Bruce lost the top of his beak in an accident when he was very young.
Ximena Nelson
Bruce lost the top of his beak in an accident when he was very young.
Ximena Nelson
Bruce “jousts” with another man.
Alex Grabham
Bruce “jousts” with another man.
Alex Grabham
Bruce runs and jumps to “joust” with his opponents from a distance.
Ximena Nelson
Bruce runs and jumps to “joust” with his opponents from a distance.
Ximena Nelson
Bruce “jousts” with another man.
Alex Grabham
Bruce runs and jumps to “joust” with his opponents from a distance.
Ximena Nelson
The key to Bruce’s success and overall calm mood? His unique spike jousting technique, which allowed him to quickly displace his rivals. At close range, Bruce would extend his neck to attack his opponents, adding a dash or jump to the movement when attacking from further away. Other able-bodied males mostly bit at an opponent’s neck, while Bruce primarily performed forward lunges and targeted his opponents’ backs, heads, wings, and legs. It kicked at the same pace as other kea but used its half beak much more frequently.
According to the authors, there are only two other cases in the scientific literature that are comparable to Bruce’s ingenious adaptation. In a casethe late Jane Goodall observed an alpha male chimpanzee named Fabian who lost the use of his arm due to polio; his brother became the new alpha male. Fabián managed to reach “beta” status through partnership and also by developing unusual loading screens. He another case It was an old Japanese macaque whose ability to walk gradually deteriorated; the macaque maintained its alpha status by allying itself with the alpha female. But Bruce achieved his alpha status on his own through dominance, not through a helpful alliance.
“Bruce shows us that behavioral innovation can help avoid physical disability, at least in species with the cognitive flexibility to develop new solutions.” said co-author Alexander Grabham from Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha/University of Canterbury in New Zealand. “Previous research has shown links between large brains, behavioral flexibility, and species-level survival. Bruce shows how those links develop in a single individual through traits that matter on a daily basis, such as social dominance. Our findings also raise an important welfare question: If a disabled animal can innovate its way to success, well-intentioned interventions, such as prosthetics, do not always improve its quality of life. Sometimes the animal can do better without help.”
Current Biology, 2026. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2026.03.004 (About DOIs).
