Records |
Author |
Kampmann, S.; Hampson, B.A.; Pollitt, C.C. |
Title |
Population dynamics of feral horses (Equus caballus) following above-average rainfall in a semi-arid environment of Australia |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2013 |
Publication |
Australian Veterinary Journal |
Abbreviated Journal |
Aust Vet J |
Volume |
91 |
Issue |
11 |
Pages |
482-487 |
Keywords |
animal welfare; ecology; horses; reproduction; wildlife |
Abstract |
Background Recent record rainfall in much of semi-arid Central Australia is the most likely reason for a feral horse population increase in excess of normal. Uncontrolled numbers of feral horses have habitat degradation and animal welfare implications. Objectives The aims of this study were to investigate the social structure of feral horses and assess their population growth rate following unseasonably high rainfall. Methods The study area was 4000 km2 of unmanaged, semi-arid country in Central Australia (latitude 24.50°S, longitude 132.10°E). Horses were identified by descriptive features from ground searches, movement-activated cameras and ‘hides’ positioned at key water holes. Wherever possible, sex and age categories were documented. Population growth rate was estimated by the number of foals divided by the number of horses older than 1 year in the observed population. Results A total of 1424 horses were identified and categorised, of which 335 were foals born within the current year. Only 123 juveniles were identified. Of the adult horses, 53.4% were male and 46.6% were female and this differed from parity (P = 0.04). Of the mares, 71.9% had a foal at foot and the population growth rate was 29.5%. Conclusions With a sustained population growth rate of 29.5%, this population of feral horses will more than double within 3 years. The high population increase will likely have a detrimental effect on native fauna and flora and the fragile, semi-arid ecosystems of Central Australia. After a period of high rainfall and plentiful resources, ‘normal’ drought conditions will return and many feral horses will starve and die as they compete for limited resources. |
Address |
|
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
|
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
1751-0813 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
|
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
5747 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
h:, M.; Lévy, F.; Fortin, M.; Leterrier, C.; LansadLansade, L. |
Title |
Stress and temperament affect working memory performance for disappearing food in horses, Equus caballus |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2013 |
Publication |
Animal Behaviour |
Abbreviated Journal |
|
Volume |
86 |
Issue |
6 |
Pages |
1233-1240 |
Keywords |
delayed-response task emotion; equid; Equus caballus; fearfulness; individual difference; personality; stress; temperament |
Abstract |
In the present study, we sought to determine the influence of stress and temperament on working memory for disappearing food in horses. After assessment of five dimensions of temperament, we tested working memory of horses using a delayed-response task requiring a choice between two food locations. Delays ranging from 0 to 20 s were tested. The duration of working memory for disappearing food was first characterized without stressors (N = 26). The horses were then divided into two groups and their performance was assessed under stressful (exposure to acute stressors prior to testing, N = 12) or control conditions (N = 12). Results showed that the duration of working memory for disappearing food lasted at least 20 s under nonstressful conditions, and that under stressful conditions this duration lasted less than 12 s. This stress-induced impairment confirms in a nonrodent species that working memory performance is very sensitive to exposure to stressors. In addition, working memory performance in horses is influenced by the temperamental dimension of fearfulness according to the state of stress: fearful horses showed better performance under control conditions and worse performance under stressful conditions than nonfearful horses. These findings are discussed in the context of the Yerkes–Dodson law of stress and performance. |
Address |
|
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
|
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
0003-3472 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
|
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
5746 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
Millot, S.; Nilsson, J.; Fosseidengen, J.E.; Bégout, M.-L.; Fernö, A.; Braithwaite, V.A.; Kristiansen, T.S. |
Title |
Innovative behaviour in fish: Atlantic cod can learn to use an external tag to manipulate a self-feeder |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2013 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
|
Volume |
17 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
779-785 |
Keywords |
|
Abstract |
This study describes how three individual fish, Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.), developed a novel behaviour and learnt to use a dorsally attached external tag to activate a self-feeder. This behaviour was repeated up to several hundred times, and over time these fish fine-tuned the behaviour and made a series of goal-directed coordinated movements needed to attach the feeder’s pull string to the tag and stretch the string until the feeder was activated. These observations demonstrate a capacity in cod to develop a novel behaviour utilizing an attached tag as a tool to achieve a goal. This may be seen as one of the very few observed examples of innovation and tool use in fish. |
Address |
|
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
|
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
1435-9456 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
|
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ Millot2013 |
Serial |
5933 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
Ducatez, S.; Audet, J.N.; Lefebvre, L. |
Title |
Independent appearance of an innovative feeding behaviour in Antillean bullfinches |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2013 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
16 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
525-529 |
Keywords |
|
Abstract |
