It’s not just you who feels like they’re being mind controlled! Even hyenas and chimpanzees have fallen victim to some mind controllers. Though it’s not their parents or friends, it’s a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii. It spreads really quickly and has the ability to change mammal behavior! It’s been shown to increase aggression and lessen their fear of the unknown. So animals with this parasite tend to assert more dominance and be less cautious. Now, there are some wolves that are starting to act a little strange, so some scientists looked into that.
Meyer et al. (2022) decided to study the behavior of wolves infected with this parasite at Yellowstone National Park, home to much of this parasite as well as gray wolves and cougars. These wolves and cougars share a habitat and must live near each other because they share similar food sources, but that doesn’t mean they won’t fight. This study wanted to see how infected wolves would interact with the cougars or if they would just act weird in general.
This study wanted to see if anything, like a parasite, would influence a wolf’s likelihood to become a pack leader or how it acted towards its friends and enemies. They did this by studying 229 Yellowstone wolves for 26 years and their interactions with 62 cougars. Wolves who became infected with the parasite were seen going into unknown situations more often and earlier in their lives. They also hung out with the cougars more which isn’t normal
The Yellowstone wolves usually don’t leave their family until they’re big and strong, but this study found that the infected male wolves were 11 times more likely to leave their familial pack than uninfected males. This was called dispersing and not only was it more likely, but the infected males did it at a younger age too.
They also found that infected wolves were 46 times more likely to become pack leaders! Doesn’t this kind of sound like a good thing now? This is similar to what other studies found with the Toxoplasma gondii parasite. It has increased risk-taking behavior like standing up to bullies and asserting more dominance over their pack-mates. This study was the first time it was studied in gray wolves specifically, but has been reproduced in hyenas and chimpanzees.
So these wolves may not be cured of their parasitic friends, but they are talking to the cougars more and taking more leadership roles. Sounds like a good resumé building to me!
References
Meyer, C. J., Cassidy, K. A., Stahler, E. E., Brandell, E. E., Anton, C. B., Stahler, D. R., & Smith, D. W. (2022). Parasitic infection increases risk-taking in a social, intermediate host carnivore. Communications biology, 5(1), 1180. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-04122-0
