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Antonevich, A.L.; Erofeeva, M.N.; Naidenko, C.V.
Early sibling aggression of Eurasian lynx depends on the growth rate
2012 Doklady Biological Sciences (447): 360-362
We studied whether the dynamics of the body weight and growth rate differed in Eurasian lynx cubs taken from the litters "with and without" early sibling fights. In the three-cub litters, the fights were more frequent than in two-cub ones; therefore, only triplets were studied, taking into account that the litter size could influence the cub weight. Our experiments were conducted in the Chernogolovka Research Dase of the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, which is 60 km northeast of Moscow. The litters of the Eurasian lynx (_Lynx lynx_) obtained in 1989-2011 were kept in cages 3750, 74, and 8 m2 in size; every litter with the female in a separate enclosure. The animals had a continuous access to water and obtained beef or chicken daily (2 kg per female with cubs). The keeping conditions and the methods of animal observation have been described earlier in detail. The data on the body weight dynamics of 45 cubs of Eurasian lynx from 15 litters were used in this study.
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