THE risks that male fallow deer are prepared to take when fighting in the
rutting season depend on their relative social standing.
Valeria Mattiangeli and her colleagues at the University of Milan found that
confrontations between animals of the same social rank involved more techniques
carrying a greater risk of injury, such as locking antlers and pushing each
other. In contrast, when the combatants were mismatched, there was much more
posturing (Journal of Zoology, vol 249, p 339).
鈥淭he higher-rank male tries, during the interaction, to reduce the risks,鈥�
says Mattiangeli, who suggests that evenly matched rivals have to resort to
physical conflict to determine who is the strongest.
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