Abstract: Despite the growing interest in collective phenomena such as “swarm intelligence” and “wisdom of the crowds,” little is known about the mechanisms underlying decision-making in vertebrate animal groups. How do animals use the behavior of others to make more accurate decisions, especially when it is not possible to identify which individuals possess pertinent information? One plausible answer is that individuals respond only when they see a threshold number of individuals perform a particular behavior. Here, we investigate the role of such “quorum responses” in the movement decisions of fish (three-spine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus). We show that a quorum response to conspecifics can explain how sticklebacks make collective movement decisions, both in the absence and presence of a potential predation risk. Importantly our experimental work shows that a quorum response can reduce the likelihood of amplification of nonadaptive following behavior. Whereas the traveling direction of solitary fish was strongly influenced by a single replica conspecific, the replica was largely ignored by larger groups of four or eight sticklebacks under risk, and the addition of a second replica was required to exert influence on the movement decisions of such groups. Model simulations further predict that quorum responses by fish improve the accuracy and speed of their decision-making over that of independent decision-makers or those using a weak linear response. This study shows that effective and accurate information transfer in groups may be gained only through nonlinear responses of group members to each other, thus highlighting the importance of quorum decision-making.

Abstract: The Przewalski`s horse (Equus f. przewalskii) was extinct in the wild by the mid-sixties of the past century. The species only survived due to captive breeding from 13 founder individuals. In 1992 a reintroduction program was initiated in the Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area in southwestern Mongolia. During it“s initial years, the project concentrated exclusively on P-horses. In the past decade activities have expanded significantly. The ecological project start point can be summed up as follows: i) species is extinct in the wild, ii) severe bottleneck, iii) practically no ecological data prior to extinction, iv) released into an extremely harsh, highly variable and poorly understood environment. The ecological knowledge constraints were compounded by i) highly emotional species, ii) simultaneous and competitive projects, iii) logistic nightmare, iv) non-scientific basis in planning phase. By the late 1990s project leadership and management was overhauled with research and scientific data firmly integrated into the decision-making process. Early scientific input concentrated on determining causes of death and low reproductive rates. The elucidation of the effects of endemic piroplasmosis on the population and subsequent management changes lead to remediation this deadly problem. P-horses have been fitted with ARGOS and GPS-ARGOS collars in order to determine home range and habitat preferences. Simultaneously the Mongolian wild ass and the wolf have been studied with these methods in the shared habitat. Satellite-based technologies provide the backbone for all habitat related project issues. At the onset (digitized Russian maps) data collection was restricted to the Eastern part of the Gobi B. Subsequently the spatial scale encompasses the entire Gobi Region in Mongolia and Northern Xingjian in China (e.g. Landsat, MODIS, NOAA, SRTM). Research has also focused on the role, needs and possible impacts of local semi-nomadic herders that use the protected area. Capacity building and training workshops (e.g. construction of fuel efficient stoves, felting) have been initiated. In 2007 a trans-boundary project in collaboration with the Xingjian Institute of Ecology and Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was initiated. This project aims to support rural communities of nomadic pastoralists living in the trans-boundary area of the Dzungarian Gobi, in China and Mongolia. Today, this project and the one in Hustain Nuruu (Mongolia) are the only ones that have resulted in free-ranging non-supplemented populations. In the Gobi B area some 120 (status 05.2008) P-horses roam in the protected area. In 2003 the IUCN downlisted the Przewalski\'s horse from to . Further downlisting to is predicted to occur in 2011. There is no consensus on when a reintroduction program is deemed successful. Clearly viewing the self-sustainable re-establishment of a population as a successful end-point is at best a short-term approach, constrained by time (today and now). Comprehensive interdisciplinary monitoring and research was and is the foundation for management strategies and decisions in this project. However, a self-sustaining financial base in conjunction with dedicated training and empowerment of local scientists and residents constitute essential prerequisites for the project”s future. Defining success and thereby inferring an end-point can easily lead to complacency compromising species persistence. As others have stated the ultimate project objective must be a constantly re-evaluated state of population persistence without intervention.