Behavioural innovations have been largely documented in birds and are thought to provide advantages in changing environments. However, the mechanisms by which behavioural innovations spread remain poorly known. Two major mechanisms are supposed to play a fundamental role: innovation diffusion by social learning and independent appearance of the same innovation in different individuals. Direct evidence for the independent emergence of the same innovation in different individuals is, however, lacking. Here, we show that a highly localized behavioural innovation previously observed in 2000 in Barbados, the opening of sugar packets by Loxigilla barbadensis bullfinches, persisted more than a decade later and had spread to a limited area around the initial site. More importantly, we found that the same innovation appeared independently in other, more distant, locations on the same island. On the island of St-Lucia, 145 km from Barbados, we also found that the sister species of the Barbados bullfinch, the Lesser Antillean bullfinch Loxigilla noctis developed the same innovation independently. Finally, we found that a third species, the Bananaquit Coereba flaveola, exploited the bullfinches’ technical innovation to benefit from this new food source. Overall, our observations provide the first direct evidence of the independent emergence of the same behavioural innovation in different individuals of the same species, but also in different species subjected to similar anthropogenic food availability. |
Address |
|
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
|
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
1435-9456 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
|
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ Ducatez2013 |
Serial |
5934 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
Benz, B.; Benitz, B.; Krueger, K.; Winter, D. |
Title |
Weniger Einstreu bei gleichem Komfort |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2013 |
Publication |
Pferdezucht und Haltung |
Abbreviated Journal |
|
Volume |
1 |
Issue |
|
Pages |
66-71 |
Keywords |
|
Abstract |
|
Address |
|
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
AVA-Verlag-Allgäu GmbH |
Place of Publication |
Kempten |
Editor |
|
Language |
|
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
|
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
|
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
5654 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
Briefer Freymond, S.; Briefer, E.F.; Niederhäusern, R.V.; Bachmann, I. |
Title |
Pattern of Social Interactions after Group Integration: A Possibility to Keep Stallions in Group |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2013 |
Publication |
PLoS ONE |
Abbreviated Journal |
PLoS ONE |
Volume |
8 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
e54688 EP - |
Keywords |
|
Abstract |
<p>Horses are often kept in individual stables, rather than in outdoor groups, despite such housing system fulfilling many of their welfare needs, such as the access to social partners. Keeping domestic stallions in outdoor groups would mimic bachelor bands that are found in the wild. Unfortunately, the high level of aggression that unfamiliar stallions display when they first <italic>encounter each other</italic> discourages owners from keeping them in groups. However, this level of aggression is likely to be particularly important only during group integration, when the dominance hierarchy is being established, whereas relatively low aggression rates have been observed among stable feral bachelor bands. We investigated the possibility of housing breeding stallions owned by the Swiss National Stud in groups on a large pasture (5 stallions in 2009 and 8 stallions in 2010). We studied the pattern of agonistic, ritual and affiliative interactions after group integration (17–23 days), and the factors influencing these interactions (time after group integration, dominance rank, age or experience of group housing). We found that stallions displayed generally more ritual than agonistic and than affiliative interactions. The frequency of agonistic and ritual interactions decreased quickly within the first three to four days. The frequency of affiliative interactions increased slowly with time before decreasing after 9–14 days. A stable hierarchy could be measured after 2–3 months. The highest-ranking males had less ritual interactions than the lowest-ranking. Males had also less agonistic, ritual and affiliative interactions if they had already been housed in a group the previous year. Therefore, we found that breeding stallions could be housed together on a large pasture, because the frequency of agonistic interactions decreased quickly and remained at a minimal level from the fourth day following group integration. This housing system could potentially increase horse welfare and reduce labour associated with horse management.</p> |
Address |
|
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
Public Library of Science |
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
|
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
|
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
|
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
5656 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
Benson-Amram, S.; Weldele, M.L.; Holekamp, K.E. |
Title |
A comparison of innovative problem-solving abilities between wild and captive spotted hyaenas, Crocuta crocuta |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2013 |
Publication |
Animal Behaviour |
Abbreviated Journal |
|
Volume |
85 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
349-356 |
Keywords |
Crocuta crocuta; innovation; neophobia; problem solving; spotted hyaena |
Abstract |
Innovative problem solving enables individuals to deal with novel social and ecological challenges. However, our understanding of the importance of innovation for animals in their natural habitat is limited because experimental investigations of innovation have historically focused on captive animals. To determine how captivity affects innovation, and whether captive studies of animal innovation suffer from low external validity, we need experimental investigations of innovation in both wild and captive populations of the same species in diverse taxa. Here we inquired whether wild and captive spotted hyaenas differ in their ability to solve the same novel technical problem, and in the diversity of exploratory behaviours they exhibit when first interacting with the problem. Our results suggest that wild and captive populations show important differences in their innovative problem-solving abilities. Captive hyaenas were significantly more successful at solving the novel problem, and significantly more diverse in their initial exploratory behaviour, than were wild hyaenas. We were able to rule out hypotheses suggesting that these differences result from excess energy or time available to captive animals. We conclude that captive hyaenas were more successful because captive individuals were less neophobic and more exploratory than their wild counterparts. These results have important implications for our interpretation of studies on innovative problem solving in captive animals and aid our attempts to gain a broader understanding of the importance of innovation for animals in their natural habitat. |
