Top‐predator carrion is scary: Fight‐and‐flight responses of wild boars to wolf carcasses
Abstract Predation risk largely constrains prey behavior. However, whether predators may be scary also after death remains unexplored. Here, we describe the “fight‐and‐flight” responses of a prey, the wild boar ( Sus scrofa ), to carcasses of (a) its main predator, the gray wolf ( Canis lupus ) and...
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crwiley:10.1002/ece3.9911 2024-09-15T18:01:14+00:00 Top‐predator carrion is scary: Fight‐and‐flight responses of wild boars to wolf carcasses Redondo‐Gómez, Daniel Rossi, Luca Cardello, Mattia De Pasquale, Soraya Martínez‐Carrasco, Carlos Sánchez‐Zapata, José A. Moleón, Marcos Junta de Andalucía Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9911 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ece3.9911 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ecology and Evolution volume 13, issue 4 ISSN 2045-7758 2045-7758 journal-article 2023 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9911 2024-07-02T04:13:51Z Abstract Predation risk largely constrains prey behavior. However, whether predators may be scary also after death remains unexplored. Here, we describe the “fight‐and‐flight” responses of a prey, the wild boar ( Sus scrofa ), to carcasses of (a) its main predator, the gray wolf ( Canis lupus ) and (b) a carnivore that very rarely kills wild boars, the red fox ( Vulpes vulpes ), in the western Alps (Italy). We recorded the behavior of wild boars at 10 wolf and 9 fox carcass sites. We found eight “fight‐and‐flight” responses toward wolf carcasses, and none toward fox carcasses. Our results suggest that carnivore carcasses may indeed be scary; fear responses toward them are dependent on the species to which the carcass belongs; and animals approaching the carcasses are feared mainly when the latter are relatively fresh. This emphasizes the multiple and complex roles that carrion plays in the landscape of fear and opens exciting ecological, epidemiological, and evolutionary research avenues. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus gray wolf Wiley Online Library Ecology and Evolution 13 4 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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English |
description |
Abstract Predation risk largely constrains prey behavior. However, whether predators may be scary also after death remains unexplored. Here, we describe the “fight‐and‐flight” responses of a prey, the wild boar ( Sus scrofa ), to carcasses of (a) its main predator, the gray wolf ( Canis lupus ) and (b) a carnivore that very rarely kills wild boars, the red fox ( Vulpes vulpes ), in the western Alps (Italy). We recorded the behavior of wild boars at 10 wolf and 9 fox carcass sites. We found eight “fight‐and‐flight” responses toward wolf carcasses, and none toward fox carcasses. Our results suggest that carnivore carcasses may indeed be scary; fear responses toward them are dependent on the species to which the carcass belongs; and animals approaching the carcasses are feared mainly when the latter are relatively fresh. This emphasizes the multiple and complex roles that carrion plays in the landscape of fear and opens exciting ecological, epidemiological, and evolutionary research avenues. |
author2 |
Junta de Andalucía Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Redondo‐Gómez, Daniel Rossi, Luca Cardello, Mattia De Pasquale, Soraya Martínez‐Carrasco, Carlos Sánchez‐Zapata, José A. Moleón, Marcos |
spellingShingle |
Redondo‐Gómez, Daniel Rossi, Luca Cardello, Mattia De Pasquale, Soraya Martínez‐Carrasco, Carlos Sánchez‐Zapata, José A. Moleón, Marcos Top‐predator carrion is scary: Fight‐and‐flight responses of wild boars to wolf carcasses |
author_facet |
Redondo‐Gómez, Daniel Rossi, Luca Cardello, Mattia De Pasquale, Soraya Martínez‐Carrasco, Carlos Sánchez‐Zapata, José A. Moleón, Marcos |
author_sort |
Redondo‐Gómez, Daniel |
title |
Top‐predator carrion is scary: Fight‐and‐flight responses of wild boars to wolf carcasses |
title_short |
Top‐predator carrion is scary: Fight‐and‐flight responses of wild boars to wolf carcasses |
title_full |
Top‐predator carrion is scary: Fight‐and‐flight responses of wild boars to wolf carcasses |
title_fullStr |
Top‐predator carrion is scary: Fight‐and‐flight responses of wild boars to wolf carcasses |
title_full_unstemmed |
Top‐predator carrion is scary: Fight‐and‐flight responses of wild boars to wolf carcasses |
title_sort |
top‐predator carrion is scary: fight‐and‐flight responses of wild boars to wolf carcasses |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9911 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ece3.9911 |
genre |
Canis lupus gray wolf |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus gray wolf |
op_source |
Ecology and Evolution volume 13, issue 4 ISSN 2045-7758 2045-7758 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9911 |
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Ecology and Evolution |
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13 |
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4 |
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1810438411568283648 |