Abstract: Canada has a variety of educational offerings in equine management at the diploma and certificate level offered by universities and colleges, as well as by industry supported centres. However, it was not until 2007 that the first degree-based program in equine science was launched. Offered by the University of Guelph, the Bachelor of Bio- Resource Management – Equine Management program is designed for students who do not intend to pursue post-graduate studies and are strongly focused on securing employment that makes use of the knowledge acquired in their bachelor's degree. The courses in the BSc-program include basic natural sciences as well as equine-specific courses with a focus on management of equine related businesses and events. Diploma and certificate programs usually include only specifically equine-related courses e.g. in anatomy and physiology, health, business, facility management and nutrition. All diploma and certificate programs, and to a slightly lesser extent the BSc program, have a strong focus on applied learning with the intent to provide highly trained workers for the industry. Unique in Canada are the entirely online-taught Diploma in Equine Studies, the Certificate in Equine Business Management and the Equine Science Certificate offered by Equine Guelph and the University of Guelph"s continuing education. Students of these programs have access to a virtual classroom via the internet, and therefore access to instructors and guest speakers from the industry throughout the course. The Canadian certificate programs typically take one year (two semesters), the diploma programs two years (four semesters), while the BSc program takes four years (eight semesters). The BSc program requires approximately 2000 hours of in-class time plus roughly twice the amount spent on assignments and studying, totalling to an overall workload of roughly 6000 hours. Most programs require the completion of Grade 12 or equivalent for admission, and in all programs a background and experience with horses is not required for admission, however it is usually deemed beneficial. Career options for BSc-graduates include barn management, riding instructor or coach, professional rider, judge, steward, course designer, equine-assisted therapy, veterinary assistant, event manager, nutrition consultant, retail sales in tack and equipment, equine sales and marketing, agriculture extension services, college lecturer, consultant and technical advisor, and media relations. Career options for the diploma and certificate program graduates generally include similar areas, with a focus on hands-on work and direct interaction with horses such as employment as grooms, trainers and barn managers.

Abstract: The human-horse relationship forms an essential component in the diversity of todays use of horses. The reactions of horses to interactions with humans are mostly the result of interplay between their own temperament; the temperament and skills of the human and their previous experience – with humans. Moreover, the understanding of the human-horse relationship may improve the welfare of horses and humans. Nowadays, “sympathetic” training methods are gaining tremendous attention of horse owners. In the “sympathetic” training method the focus lies on the use of body language in human-horse communication, as well as respecting the horses natural needs. With 28 horses the effect of a “sympathetic” training method versus a conventional training method on the horse“s response on a human-approach test was studied. Fourteen horses of 3.5 years of age were subjected to a five week training period with a conventional training method, the other fourteen horses were subjected to a ”sympathetic“ training method. The overall frequency of snorting during the human approach tests decreased on average from 4.4 (± 1.1) before the training period to 3.1 (± 0.9) after the training period (both groups). However, there was a significant (p=0.006) difference between training methods: the horses trained in the ”sympathetic“ method decreased snorting by 4.3 (±1.1) while the horses trained in the conventional method increased with 1.5 (±0.9). While horses trained in the conventional method whinnied less in the second human approach test, horses trained in the ”sympathetic“ method whinnied more after the period of training. This difference was found to be significant (p=0.006). Defecating decreased over time, but was not different between training methods. The frequency of touching the unfamiliar handler increased over time for both training methods. The horses trained in a conventional method increased from 1.5 to 2.5 and for the sympathetic trained horses from 1.9 to 3.7. This increase was not significantly different for the training methods. Heart rate showed a minor decrease between the human approach tests (before training period 85.3 bpm, after training period 74.3 bpm) but there were no significant differences between training methods. Similarly, there was a slight increase in heart rate variability (rmssd: from 37.0 to 45.2), but no significant differences between training methods. Overal it was concluded that horses trained with this ”sympathetic“ method tended to be more trustful and less stressful in the presence of an (unfamiliar) human compared to horses trained with a conventional method. This may have been due to reduced stress during horse-human contact in the ”sympathetic" training method used. The long term effects on the welfare of the horses, still needs to be investigated.

Abstract: Each of 104 horses and ponies was approached for catching at pasture by the same human handler in a standard manner, either maintaining human-to-animal eye contact (EC+; n = 51) or avoiding eye contact (EC-; n = 53). A subset of 74 of these subjects were reevaluated 3 weeks later under similar standard conditions except with the eye contact condition opposite to that used in the first round. Nonparametric statistical methods were used to evaluate between subjects (round 1, n = 104) and within subjects (rounds 1 and 2, n = 74) comparisons of successful or unsuccessful catching outcome with EC+ and EC-. Catching outcomes were similar with eye contact condition. Although this study represents a single handler at one study site, results suggest that human-to-horse eye contact may not be an important influence on catching pastured horses. Certainly, further work is needed to better understand the role of eye contact in horse handling.