Title
Birth and simultaneous rearing of two litters in a pack of captive African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus)
Author(s)
Thomas P.R., Powell D.M., Fergason G., Kramer B., Nugent K., Vitale C., Stehn A.M., Wey T.
Published
2006
Publisher
Zoo Biology
Abstract
Two female African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) in a pack of 10 animals at the Bronx Zoo gave birth to litters of nine and seven pups within a 2-day period. Two pups from the litter of seven died before they were 2 weeks old, but the other 14 survived past weaning. Litter size, sex ratio, and pup developmental stages were all consistent with data obtained from other captive- and wild-born litters. Both dams were very attentive to their litters, and during the pups' first 2 weeks spent >90% of their time in the dens with the pups. By 2 days after birth and during their first 2 weeks of life, the pups spent 86% of their time in a nursing position. Before parturition and during the first week post-partum, one of the dams (DAL) was clearly dominant to the other (WHI). However, the females' dominance rank reversed 2 weeks post-partum. On two occasions during the pups' first 2 weeks DAL stole and reared one of WHI's pups, but between Weeks 3 and 4 all of DAL's pups were stolen and WHI raised both litters as one until they were weaned. The pups began spending time out of their den at approximately 1 month of age. The timing of the births, the design of the wild dogs' management facility, and the presence of several dens in different enclosures within the facility all likely contributed to the successful rearing of the litters. The pups in both litters were very similar in size because of the short interval between births, so one litter did not have a competitive advantage over the other with respect to gaining access to the dam for milk. The facility's design helped mitigate aggression within the pack, and the presence of multiple dens enabled to dams to move the pups to different den sites and allowed the two females to stay visually and spatially apart from each other while remaining with the pack. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Keywords
Animalia; Canis familiaris; Lycaon pictus
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PUB10783