Address |
|
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
|
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
0003-3472 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
|
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
5657 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
Beran, M.J.; Smith, J.D.; Perdue, B.M. |
Title |
Language-Trained Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) Name What They Have Seen but Look First at What They Have Not Seen |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2013 |
Publication |
Psychological Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Psychol Sci |
Volume |
|
Issue |
|
Pages |
|
Keywords |
|
Abstract |
Metacognition can be defined as knowing what one knows, and the question of whether nonhuman animals are metacognitive has driven an intense debate. We tested 3 language-trained chimpanzees in an information-seeking task in which the identity of a food item was the critical piece of information needed to obtain the food. The chimpanzees could either report the identity of the food immediately or first check a container in which the food had been hidden. In two experiments, the chimpanzees were significantly more likely to visit the container first on trials in which they could not know its contents but were more likely to just name the food item without looking into the container on trials in which they had seen its contents. Thus, chimpanzees showed efficient information-seeking behavior that suggested they knew what they had or had not already seen when it was time to name a hidden item. |
Address |
1Language Research Center, Georgia State University |
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
|
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
English |
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
0956-7976 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
PMID:23508741 |
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
5659 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
Komárková, M.; Bartošová, J. |
Title |
Lateralized suckling in domestic horses (Equus caballus) |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2013 |
Publication |
|
Abbreviated Journal |
Animal Cognition |
Volume |
16 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
343-349 |
Keywords |
Domestic horse; Foal; Suckling; Lateralization |
Abstract |
Brain lateralization enables preferential processing of certain stimuli and more effective utilization of these stimuli in either the left or the right cerebral hemisphere. Horses show both motor and sensory lateralization patterns. Our aim was to determine whether a lateralized response could be detected in foals during the naturally side-biased behaviour, suckling. The foals’ preferred suckling side could be the effect of either visual or motor lateralization. In the case of a visual lateralized response, foals are expected to suck more often from the mother’s right side, so potential danger can be detected by the better adapted right hemisphere (i.e. left eye). Motor lateralization can be identified when a foal will suck predominantly from one side, either left or right. We found no population trend in the preferred suckling side, but we detected significant differences amongst individual foals. One-third (35.4 %) of 79 foals showed a strong, either right or left side preference which increased with age. The mothers did not influence the foals’ suckling side preferences either by side-biased rejection or termination of suckling. According to our findings, a general pattern of sucking with the left eye open for better danger detection and recognition is unlikely in foals up to 7 months old. Foals of this age are probably young or fully focused on suckling and rely on their mothers’ vigilance. Individual side preferences amongst foals are suggested to be based on motor lateralization. |
Address |
|
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
Springer-Verlag |
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
English |
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
1435-9448 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
|
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
5664 |
Permanent link to this record |
|
|
|
Author |
McCarthy, M.S.; Jensvold, M.L.A.; Fouts, D.H. |
Title |
Use of gesture sequences in captive chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) play |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2013 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
16 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
471-481 |
Keywords |
Gestural communication; Attentional state; Chimpanzee; Gesture sequence |
Abstract |
This study examined the use of sensory modalities relative to a partner’s behavior in gesture sequences during captive chimpanzee play at the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute. We hypothesized that chimpanzees would use visual gestures toward attentive recipients and auditory/tactile gestures toward inattentive recipients. We also hypothesized that gesture sequences would be more prevalent toward unresponsive rather than responsive recipients. The chimpanzees used significantly more auditory/tactile rather than visual gestures first in sequences with both attentive and inattentive recipients. They rarely used visual gestures toward inattentive recipients. Auditory/tactile gestures were effective with and used with both attentive and inattentive recipients. Recipients responded significantly more to single gestures than to first gestures in sequences. Sequences often indicated that recipients did not respond to initial gestures, whereas effective single gestures made more gestures unnecessary. The chimpanzees thus gestured appropriately relative to a recipient’s behavior and modified their interactions according to contextual social cues. |
Address |
|
Corporate Author |
|
Thesis |
|
Publisher |
Springer-Verlag |
Place of Publication |
|
Editor |
|
Language |
English |
Summary Language |
|
Original Title |
|
Series Editor |
|
Series Title |
|
Abbreviated Series Title |
|
Series Volume |
|
Series Issue |
|
Edition |
|
ISSN |
1435-9448 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
Notes |
|
Approved |
no |
Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
5665 |
Permanent link to this record |