by Playfuls Staff |
14th July 2006
British scientists say they've discovered older meerkats teach their pups how to handle prey. The University of Cambridge researchers say meerkats - a mongoose-like denizen of South Africa - teach their young how to obtain food by incrementally introducing dead, injured and then live prey. The [more] researches say their findings should resolve the question of whether wild mammals teach their young.
Meerkat pups are initially incapable of finding their own prey and rely on provisions from other members of the group. Meerkats typically feed on a range of unwieldy and often dangerous prey, including scorpions.
The Cambridge researchers discovered that in order for the pups to be taught how to handle food without putting them in harm's way, the older meerkats kill or disable the prey before providing it to the pups. In the case of the scorpions, they often removed the stinger.
The teachers then modify the frequency with which they kill or disable the prey according to the pups' age, gradually introducing pups to live prey as they became older.
The study is detailed in the current issue of the journal Science.
© 2006 UPI
