungulates. Consequently, the maternal rearing strategy of a species is crucial for its reproductive success. Since the roles mothers and fawns play in the implementation of antipredator strategies in hider species have been poorly understood until now, this paper considers this behavior in the goitered gazelle, which is a typical hider species. I found that within the first month after birth goitered gazelle mothers largely controlled the behavior of their fawns both during the active period (determining the timing of separation and reunion with fawns, movement direction and speed, and bed site location) and the hiding period (keeping the hiding fawns under continuous watch from a distance, especially right after birth). With age the fawns’ mobility increased and cases of independent behavior of fawns apart from their mothers were found more often, though females continued to control their fawns’ behaviors. The main elements of the goitered gazelles’ maternal care strategy − generally related to protecting fawns from potential predator attack − are very similar to other hider species in both bovids and cervids, which demonstrates a standard set of maternal care behaviors, irrespective of predator type or its behavioral peculiarities. Such maternal behaviors, however, likely only decrease the predation losses to a certain extent.