CHILD ABUSE in BOOBIES: STUDY DOCUMENTS 'CYCLE of VIOLENCE' in BIRDS
Child abuse has been a highly recognized and controversial social issue in recent decades. It has been proven that victims of child abuse experience the after effects much later in life, and are more likely to follow the path of an abuser when rearing their own young. Anyone reading this may be inclined to assume that I am referring to human child abuse, but there is now research conducted on Nazca Boobies that shows even the animal kingdom is prone to this vicious cycle. Nazca Boobies are one of the largest boobies found in the Galapagos Islands. They nest on the ground and tend to rear only one chick every breeding cycle. The parents often leave their young unattended while they fish at sea, giving neighboring adults a chance to harass unsupervised chicks. It's been observed that these chicks continue this behavior once they mature.Researchers from Wake Forest University headed a study proving that heavy abuse of growing youngsters greatly increased the likelihood that those chicks would exhibit the same behaviors in their own adult lives. They did this by collecting data from one colony during three breeding seasons, tracking nestlings that were subjected to abuse using leg bands. After a few years, the behavior of the then adult boobies was recorded. Physiological components of the after effect of abuse showed a steep increase in levels of the main avian stress hormone, corticosterone.This has led researchers to believe that this hormone impacts the boobies' behavior as adults.
The relation between the boobies' physiological response and that of humans has yet to be determined. However, it could present invaluable opportunities for further research on this type of stress response. What most have previously regarded as a human phenomenon is now being seen to occur in birds, who are closer relatives with extinct dinosaurs and crocodiles. They may even be using the same physiological mechanism. In the future, researchers might be looking to use the Nazca Booby as a model in beginning to piece apart the complex origins of human violence.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111003132454.htm
Posted by Chelsea Van Thof (3).
Hi Chelsea,
ReplyDeleteI love your post because my favorite animal is the blue footed boobie. One reason the adult boobies bully or attack younger boobies could be the fact that they want to eliminate the treat that the young causes on the food supply. The younger boobie is another mouth to feed and they might not have a large food supply so child abuse could lead to death.
I wonder if the blue footed boobies exhibit this behavior also since they are related.
Posted by Whitney Huynh
This is a rather grim subject to contemplate. However understanding the avian aspect of the effects of abuse may better allow us to understand it in humans. Is there a similar stress hormone that effects our behaviour, making us prone to become abusers? And are there other aspects to the abusive birds themselves, on a genetic level even?
ReplyDeletePosted by Jacob Lane
This research on animal child abuse is very fascinating, as I never considered animals to partake in behavior that could be so threatening to the lives of their offspring. It is odd that they would choose to be so careless, as one of the main priorities of animal life is reproductive success. As for the abused turning into the abuser, it seems to make sense. As we learned in class, some animals learn to do things from their parents and other individuals in their species. This learning process could also play a role in this observed occurrence of abuse; since they were brought up with their parents neglecting them, they learned to neglect their own young.
ReplyDeletePosted by Sara Corey
I’m rather surprised that these birds would carry out this behavior. I would understand if the Nazca Boobies abuse young chicks that are not theirs in an attempt to kill them, thus giving their own young a better chance of survival into adulthood – but that does not appear to be the case here. I wonder what the evolutionary cause of this behavior is.
ReplyDeletePosted by James Lin
Wow, I never knew that child abuse was present in the animal kingdom as well. This actually does not surprise me that much because I know that rape is present in the animal kingdom in ducks. More studies into why animals might abuse the young of others would be interesting. Maybe by studying this behavior further some psychologists or biologists could infer some reasoning into why some humans abuse children.
ReplyDeletePosted by Noelle Kellicker
Although a bit of a grim topic this is a very interesting post; I had never thought about abuse of animals to their offspring assuming that was more of a human downfall. Do they only do it to offspring that aren't their own? You mentioned that it was often unattended young that were abused by others, but have their been any cases of the parents hurting their own children? I know there are some species that also will eat their young. I wonder if animals do it for a purpose, such as some people have suggested the Nazca Boobies do it to get rid of competition for food, or if they are like humans who abuse due to psychological issues. It would be interesting to study this further.
