Mares' Social Bonds Might Enhance Reproductive Success

by: Christa Lesté-Lasserre
Mares that form close social bonds with other mares have improved pregnancy, foal birth, and foal survival rates, said a group of researchers studying wild herds in the North Island of New Zealand. The mares' enhanced reproductive success appears to be linked primarily to mutual protection from harassment by stallions, they said. Unlike most other mammal groups, the mares were ...