Mr. Kipenji,
Animals are, in fact, primitive, relative to Man, although the latter often behaves more savagely than animals.
That said, on blaming and/or criticising the Kaguta and his Movement (and even other dictators like Obote & Amin) I do it usually without reservations.
----Original Message Follows----
From: Owor Kipenji <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: ugnet_: Study Shows the Queen Breeds Democratically
Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 16:28:24 +0000 (GMT)
Omukulu Ssemakula,reading this story from research
conducted on what many of us would brash off as
primitive animals,dont you think that it is pertinent
for Ugandans to roundedly condemn Mu7 and his
murderous regimes on the atrocities he has visited
upon the people of Uganda in general and Northern
Uganda in particular?.
Thanks.
Kipenji.
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July 27, 2001
Study Shows the Queen of Beasts Breeds Democratically
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?articleID=000C9E71-4320-1C60-B882809EC588ED9F
Among animal societies in which group members
cooperate, certain individuals get a better deal,
especially when it comes to reproduction. Social
insects such as bees, for example, have a single
breeding queen. And other cooperative creatures,
including numerous birds and carnivore species,
exhibit that same pattern of reproductive dominance by
one or a few females. New research has revealed a
striking exception to this rule, however. According to
a report published today in the journal Science,
female African lions have an egalitarian breeding
system�setting them apart from not only other social
carnivores but even males of their own species.
Previous observations had suggested that lionesses
employ a democratic approach to breeding; pridemates
hunted and reared their cubs together, and none seemed
to be reproducing more than her fair share. But to
determine whether subtle reproductive hierarchies
might in fact exist, as in the case of female
chimpanzees, veteran lion researchers Craig Packer and
Anne Pusey of the University of Minnesota decided to
take a closer look. They compared lifetime
reproductive variation in females from 31 Tanzanian
lion prides to the variation in simulated prides, in
which reproductive rate and demography were the same
as in the real prides but births were randomly
allocated. In all of the real prides, some females had
more offspring than others. But the same pattern held
true for the simulated prides. The team thus failed to
find any evidence of true reproductive despotism among
fe! male lions.
To explain the unusual system, the authors point out
that unlike females of other cooperative species,
these cats can't control one another's reproduction.
Lionesses go into hiding to give birth, returning to
the pride only after the cubs are several weeks old
and less vulnerable to attack. This fact, in
combination with the mother's formidable teeth and
claws, makes it hard for one lioness to kill a
pridemate's newborn. Beyond that, females participate
in the communal cub-rearing only if they themselves
have cubs. Thus, if one lioness were to eliminate
another's cub, she would lose that female's
contribution to the rearing of her own offspring.
"Lion society provides a distinct alternative to the
dog/bird model of cooperative breeding," the authors
write, "and reveals the female lion to be one of
nature's true democrats." -- Kate Wong
