Behaviour

Expression and communication

The Equidae communicate by means of calls and changes in facial expression. Six different sounds are made by the plains zebra. A whinny, consisting of a series of two- or three-syllabic “ha” sounds, serves to maintain contact between members of a group. The repertoire includes an alarm call (“i-ha”), an alarm snort, a drawn-out snort of satisfaction, and a squeal of pain and fear. Other species utter similar sounds, the whinny of the horse and the bray of the ass being well-known examples. Characteristic facial expressions have been described for greeting ceremonies (mouth open, ears up), threat (mouth open, ears back), and submission (mouth open, nibbling movements, ears down). In all species studied except the horse, females assume a particular expression (“mating face”) when permitting the male to mount.

In the rhinoceroses and tapirs, snorting, squealing, bellowing, and, in some forms, whistling sounds play a major role in communication. Visual signals are not well developed in these nonsocial animals, but a few facial expressions are used.

Feeding

The Perissodactyla are mainly grazers or browsers. The quality and quantity of grasses available to grazing species may vary considerably with the season and the area. The animals may accordingly move great distances to reach attractive sources of food. Migrations of plains zebras to succulent pastures during the rainy season are a feature of the Serengeti Plains and the Etosha National Park in Africa. The distribution of asses, half-asses, and horses inhabiting arid areas largely follows that of rainfall and pasture.

The food of the browsers is fairly readily available throughout the year; thus, species in this category are relatively sedentary. The browsing rhinoceroses may break down trees and shrubs, and use their forelimbs to help get at otherwise inaccessible leaves and twigs. Food is plucked with the lips. In the tapirs, the upper lip is fused with the short proboscis. The rhinoceroses (excluding the white) have a pointed upper lip with a fingerlike process that is used to pluck leaves and twigs. The white rhinoceros, with its broad square muzzle, is the most specialized grazing rhinoceros, feeding on grass.

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Social organization and territory

In both the mountain and plains zebras the family group is the basic social unit. It generally consists of a single adult male and two or three adult females with their foals. The groups are stable, apparently because of strong mutual ties among the females rather than because of herding by the male. The stallion is dominant, and there is a hierarchy among the mares, the highest ranking (alpha) animal usually leading the group. Other males are either solitary or live in bachelor groups of two or three, sometimes up to 10. Juveniles leave the family group when they attain sexual maturity at one and one-half to two years. When large aggregations occur on favoured grazing grounds, the groups retain their identity. Among Grevy’s zebras and wild asses, territorial males and groups of mares and foals and of stallions are found. There is no evidence for territorial behaviour among any of the zebras except Grevy’s. Individual groups occupy home ranges that overlap to some degree with those of other groups.

The social organization of other equids is not as well documented. Observers studying the wild horse and half-asses have noted that females and juveniles form a group dominated by a single stallion, which keeps them together by active herding; the unattached males are solitary or live in small herds.

The pattern of social organization among the rhinoceroses is quite different from that of the Equidae. Dominant adult males of the white rhinoceros occupy territories that, in the KwaZulu-Natal reserves, average about 200 hectares (500 acres). Within its area a male may tolerate subadult or aged bulls, which have subordinate status. Adult females accompanied by their calves inhabit home ranges encompassing the territories of six or seven dominant bulls. Juveniles consort with other juveniles or with calfless females, but groups of more than two usually do not stay together long.

The black rhinoceros is basically solitary. Adults of both sexes usually occupy home ranges of 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) or more, the size depending on the characteristics of the environment; occasionally the ranges may be as small as 200 hectares, however. There is a good deal of overlap in the utilization of these home ranges.

The Asiatic rhinoceroses also are essentially solitary, but detailed information on the nature of the areas they inhabit is not available. Individual great Indian rhinoceroses are said to occupy tracts as small as 8 to 20 hectares (20 to 50 acres).

Little is known about the social organization or territorial behaviour of the tapirs. All species are reported to be found alone or in pairs.

Male zebras and horses follow mares in estrus. The stallion, after smelling the spot where a mare has urinated or defecated, exhibits “flehmen” (a characteristic display in which the head is lifted and the upper lip raised) and then urinates or defecates on the same spot. In similar fashion, members of stallion groups often urinate or defecate consecutively; communal dung heaps formed by five to eight animals often arise in this way. The significance of such behaviour is not clear.

Among the Rhinocerotidae excretory products play an important role in marking territories and home ranges. Dominant male white rhinoceroses defecate almost entirely on heaps within their territories. They then scatter the material by kicking vigorously, presumably leaving an individual scent mark in this manner. In addition, they urinate in a ritualized fashion, spraying the urine in powerful jets in a manner peculiar to them and shown by no other sex or age group. Other members of the population also use dung heaps (either in territories or in communal areas, such as along paths) but not exclusively, and they do not scatter dung.

