It’s a jungle out there ...
QUESTION If a lion takes over a pride, he kills all of the cubs. In what other ways is nature cruel? Humans tend to use the term ‘cruel’ loosely and interpret the ways of nature in terms of our own psychology.
nature may be ‘red in tooth and claw’, as the poet alfred, Lord Tennyson put it, but only man intentionally inflicts pain.
Yet, if we look at nature in anthropomorphic terms, there are many acts that appear cruel.
We have all seen nature programmes showing a pride of lions slaughtering a zebra, a pack of wolves bringing down a moose or a shark killing a seal or fish.
some of the cruellest footage of recent times was featured on the BBC’s Blue Planet. It was excruciating watching a pod of killer whales chasing a grey whale mother and calf, deliberately wearing them down until the calf tired and could be separated from its mother.
a seemingly cruel act, yet in Blue Planet II we saw an equally sad episode with a grieving Orca clinging to her calf for eight days before it died.
Infanticide may seem the cruellest act of all. Yet it is a powerful evolutionary tool that has been recorded in a number of species, including mammals, such as rodents and primates, and fish, insects and amphibians.
In the case of lions, by taking over the leadership of a pride, the new leader aims to pass on their own genetic line.
If they don’t kill the existing infant males, they run the risk these cubs will grow up and stage a coup.
Killing infants triggers fertility in the mother, increasing the chance of the new male having offspring.
Infanticide is common among wild chimpanzees. males and females have been seen killing infants outside and within their own communities.
similar behaviour has been observed in rats, guillemots and bottlenose dolphins. In meerkats, those most cuddly of animals, it is the females that do the killing of the young. meerkats are cooperative breeders, where there is an alpha male and female who breed and other adult subordinates that help to raise the young.
Dominant females are known to kill a subordinate’s pups.
Dr Ken Bristow, Glasgow.
QUESTION Was it once illegal for women to smoke in public?
WOmen have never been banned from smoking in Britain. up until the inter-war period, smoking was very much the domain of men so women smoking was viewed as deviant behaviour.
In the u.s., there was an attempt to ban public smoking by women in new York.
until the early 20th century, there were many restrictions on american women. Without a male escort, women were refused service in restaurants, cafes and hotels, while saloons and private clubs closed their doors to female customers. The advent of department stores made it socially acceptable for women to shop and appear in public without a male chaperone.
at a time when women were agitating for the vote and taking part in public demonstrations, smoking in public became a sign of rebellion.
In 1907, Cafe martin, a restaurant frequented by elite new Yorkers, decided to allow women to smoke.
new York City alderman Timothy ‘Little Tim’ sullivan found this objectionable and his Bill forbidding owners of public establishments from allowing women to smoke was passed unanimously.
Only one woman, Katie mulcahey, was arrested for smoking in public before the law was vetoed by new York’s mayor in 1908.
Tobacco producers soon realised there was a great untapped market and targeted brands and marketing at women.
World War II saw smoking among women become commonplace. By 1949, an estimated 81 per cent of men and 39 per cent of women smoked in Britain.
Cathy McFarlane, St Andrews, Fife.
QUESTION What is the oldest identifiable breed of dog?
FurTHer to earlier answers, the sloughi is another ancient hound. It originated in morocco as a desert hound.
Carvings of these dogs have been found on rocks from the neolithic period, 8,000 years ago. nicknamed the arabian greyhound, their hunting capabilities are similar to salukis, but they tend to be rather aloof.
Mark Burgess, Ninfield, E. Sussex.
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