ReplyDeletePosted by Caitlin Descovich O'Hare
I never thought that I would have to call domestic services on a bird. I'm curious if the other boobies that attack or harass the young are of the same territory or are relatives? I think that this harassing may occur as a population check. I think its a way of weeding out the less fit boobies. I wonder if the hormone that scientists believe causes this behavior is related to aggression in other animals or even humans?
ReplyDeletePosted by Nick Gast
Child abuse or chick abuse? I wonder what other species exhibits this behavior. I would assume that most mammals do not because they are rearing their young to either hunt or to fight or flight. This post is interesting because humans can learn a lot from the animal kingdom. I am wondering, if people who have been abused or have abused another could watch how detrimental the behaviors are in the animal kingdom and learn how to better themselves and not be violent. Maybe that is too much of a wish, but good post.
ReplyDeletePosted by Em Arsenault
Hi Chelsea,
ReplyDeleteYour post really interested me because to be honest, I have never really considered the idea that other species may abuse their young as well. do you know if this has been exhibited in other animals, or just birds and humans?
Posted by Janelle Hayes
Abuse against boobies is never a good thing ;) But seriously, wow I did not expect to hear about animals participating in child abuse. When I first read the title, I assumed it would be the parents that were the culprits, but the neighbors? That's low, even for birds competing for territories and reproductive success of thier offspring. As to what we should do, I'm not sure if interfering is a good idea. Has research been done to see if this has always been occurring? Or is this form of child abuse new to their species and started due some outside factor or increased populations? I think further research is needed to find the cause of all this, and then we can make an informed decision on whether or not to condone this violent behavior as immorale or not. It could just be another cruel part of the circle of life.
ReplyDeletePosted by Austin Gray
Reply to Caitlin Descovich O'Hare:
ReplyDelete"Although a bit of a grim topic this is a very interesting post; I had never thought about abuse of animals to their offspring assuming that was more of a human downfall."
Same here. I had never even considered that the topic of child abuse, widely researched and discussed in human biology, would ever be relevant to other species. It goes to show how much more alike we may be to the animals around us than we ever thought. Many components of our physiology could be mimicking those of other species. We're all just trying to survive, after all. As further research is conducted on the genetic aspects of child abuse in the boobies, they may find that we have a very similar hormone to the primary avian stress hormone; one that may take follow the same pathway as the Nazca Booby.
"Do they only do it to offspring that aren't their own? You mentioned that it was often unattended young that were abused by others, but have their been any cases of the parents hurting their own children?"
This article made the impression that only the children of neighboring boobies were subjected to the abuse. I don't believe they found that parents harassed their own children. That would have been a very interesting technique for reproductive success on their part...
No, I think that the articles' main conclusion was more that fledgling victims of abuse actually carried the effects with them as they grew up, and exhibited those same behaviors towards neighboring chicks once they were adults.
"I know there are some species that also will eat their young. I wonder if animals do it for a purpose, such as some people have suggested the Nazca Boobies do it to get rid of competition for food, or if they are like humans who abuse due to psychological issues."
I think that those are two very valid schools of thought on the subject. It would make sense that this abuse pertained to the survival of one individual over another through eliminating competition for food, as is the function of many other animal behaviors. We are all aware how much 'nurture' can affect the mind just as much as 'nature' can, which means that victimized youngsters would be likely to carry what happened to them and perceive it as the normal thing to do. Child abuse could, in fact, be naturally selected for in boobies.
Posted by Chelsea Van Thof.
This was a very interesting article because of the correlation between child abuse in humans and also the boobies. It amazes me that an animal would have the brain to do something like this to a baby! Is there any information out there that in some cases the baby was not left unattended and would that prevent other birds from coming over and bothering it? Also, do the parents of the baby booby "abuse" their own hatchling? If they do not abuse their own, would the adults hassle other birds in the same population area?
ReplyDeletePosted by Ryan Dulmaine