Further evidence for male infanticide and feticide in captive plains zebra, Equus burchelli

The captive plains zebra are characterised by a high incidence of male infanticide and feticide. One of the most common reasons why infanticide and feticide occur is the introduction of a new male into a herd. In the present study, we used twice as much data, including nine plains zebra herds from four Czech zoos, compared to our previous study on this topic. As a result, both of the statistical models that we tested were significant. The probability of the death of a foal was greatest when a new male was introduced into the herd just after conception. The probability of a foal to die in the presence of the new male was nearly 100% during the first two months of age and decreased as the foal aged. The foal's probability to die, depending on the timing of the introduction of a new male or the foal's age, was neither affected by the zoo nor the subspecies. In this paper, we also describe a fourth case of male feticide in plains zebra. Our results demonstrate the highest occurrence of infanticide and feticide among ungulates caused by males.