Is nursing a kid detrimental to nonimmunological compatibility to contact-transmitted foreign bodies in female Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica)?

Abstract

Reproductive costs may increase the susceptibility of breeding females to parasites. Compatibility may be modulated by immunity and nonimmunological factors. However, experimental tests attempting to unravel the role of non-immunological compatibility to parasites are scarce. We experimentally infected breeding and nonbreeding females with pseudoectoparasites (PEPs) to analyse how nursing a kid affects neatness in the Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica Schinz, 1838). Our results revealed that nursing a kid does not seem detrimental to neatness in female Iberian ibex in terms of nonimmunological compatibility to contact-transmitted foreign bodies. Consequently, it seems that increased susceptibility of breeding females to contact-transmitted parasites may be mainly mediated by increased exposure or increased immunological compatibility to parasites.