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- The dwarf ferret’s troops will fight with nearby rivals
- Surprisingly, more conflict is associated with higher survival rates among pups
- Scientists say this may be because fighting makes adults more alert
War as a destructive force is not limited to humans. Lions fight for control of the herd, and rival chimpanzee species have been known to do this Fight for years.
Even the dwarf mongoose of southern and eastern Africa wages war. Males will fight their rivals for control of the tribe, facing a flurry of teeth, claws and fur.
In the animal world, war tends to hinder group survival. In the worst cases, conflicts between groups can lead to the death of their members. Even when non-fatal injuries occur, they can reduce an individual’s ability to reproduce.
But for the dwarf mongoose, the picture is not so simple.
For ferret kits that have greater conflict with out-groups, their babies — called pups — are actually more likely to survive early in life, according to new research published Tuesday in the journal. Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Who is the likely culprit of this windfall from conflict? Vigilance.
Dwarf ferret pups emerge from the breeding burrow after a few weeks, and the group will protect them when they are too small to fend for themselves
The cat-like dwarf mongoose lives in groups of five to 30 individuals, with a dominant female giving birth to most of the group’s young.
At six to nine inches long and weighing less than a pound, the dwarf mongoose is the smallest African carnivore.
By monitoring 11 groups of wild dwarf mongooses over six breeding seasons, scientists concluded that the more violence a mongoose group has with another group, the more vigilant its adults become.
This in turn appears to lead to fewer incidents in which predators kill pups. Among mongooses with larger ranges, rival males kill infants when they sneak up and take over troops.
But when the dwarf mongoose is killed, it is usually by predators such as jackals, snakes, birds of prey or lizards.
Dwarf mongooses’ vigilance in the face of external threats may increase the odds of survival of their young
This study “highlights the possibility that conflict with rival groups can have positive effects,” the team wrote.
“Furthermore, it demonstrates the need to think beyond individual competitions and assess cumulative threat when considering out-group conflict as a social driver of fitness.”
The dwarf ferret will give birth up to three times in one season. Although the dominant female produces most of the group’s young, subordinate females also give birth on occasion.
Threats from other mongoose populations do not appear to affect the number of litters produced by a group in a season.
Scientists tracked the number of dwarf mongoose pups that survived three months after emerging from the breeding burrow.
The conflicts did not appear to have had an impact on the time between the first and second litter of the season.
Together, these findings paint a picture of an animal that evolved to deal with conflict. For dwarf mongooses, mothers do not take any leave to fight.
As part of the study, scientists tracked “guarding behavior,” where an adult goes out specifically to watch for strangers. Those groups that had frequent conflicts with competitors showed more cautious behavior.
While guarding behavior can help mongooses hunt for competitors, guards are also “more likely than foragers to detect predators and give alarm calls to warn of such threats,” the researchers wrote.
This caution appears to protect the helpless young in their first few months of life.
(Tags for translation) Daily Mail