ALLONURSING IN RIVER BUFFALO, BUBALUS-BUBALIS - NEPOTISM, INCOMPETENCE, OR THIEVERY

Allonursing was investigated in a dairy herd of 30 river buffalo cows and their calves. The primary behavioural variables were solicitations of allonursing by calves and acceptances of calves by cows. The sampl e of cows included a group of nine half-sisters, two additional pairs of half-sisters, and a pair of full-sisters. All of the calves were ha lf-siblings owing to putative common paternity. Ancillary variables we re age, milk-yield and docility of cows, as well as age, sex, weight a nd growth rate of calves. Three hundred and fifty-one instances of all onursing and 341 of filial nursing were recorded. There were large ind ividual differences in the cows' tendencies to accept their own offspr ing and non-filial calves, and for the calves to successfully solicit milk from their mothers and other cows. Thirteen of the 30 cows accoun ted for 97% of the allonursing. Frequent allonursing was correlated wi th decreased growth rate in the donors' calves. Allonursing was unrela ted to kinship or reciprocal relationships among the cows, and was ass ociated with a lack of maternal experience in young cows and apparent milk theft by hungry calves whose mothers were not providing them with sufficient milk.