What is the meaning of :“recently weaned” in the sentence:
…the bear was a young , recently weaned male that they’d been keeping an eye on.
My understanding is that the bear has now recently finished the weaning process and is eating regular food. Is that correct?
I look forward to your feedback.
davidmich
Recently: at a recent time; not long ago.
Wean(ed):accustom (an infant or other young mammal) to food other than its mother’s milk.
Both from Google.
From that definition it would seem to allow the continued taking of milk, it just means that the infant is now ready to eat other foods.
So you’re saying that the bear has not been completely weaned off its mother’s milk . Is that what you’re saying?
To me it is a rather vague term that says the cub is still dependant on its mother, but also taking ‘adult’ type food.
Weaning refers specifically to food but can be used in a more general metaphorical way also, to refer to a young animal becoming independent.
And it’s a process, most animals take milk for some time after they begin to eat solid food. And even when self-feeding, bears will stay with mom and sibling for some time.
It would seem how the definition is worded it is possible that the cub still takes milk on occasion. In a practical sense, in the everyday bear world the cub is most likely perfecting it’s gathering and hunting, acquiring picnic baskets from the campers at Jellystone Park while avoiding Ranger Smith. But when bear night time comes in such a cub will probably nestle up with mom and as a matter of comfort and habit still suckle, is my WAG on it at least YMMV.
Ok. So 'recently weaned" could indicate that the bear is mature enough to eat regular food but more than likely is still dependent on its mother and/or possibly still suckles its mother’s milk. Would that be a fair assumption?
davidmich
I’m no biologist, but I’d expect a bear still with it’s mother to be called a cub. Possibly “an older cub” and “recently weaned” to mean a bear that has left its mother. Weaning is the process of accustoming a young mammal to food other than milk, but it’s only complete when milk has been completely eliminated from the diet, so I’d interpret “recently weaned” as “no longer gets sustenance from its mother”, not as “has started eating some solid foods”.
No. If an animal has been weaned, it’s not taking milk.
Thanks Blake. That solves that.
davidmich
Thanks naita. Thanks everyone.
davidmich
“Weaned” means not taking milk from the breast or teat anymore.