Literature about wild guinea pigs
Current research on wild guinea pigs can be hard to find and information on the internet varies wildly. Gate kept behind paywalls or riddled with difficult terminology, it can be difficult to access. On this page, I will summarize findings from literature I can get my hands on, as well as describe methods and my thoughts on the research. I hope this will make it easier for interested guinea pig owners to get acquainted with current research.
Knowing about behavior and biology of wild guinea pigs can help understand the instincts and behaviors of their tame counterparts.
Topics on this page
Social System and Spatial Organization of Wild Guinea Pigs (Cavia aperea) in a Natural Population
Matthias Asher , Elisabeth Spinelli de Oliveira , Norbert Sachser. Journal of Mammalogy, Volume 85, Issue 4, 16 August 2004, Pages 788–796
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Main takeaways
This study looks at the wild guinea pigs Cavia Aperea. It followed 60 guinea pigs, in several groups/herds, in a natural setting in Southeast Brazil.
- The groups had a high mortality rate, because of enviromental factors (many predators)
- In spaces where more plants grew, more guinea pigs resided
- The guinea pigs lived in small groups of 1 male and 1 to 2 females
- The territories of the groups overlapped only a little with each other
- The male guinea pigs in each group were not very territorial. They marked their females with their anal glands. Only 2 times an intruder male was chased by the resident male, and it was because they came close to one of the females
- Offspring was sired only by the 1 male in each group, a single-male system
- The small size of the groups was related to the dangerous environment. Smaller groups attract less attention of predators. Larger groups of Cavy aperea are seen in other studies in areas with fewer predators.
Other interesting finds
- Within a group, the females kept more in contact with the male guinea pig than with each other (distance between females was several meters and the male moved between them)
- The guinea pigs were never observed more than 5 meters from the nearest cover
- In the dense vegetation, the guinea pigs did not have fixed resting spots. They were often alternating
- The guinea pigs had foraging bouts of less than 5 minutes long, and they did not rest during those times, but were very alert
- Foraging was mainly done during dusk and dawn
- The wild guinea pigs moved their group’s home areas when it was required. When there was not enough vegetation/food or due to flooding. They could also eventually move back to the original home area.
- Long-lasting social relationships between a male and female guinea pigs are found in both the wild Cavy aperea and domestic guinea pigs
Method
A population of 60 Cavia Aperea in Southeast Brazil was followed for 6 months. Researchers gathered the following data:
- Which area the guinea pigs used – through radiotelemetry (= a few cavies were fitted with small radio transmitters
- Their social interactions – through observation
- Genetic relationships in the group – through DNA fingerprinting (= the cavies were captures and DNA was taken)
- Environmental factors in their living space – through recording how many and what plants grow there, how much food there is, and how many predators
My thoughts
This study makes solid conclusions based on a long period of observation of Cavy Aperea. It is interesting to see the comparisons to domestic guinea pigs. Cavy Aperea is generally not considered the closest wild counterpart to domestic guinea pigs (that is Cavy Tschudii) but it still shows similar behavioral patterns.