In the black rhinoceros, dung-scattering behaviour does not appear to be exclusive to dominant males. The function of the communal heaps may be mainly to establish the presence of the inhabitant in his home range, and to maintain contact between known animals.

Dung heaps and urine spraying are also observed among other species of rhinoceroses and among tapirs; their significance is presumably of a similar nature.

Fighting

The pattern of fighting is related to the amount of lethal equipment the various groups possess. The Equidae, unarmoured, do not employ stylized fighting techniques to reduce the danger of serious injury—as among certain other species. Fighting is largely confined to adult males competing for estrous mares. Various techniques occur in the zebras, which may serve as an example of the family. Circling, neck fighting, biting (either in a standing or sitting position), rearing combined with biting and kicking, and kicking on the run all are used, either alone or in combination. No set pattern is followed.

Fights among rhinoceroses consist of charges and striking with the horns, usually accompanied by vocal threats. Goring is not common, the stylized pattern having probably been evolved to minimize the danger of serious injury from the formidable horns.

Amicable behaviour

Mutual grooming is well known among horses. Two animals stand facing in opposite directions and groom each other by nibbling at the root of the tail and the base of the neck. The plains zebra behaves similarly and so, presumably, do other members of the family.

Zebras greet each other simply by nose-to-nose contact, except that adult stallions go through a ceremony involving nose-to-genital contact. Nose-to-nose greeting is also characteristic of tapirs and rhinoceroses. The latter also rub their bodies together.

Courtship and mating

Courtship is relatively simple among the social equids. The true ass is apparently exceptional. The partners are strangers when the first approaches are made and the female requires violent subjugation by the male, which bites, kicks, and chases her before she will stand for him. This may be the result of separation of the sexes outside the mating season. The wild horse and the plains zebra are not at all violent. The stallion often grooms the mare before attempting to mount. The estrous mare (especially, or exclusively, young mares in the case of the plains zebra) adopts a typical posture with legs slightly apart, tail lifted, and, except in the horse, a characteristic facial expression (the “mating face” already mentioned).

The more or less solitary rhinoceroses and tapirs go through a more elaborate courtship, presumably because the partners are strangers. After a chase, the male and female may engage in low-intensity fighting, ending with the male laying his head on the female’s rump and then mounting and copulating for an extended period. Several males may mate with an estrous female.

Relations between parent and offspring

The perissodactyls bear well-developed (precocial) young, usually a single offspring. After the mother has assisted in removing the placenta and has licked her offspring in the usual mammalian fashion, the young animal soon attempts to stand. A plains zebra foal has been observed to stand quite firmly 14 minutes after birth, and a black rhinoceros calf 25 minutes after birth.

Newly born equids follow any nearby object during the first few days of life. At this time, zebra mares drive away all other zebras from their foals. The behaviour ensures that the foal will form a bond with its mother during the initial period of imprinting. Foals follow their mothers closely and are groomed frequently.

Although precocial, black rhinoceros calves appear to have a lying-out period; that is, an initial period when they rest quietly in thick cover except when being suckled. Thereafter they follow their mothers closely. A young white rhinoceros tends to walk ahead of the mother and may be guided by her horn.

Most young perissodactyls remain with their mothers until the next offspring is born. A young rhinoceros may, therefore, accompany its mother until it is two and one-half years old or older. Although grazing starts early, suckling proceeds for a considerable time, perhaps for its psychological rather than its physiological value.

Play

As in other mammals, play is a prominent form of behaviour among young perissodactyls. Zebras up to the age of one year frequently engage in running games. Foals gallop wildly about on their own, jumping and kicking up their heels, sometimes chasing other animals, such as gazelles, mongooses, or birds. In groups they play catching games, running after one another in close succession. Mock fighting sometimes takes place. Groups of adults have also been seen to chase foal groups in play, and indeed stallion groups carry out playful gallops. Stallions also engage in play greeting and in mock fights.

Playful romping and mock fighting with the horns are common among rhinoceros calves. Young tapirs play running games.

Rolling and wallowing

Behaviour for the care of the body is widespread among the perissodactyls. Equids frequently roll in dry, loose soil forming rolling hollows—a common feature of zebra country.

Wallowing, which may help regulate body temperature, probably is mainly a form of self-grooming; it is practiced by all species of rhinoceroses. They often spend hours lying in pools during the middle of the day in hot weather. Mud of suitable consistency induces wallowing, which may be followed by sand bathing. Prolonged rubbing on tree trunks or suitable stumps follows a wallow; old rubbing stumps and stones may take on a shine from repeated use.

Tapirs may have the most pronounced tendency to bathe and wallow, but few details of their behaviour are known. They are also said to enter water when disturbed.