Social dominance exists when the be

Social dominance exists when the behavior of an animal
is inhibited or altered by the presence or threat of another
animal (Beilharz and Zeeb, 1982; Drews, 1993). Cattle are
able to recognize other individuals and maintain consistent
dominance hierarchies (Broom and Leaver, 1978; Bennett et
al., 1985; Bennett and Holmes, 1987). Animals high in the
hierarchy have priority to feed, shelter, and water (Broom
and Leaver, 1978; Bennett et al., 1985; Bennett and Holmes,
1987). A current year's offspring are near the bottom of a
herd's social hierarchy, but when close to their mothers (< 3
m) offspring are elevated to their mother's status and receive
the privileges attached to their mother's social rank. This has
been documented in bison (McHugh, 1958), elk (Altmann,
1956), and wild ponies (Tyler, 1972). Offspring of highranked
mothers also tend to achieve high social rank as
adults (Tyler, 1972; Clutton-Brock et al., 1986). The mechanism
for this is unknown. It may be that offspring learn to be
aggressive by watching their mothers interact aggressively
with other individuals. It may be that offspring inherit aggressive
temperaments, or it may be that the other individuals
in the herd learned to avoid the offspring when it was near its
high-ranked mother and the other animals continued to avoid
it after weaning (Tyler, 1972). Wagnon (1966) reported a
strong, stable arrangement of social dominance in a mixedbreed
cow herd, and Wagnon et al. (1966) reported that Angus
cows were more dominant than Shorthorn cows, and both