Some species carry their young around with them wherever they go.

Elephants are especially devoted to the care of their young.

The interactions between young animals and their parents can be very fascinating to watch.

Feeding the young is one of the very important facets of parental behaviour.

In a dangerous situation the best response is to back away slowly, continuing all the while to face the animal or animals.

In his regular feature on bushcraft, Cleve Cheney continues his discussion of animal behaviour and explains how parental care manifests itself.

In this last article on understanding animal behaviour we will look at parental care. One particular aspect of parental care is very important for bow hunters to understand, as it can have a direct bearing on safety.

Parental care refers to the attention given to, the providing for, rearing and protecting of the young. In many species parental care involves a close relationship between the adult mother and the young, with the adult father playing an insignificant or no role after mating with the female. This is the case with most antelope species and with leopard. In other species the young are well cared for and protected by all members of the group. This is especially true of the primates. In other social animals the adult males will help, to a lesser or greater extent, to defend the young from aggressors, as is the case with for example buffalo and zebra. Elephants are especially devoted to the care of young.

Parental behaviour can manifest itself in a number of ways, including providing food for the young, carrying them around (lions, jackal, leopard and primates for example), grooming them, defending them, teaching them to hunt, providing physical contact, and exercising discipline. In herd animals the young often congregate into nurseries that are looked after by a few adult females (eg impala) or are entrusted to the care of sub adult or subordinate individuals, eg baboon. Typical infantile behaviour is sometimes observed in the young with tantrums (hyena and baboon), begging, and play. The interactions between young animals and their parents can be very fascinating to watch and it is often easy to draw parallels between the way humans interact with their children and the ways animals interact with their offspring. Unfortunately animals have one up on us. They still discipline their offspring. In human society it has now become anathema to apply the rod of correction to the seat of understanding and so we end up with rebellious youth that have lost all respect for authority.

How does this affect the bow hunter? Some animals are highly protective of their young and will become very aggressive if they are threatened. Species which deserve mention here are elephant, hippo, leopard, lion, buffalo and baboon. The tracker/hunter/guide should therefore exercise caution upon approaching these species when there are young animals present. I have been headed off by buffalo, been charged by lion, rhino, and elephant with young, and have been chased by baboons, so I am well aware of the fact that the protection of young can manifest itself in open aggression. If you are just walking around with a bow and you happen to bump into an animal of one of the species mentioned that have young at foot you could well be in for some scary and possibly dangerous moments. The best way to avoid this type of confrontation is to be aware. Look or listen for sign which might indicate that young animals are in the vicinity. Tracks and the sounds of young calling or playing can forewarn you of their presence. The best advice, if you are not intent on hunting the particular species (you should not be hunting animals with young at foot anyway), is to move away from the area before making visual contact. By the time you have made visual contact it is often too late, because if you find the young you can be sure that mom is close by. And if she sees you and her offspring in close proximity she will take exception in the strongest terms.

If you do find yourself in a situation where you are faced by an angry mother, father or a group of animals that are ganging together to protect their young, the best response is to back away slowly, continuing all the while to face the animal or animals and (with the exception of leopard) maintaining eye contact. Usually when you have put enough space between yourself and what the parent appears to consider threatened offspring, the situation will be defused and the animals will turn and run off. Now is not the time to allow curiosity to get the better of you and go back for a second look. Move away from the immediate area and continue your hunt elsewhere.