Do animals (other than humans) ever practice birth control ?

Answer 1

Actually there is a form of animal birth control called embryonic diapause. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diapause
There are close to 100 different animals who are capalble of delaying the development of a fertilised egg. Some, but not all, species of kangaroos are capable of embryonic diapause. There are two forms of diapause.

Facultative diapause
Facultative diapause is a mechanism that is associated with metabolic stress, normally lactation. If a female copulates while still lactating for her original offspring, the sucking stimulus will cause the embryos to enter into diapause. This is known to occur in some rodents, insectivores and marsupials.Facultative diapause can also be referred to as facultative arrest.


Obligate diapause
Obligate diapause is a mechanism that allows mammals to time the birth of their offspring for favorable environmental conditions. This mechanism occurs as a regular part of the reproductive cycle in many of the pinnipeds, mustelids, ursids, armadillos, one fruit bat and the roe deer. Obligate diapause can also be referred to as obligate arrest

Answer 2

I'm not sure if this qualifies as an answer or not but frogs delay laying eggs until the weather conditions are just right and sometimes that takes years for some species in Africa.
Kangaroos do not produce another baby until the first one is nearly out of the pouch, but there is a tiny baby waiting in the wings. Koalas are the same.

Answer 3

Unlike human, animals do not control birth (population). But, there are phenomenons in nature wherein offsprings are devoid of life due to various environmental and survival reasons.

Nevertheless, all animals including human, attempts to determines what charecter or traits their kids are going to inherit....One example is chosing the female or males counterpart for couplation. And there is no exception to this.

Answer 4

Control, by definition, Yes. They try and control WHO'S child it is

"In a certain species of birds called dunnocks, males have a particular problem -- sometimes the females are polyandrous (have more than one mate at a time). Males of this species thus must also compete with their sperm. They copulate frequently as a method of "damage control" when indications of infidelity are present (Birkhead, 1988; Smith, 1984). In addition, they will peck at the female's cloaca (reproductive tract) until she expels any sperm from previous matings (Davies, 1983)."


But prevention of? not that I am aware of

Answer 5

um yes they do.AFTER BIRTH.male eat the young just 2 stay the leader,lots of animals do it.2 many 2 list.

Answer 6

NO! and emphatically NO!