American bison have been observed licking each other鈥檚 wounds, a stress-reducing behaviour not documented in a hoofed mammal until now.
When animals sustain injuries, licking is often the first line of defence for wound care. Licking a laceration or puncture can remove debris that causes infection and help wounds heal faster. The saliva of some animals 鈥� including humans 鈥� has antibacterial properties and supports tissue and nerve regrowth.
While female bison have been observed grooming unrelated calves, reports of animals licking the wounds of others have largely been limited to captive rats and wild primates, such as chimpanzees.
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The discovery of bison wound licking was made in September 2022, after two female American bison (Bison bison) were tranquilised with darts as part of routine research. at the Department of Environment, Government of Yukon in Canada and his colleagues sampled the animals鈥� hair, faeces and blood, and attached a GPS collar to one of the females. After finishing the collaring and sample collection, they ensured the puncture wounds were clean and then left the bison to wake from a drug-induced slumber.
The following day, when they checked whether the bison were back in their herd and doing well, the researchers saw and photographed a female bison licking the dart wound of one of the females that had been tranquilised. The bison licked her herd member鈥檚 injury for around a minute before a male bison joined in, pushing aside the uninjured female and licking the wound for 2 more minutes.
Then, a different male began grooming the wound of the second darted female bison for around 2 minutes. In both cases, the females being groomed didn鈥檛 move away and continued to graze on grasses.
鈥淚 am not surprised that the authors observed communal grooming with these darted bison,鈥� says , author of Portraits of the Bison: An illustrated guide to bison society. Bison show 鈥渋ntense interest in the blood and wound site鈥� of other bison, he says.
While the observation is new to documented science, 鈥渋t confirms existing anecdotes about bison behaviour鈥�, says at South Dakota State University.
One limit of the study, the researchers note, is that they don鈥檛 know if these bison licking each other鈥檚 wounds are closely related. They are part of the Nordquist population of bison in north-west Canada, which includes around 120 individuals.
The researchers behind the work suggest that the primary benefit of licking may be reducing the stress and trauma of being darted in addition to boosting the social bond between individuals.
Ethology
