Original article by Jennifer Hitt can be found here in CSU Source.

Sarah King, research scientist with the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory in the Warner College of Natural Resources, recently published two papers on wild horses and donkeys in Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology and in Animal Behaviour.

While many people might think that donkeys are just small horses, King’s paper “Effects of phylogeny and habitat on social structure and behavior of two equid species” shows that not only are the two animals different species, but their evolutionary history and habitat influence their behaviors.

“Horses and donkeys have different ancestors, and we see that difference in how they group together and in their social behavior,” said King. “Donkeys express a lot more social interactions than horses but don’t have the same long-term social groups.”

King’s second paper “Horse affairs: factors affecting reproductive success in a feral polygynous ungulate” studied the different strategies of males at two feral horse populations in Utah over four years. The study found that reproductive success was positively correlated with stallions who engaged in friendly interactions with mares as opposed to aggressive behaviors.

“This research is important to show the level of female choice in horse societies, and that groups are bonded together with friendly interactions rather than aggression,” said King.