redred
01-14-2016, 04:21 PM
http://i.imgur.com/HqLoYwR.jpg
Pictures of a male kangaroo cradling its dying mate in apparent mourning were widely shared this week and labelled "heartbreaking" in the media.
But a leading kangaroo expert says it was not grief that was behind the roo's attempt to revive its companion on a Queensland property, but sex.
Dr Mark Eldridge said the male kangaroo was trying to lift the female in order to mate with her.
He said there was no clear evidence that kangaroos did mourn their dead.
Dr Eldridge, the Australian Museum's principal research scientist said: "The evidence is here sticking out from behind the scrotum."
The kangaroo's wet forearms show that it was licking itself to avoid overheating, he said.
"Probably the whole situation is perplexing and frustrating for him, and he is getting… hot and bothered," he told the BBC.
Kangaroos do not pair bond - males establish a hierarchy among themselves through fighting and the strongest will have first access to female mates.
Dr Eldridge said the joey in the picture probably did not realise that its mother was dead and may still have been suckling.
But he said it was difficult to know whether the joey would feel grief over its mother's death.
"There is a strong bond between the mother and the young but it's hard to attribute emotions to those sorts of situations," he said.
"There does seem to be much clearer evidence with more intelligent mammals such as apes and elephants, but there is not clear evidence with kangaroos.
"These are not little people, they are kangaroos."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-35308161
Pictures of a male kangaroo cradling its dying mate in apparent mourning were widely shared this week and labelled "heartbreaking" in the media.
But a leading kangaroo expert says it was not grief that was behind the roo's attempt to revive its companion on a Queensland property, but sex.
Dr Mark Eldridge said the male kangaroo was trying to lift the female in order to mate with her.
He said there was no clear evidence that kangaroos did mourn their dead.
Dr Eldridge, the Australian Museum's principal research scientist said: "The evidence is here sticking out from behind the scrotum."
The kangaroo's wet forearms show that it was licking itself to avoid overheating, he said.
"Probably the whole situation is perplexing and frustrating for him, and he is getting… hot and bothered," he told the BBC.
Kangaroos do not pair bond - males establish a hierarchy among themselves through fighting and the strongest will have first access to female mates.
Dr Eldridge said the joey in the picture probably did not realise that its mother was dead and may still have been suckling.
But he said it was difficult to know whether the joey would feel grief over its mother's death.
"There is a strong bond between the mother and the young but it's hard to attribute emotions to those sorts of situations," he said.
"There does seem to be much clearer evidence with more intelligent mammals such as apes and elephants, but there is not clear evidence with kangaroos.
"These are not little people, they are kangaroos."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-35308161