King, S. R. B., & Gurnell, J. (2005). Habitat use and spatial dynamics of takhi introduced to Hustai National Park, Mongolia. Biol. Conserva., 124(2), 277–290.
Abstract: The successful introduction of captive bred takhi or Przewalski's horse, Equus ferus przewalskii, into Mongolia in the 1990s is a good example of the benefits of ex situ conservation and one of the few examples of the recovery of an animal after it became extinct in the wild. This is also particularly interesting because virtually nothing was known about how takhi lived before they died out, and the introductions have enabled us to study how they have settled, and their ecology and behaviour within their former natural range. In this paper, we describe the movement, home range size and shape, and habitat use of takhi at one of the release areas, the 570 km2 Hustai National Park in Mongolia. Harem home ranges varied between 129 and 2399 ha, with 80% core areas of between 61 and 1196 ha. There was no relationship between range size and harem size, or length of time since release. Initially, harems stayed near their release enclosures, but over time they established home ranges further away. There was little overlap between home ranges of different harems, but neither was there evidence of exclusive range use. The more nutritious vegetation at lower elevations was preferentially selected. Thus the present situation looks good, but, as the population continues to grow, we anticipate that there will be potential problems related to intraspecific competition for water and vegetation resources, and the potential for hybridisation with domestic horses belonging to the local people. We consider the time it may take for takhi to reach carrying capacity within Hustai National Park and emphasise that continual monitoring of the population is essential because interventional management is likely to be required in the future.
|
Kruger, K., Gaillard, C., Stranzinger, G., & Rieder, S. (2005). Phylogenetic analysis and species allocation of individual equids using microsatellite data. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics, 122(s1), 78–86.
Abstract: Summary The taxonomic status of all equid species is not completely unravelled. This is of practical relevance for conservation initiatives of endangered, fragmented equid populations, such as the Asiatic wild asses (in particular Equus hemionus onager and E. hemionus kulan). In this study, a marker panel consisting of 31 microsatellite loci was used to assess species demarcation and phylogeny, as well as allocation of individuals (n = 120) to specific populations of origin (n = 11). Phylogenetic analysis revealed coalescence times comparable with those previously published from fossil records and mtDNA data. Using Bayesian approaches, it was possible to distinguish between the studied equids, although individual assignment levels varied. The observed results support the maintenance of separate captive conservation herds for E. hemionus onager and E. hemionus kulan. The first molecular genetic results for E. hemionus luteus remained contradictory, as they unexpectedly indicated a closer genetic relationship between E. hemionus luteus and E. kiang holderi compared with the other hemiones.
|
Watson, L. H., Odendaal, H. E., Barry, T. J., & Pietersen, J. (2005). Population viability of Cape mountain zebra in Gamka Mountain Nature Reserve, South Africa: the influence of habitat and fire. Biol. Conserva., 122(2), 173–180.
Abstract: The small Cape mountain zebra population in Gamka Mountain Nature Reserve represents a third of the entire gene pool of this endangered species and is thus vital for it's conservation. Presently, management of this population is largely hands off, with the belief that it will grow to levels which will allow it to form a source for the mixing of mountain zebra stocks in the future. The growth of this population however, has been slow and we investigated the influence of habitat and fire on this growth. Firstly, we used a diffusion model to perform a population viability analysis. This analysis indicated that the population had a low probability of attaining quasi-extinction in the next 50 years (G = 0.0032). However, our findings indicated that less than 30% of the reserve was suitable for mountain zebra and that the preferred habitat would have to be burnt at unnaturally short intervals to sustain the present growth. We therefore argue that the risk of quasi-extinction to this population is greater than predicted and suggest that management options need to be implemented to reduce this risk. These options include; translocation to another protected area; acquisition of adjacent land; burning preferred habitat at unnaturally short intervals; forming a conservancy with adjacent landowners; leasing cultivated land for pasture. We suggest that only the latter two options are likely to stimulate mountain zebra population growth in the short term and that these should receive immediate attention.
|
Sutton, J. E., & Shettleworth, S. J. (2005). Internal sense of direction and landmark use in pigeons (Columba livia). J Comp Psychol, 119(3), 273–284.
Abstract: The relative importance of an internal sense of direction based on inertial cues and landmark piloting for small-scale navigation by White King pigeons (Columba livia) was investigated in an arena search task. Two groups of pigeons differed in whether they had access to visual cues outside the arena. In Experiment 1, pigeons were given experience with 2 different entrances and all pigeons transferred accurate searching to novel entrances. Explicit disorientation before entering did not affect accuracy. In Experiments 2-4, landmarks and inertial cues were put in conflict or tested 1 at a time. Pigeons tended to follow the landmarks in a conflict situation but could use an internal sense of direction to search when landmarks were unavailable.
|
Gibson, B. M., & Shettleworth, S. J. (2005). Place versus response learning revisited: tests of blocking on the radial maze. Behav Neurosci, 119(2), 567–586.
Abstract: Neurobiological and behavioral research indicates that place learning and response learning occur simultaneously, in parallel. Such findings seem to conflict with theories of associative learning in which different cues compete for learning. The authors conducted place+response training on a radial maze and then tested place learning and response learning separately by reconfiguring the maze in various ways. Consistent with the effects of manipulating place and response systems in the brain (M. G. Packard & J. L. McGaugh, 1996), well-trained rats showed strong place learning and strong response learning. Three experiments using associative blocking paradigms indicated that prior response learning interferes with place learning. Blocking and related tests can be used to better understand how memory systems interact during learning.
|
Miklosi, A., Pongracz, P., Lakatos, G., Topal, J., & Csanyi, V. (2005). A Comparative Study of the Use of Visual Communicative Signals in Interactions Between Dogs (Canis familiaris) and Humans and Cats (Felis catus) and Humans. J. Comp. Psychol., 119(2), 179–186.
