As we sat quietly, the oxpeckers moved all over the buffalo bodies, looking for delicious parasitic snacks like ticks and lice. A close ecological relationship involving two or more species that can benefit all parties is known as symbiotic mutualism. The relationship between the buffalo and the tickbird hovers somewhere between mutualism and parasitism because the tickbird seems to derive greater benefit from the relationship than the buffalo. This is of less benefit to the buffalo than to other hosts if the buffalo are in a large protective herd. So next time you are in the park, be on the look out for species that have symbiotic relationships.

Source: The Star October 23, 2020 00:00 UTC