Snapshot Serengeti Talk

behavioural question

  • Alinna by Alinna

    im wondering if thomson gazelles and guinea fowl have the same sort of relationship as whitetail deer and wild turkey do in NA?

    they seem to be a little more at ease when some of the other species are nearby and eating

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  • Alinna by Alinna

    ASG001cw0m

    heres another capture of guinea fowl and thommy's eating together

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  • aliburchard by aliburchard scientist, translator

    What a colorful combination! They don't have anything to fear from each other, so it's perhaps not too surprising that they seem at ease. That grass also looks bright and green - tasty for the gazelles and full of seeds and insects for the guinea fowl.

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  • kosmala by kosmala scientist in response to Alinna's comment.

    Hi Alinna, what a great observation! That would be an interesting hypothesis to test with our data -- do tommies and guinea fowl tend to be found in the same areas at the same times?

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  • Alinna by Alinna

    I know it was found that deer and turkey spend far more time eating if one of the other species is in the near vicinity and from what ive seen it seems the same with tommies and guinea fowl, would be interesting to see the findings

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  • davidbygott by davidbygott moderator

    Never thought of that one. Tommies & Guineas don't spend that much time together as tommies are open plains people and guineas prefer woods, but when the tommies enter guinea country, they may mutually benefit from each others' danger sensing systems. Guineafowl are great 'watchdogs'.
    Bushbuck and impala certainly do this with baboons.

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  • DZM by DZM admin

    I imagine that the science team could certainly look back through previous seasons and see if there are more examples of thommies and guineafowl hanging out together.

    If you do indeed to that, please let us know what you find out!

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