Abstract: Dogs' (Canis familiaris) and cats' (Felis catus) interspecific communicative behavior toward humans was investigated. In Experiment 1, the ability of dogs and cats to use human pointing gestures in an object-choice task was compared using 4 types of pointing cues differing in distance between the signaled object and the end of the fingertip and in visibility duration of the given signal. Using these gestures, both dogs and cats were able to find the hidden food; there was no significant difference in their performance. In Experiment 2, the hidden food was made inaccessible to the subjects to determine whether they could indicate the place of the hidden food to a naive owner. Cats lacked some components of attention-getting behavior compared with dogs. The results suggest that individual familiarization with pointing gestures ensures high-level performance in the presence of such gestures; however, species-specific differences could cause differences in signaling toward the human.
|
Devenport, J. A., Patterson, M. R., & Devenport, L. D. (2005). Dynamic averaging and foraging decisions in horses (Equus callabus). J. Comp. Psychol., 119(3), 352–358.
Abstract: The variability of most environments taxes foraging decisions by increasing the uncertainty of the information available. One solution to the problem is to use dynamic averaging, as do some granivores and carnivores. Arguably, the same strategy could be useful for grazing herbivores, even though their food renews and is more homogeneously distributed. Horses (Equus callabus) were given choices between variable patches after short or long delays. When patch information was current, horses returned to the patch that was recently best, whereas those without current information matched choices to the long-term average values of the patches. These results demonstrate that a grazing species uses dynamic averaging and indicate that, like granivores and carnivores, they can use temporal weighting to optimize foraging decisions.
|
Hebenbrock, M., Due, M., Holzhausen, H., Sass, A., Stadler, P., & Ellendorff, F. (2005). A new tool to monitor training and performance of sport horses using global positioning system (GPS) with integrated GSM capabilities. Dtsch Tierarztl Wochenschr, 112(7), 262–265.
Abstract: Global Positioning Systems (GPS) are considered suitable to monitor the position and velocity of horses during cross-country competition or in training. Furthermore, simultaneous recording of life data such as heart rate could be useful to assess the horse's condition during exercise. To test the suitability and reliability of a commercially available GPS system with integrated heart rate recording system and with built in GSM for data transmission, the Fidelak Equipilot Type EP-2003-15/G-2.11 (EP-15/G) was evaluated first for reliability of pulse recording from a pulse generator within the physiological range of horses; furthermore distance, velocity and heart rate recordings were carried out on a standard 1000 m field track with five repetitions. Agreement (% deviation from actually measured distance and from stopwatch-distance based velocity calculations) and variability (Coefficient of Variation for distance, velocity, heart rate) were calculated. From the results it was safe to assume that the heart rate sensor recorded horse heart rates at a high degree of accuracy. Overall distances and velocities are in high agreement with actually measured values. However, overall variability expressed in terms of relative variability (C.V.) is smaller for distance recording (C.V. 0.68%) when compared to velocity (C.V. 1.01%). The system tested is suitable and reliable for simultaneously recording of distance, velocity and heart rates for horses during cross country exercise. GPS-based monitoring of movement along with simultaneous recording of physiological data and the possibility to call upon data will not only be of benefit for training horses or for surveillance during competition, it may also be suitable for distant patient monitoring and in behavioural studies as well as in veterinary medicine in general.
|
Kobayashi, K., Jackowiak, H., Frackowiak, H., Yoshimura, K., Kumakura, M., & Kobayashi, K. (2005). Comparative morphological study on the tongue and lingual papillae of horses (Perissodactyla) and selected ruminantia (Artiodactyla). Ital J Anat Embryol, 110(2 Suppl 1), 55–63.
Abstract: A common characteristic of horses, Rocky Mountain goats, and cattle is that they all have a well developed lingual prominence on the dorsal surface of the posterior area of the tongue. Foliate papillae were found in the horse studied but not in the goat or in cattle. The horse filiform papillae had a long and slender external form with a thin and slender CTC, while in the goat and cattle the external form consisted of a large thick main process and the CTC consisted of a bundle of numerous rod-shaped protrusions. The special papilla found on the lingual prominence resembled larger filiform-like papillae in the horses; however, in the goat and cattle it was a very thick and large tongue like papillae. The horses had two large vallate papillae, while the goat and cattle had 15 or more vallate papillae at the posterior area of the lingual prominence. This suggests that the fine structure of horse tongues may display a more primitive pattern than that present in goats and cattle.
|
de Waal, F. B. M., Dindo, M., Freeman, C. A., & Hall, M. J. (2005). The monkey in the mirror: hardly a stranger. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 102(32), 11140–11147.
Abstract: It is widely assumed that monkeys see a stranger in the mirror, whereas apes and humans recognize themselves. In this study, we question the former assumption by using a detailed comparison of how monkeys respond to mirrors versus live individuals. Eight adult female and six adult male brown capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) were exposed twice to three conditions: (i) a familiar same-sex partner, (ii) an unfamiliar same-sex partner, and (iii) a mirror. Females showed more eye contact and friendly behavior and fewer signs of anxiety in front of a mirror than they did when exposed to an unfamiliar partner. Males showed greater ambiguity, but they too reacted differently to mirrors and strangers. Discrimination between conditions was immediate, and blind coders were able to tell the difference between monkeys under the three conditions. Capuchins thus seem to recognize their reflection in the mirror as special, and they may not confuse it with an actual conspecific. Possibly, they reach a level of self-other distinction intermediate between seeing their mirror image as other and recognizing it as self.
|
