Week 340 ( 26th February - 4th March 2010 )
Coco joins the bunch and King Henry looks for a fight
To continue our experiment Coco was introduced into the Mini Camp where Hulooo, King Henry and Princess were already resident. Although there was little interaction between King Henry, Princess and Hulooo the younger pair had accepted his presence and went about their own business leaving Hulooo to his.
As soon as Coco arrived in the camp he sniffed Hulooo under the tail and they chased one another around for a bit before Coco discovered the poles of the shelter. Whilst Coco was affectionately rubbing himself against the uprights King Henry came forward. Coco left the shelter to greet him and King Henry immediately became aggressive – clawing and roaring at Coco. Coco retaliated and for about 3 minutes they fought in, around and behind bushes (making it impossible to see whether they were inflicting any wounds) midway in the camp for the upper hand. Each time King Henry tried to place Coco on the defensive he was met with more force than he bargained for and conceded the fight….falling submissively onto his side. The loud roaring and violence terrified Princess who raced up from the back of the camp, up along the fence to the corner furthest from the ruckus. Whilst the pair were fighting Hulooo was prancing around them like a referee, but at no time did he join the fight. Once the fight was over Coco sprawled out on top of the breeding box and King Henry retreated under a bush growling at all and sundry. As his services as referee were no longer needed Hulooo returned to the pole shelter.
I returned a short while later and found that Coco had discovered Princess. In sharp contrast to her reaction to Hulooo, she was sitting quietly on a small rise watching him walk in circles around her, her only reaction was to pull her ears flat as she watched him over her shoulder. After about five minutes she lay down and completely ignored him. By this time King Henry had disappeared.
I paid them another visit a while later and found them all scattered around the camp, far apart with no interaction. At 14:00 Hulooo was lying near the front fence, Princess was lying right at the back, King Henry pacing Tigers’ Roars fence and Coco was lying somewhere in the middle. King Henry joined me at the fence, chuffing a greeting, Hulooo also joined our group at the gate with a chuff. King Henry paced in front of me and I counted four scratches, none of which appeared to be serious and none were bleeding.
The tension in the camp was tangible and Coco was removed.