Behavior and Ethology Commons^™

Farrowing Behaviour And Stillbirth In Two Environments: An Evaluation Of The Restraint-Stillbirth Hypothesis, D. Fraser, P. A. Phillips, B. K. Thompson

Reproductive Behavior Collection

A total of 59 farrowings were studied in either a conventional, narrow farrowing crate (0.43 m wide) or a much wider alternative design with sides spaced 1.2 m apart at the sow’s standing height but narrowing near the floor to limit the sow’s lying area. Using video recording, we monitored each “birth interval” (i.e. the period between two successive births) and noted the interval’s length, the sow’s posture and postural changes during the interval, and whether the interval ended with a live-born or stillborn piglet. The wide and conventional crates did not differ significantly in median interval between piglets (15.9 …

Weapon Size Versus Body Size As A Predictor Of Winning In Fights Between Shore Crabs, Carcinus Maenas (L.), Lynne U. Sneddon, Felicity A. Huntingford, Alan C. Taylor

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

Relative body size (carapace width) and weapon size (chela length) were used as indicators of resource holding potential (RHP) in the agonistic behaviour of male shore crabs, Carcinus maenas (L.). Weapon size was found to be a more reliable predictor of the outcome of pairwise fights than body size. Crabs with longer chelae than their opponents were more likely to win fights than crabs with relatively larger bodies. Body size had less influence on the outcome of fights. Relative body and weapon size did not influence initiation of contests but did affect the likelihood of winning; however, this was significant …

Life In Captivity: Its Lack Of Opportunities For Variable Behaviour, Françoise Wemelsfelder

Zoos and Aquariums Collection

No abstract provided.

Elephant Days And Nights: Ten Years With The Indian Elephant, Robert H.I. Dale

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Book review for the following title:

Elephant Days and Nights. By Raman Sukumar (George B. Schaller, foreword), Oxford University Press, 1996, 200 pages.

The Scientific Validity Of Subjective Concepts In Models Of Animal Welfare, Françoise Wemelsfelder

Animal Welfare Collection

This paper takes a closer look at the subjectivity/objectivity relationship, as it plays a role in the science of animal welfare. It argues that subjective, experiential states in animals such as well-being and suffering are, contrary to what is often assumed, open to empirical observation and scientific assessment. The presumably purely private, inaccessible nature of such states is not an inherent property of these states, but derives from their misguided conception as ‘causal objects’ in mechanistic models of behaviour. This inevitably endows subjective experience with a ‘hidden’ status. However, subjective experience should be approached on its own conceptual grounds, i.e. …

The Asian Elephant: Ecology And Management, Robert H.I. Dale

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Book review for the following title:

The Asian Elephant: Ecology and Management. By Raman Sukumar, Cambridge University Press, 1993, 282 pages. $34.95 hardcover

The First Step In The Case For Great Ape Equality: The Argument For Other Minds, Kristin Andrews

Psychology Collection

No abstract provided.

Social Assemblages And Mating Relationships In Prairie Dogs: A Dna Fingerprint Analysis, Steven E. Travis, Con Slobodchikoff, Paul Kefan

Reproductive Behavior Collection

Mating system characterizations have been hindered by difficulties in accurately assigning parentage to offspring. We investigated the relationship between social assemblages and mating relationships in a territorial harem polygynous mammal, the Gunnison's prairie dog, using a combination of behavioral and molecular analyses. We demonstrate multiple paternity and an extraordinarily high incidence of extraterritorial fertilizations (i.e., 61% of all progeny), in combination with the existence of female kin groups. On this basis, we conclude that social assemblages alone provide a poor description of the Gunnison's prairie dog mating system, and suggest several potential reasons for the maintenance of territoriality in this …

Studying Elephants: Awf Technical Handbook Series #7, Robert H.I. Dale

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Book review for the following title:

Studying Elephants: AWF Technical Handbook Series #7. Edited by Kadzo Kangwana, Nairobi, Kenya: African Wildlife Foundation, 1996, 186 pages. $15 S&H.

Conflict And Cooperation: Sociobiological Principles And The Behaviour Of Pigs, David Fraser, D. L. Kramer, E. A. Pajor, D. M. Weary

Sociobiology Collection

The pig provides many examples of how principles of behavioural ecology and sociobiology can lead to insights into farm animal behaviour. According to parent-offspring conflict theory, parents should tend to give a level of parental investment somewhat below that solicited by the young. When closely confined during lactation, sows can do little to limit the amount of contact with the piglets, and the young stimulate a prolonged, high level of lactation. Certain alternative housing systems allow the sow to limit the stimulation she receives, and the resulting reduction in lactation can actually be advantageous to both parties. Communal care of …

The Challenge And Opportunity Of Recovering Wolf Populations, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

The gray wolf once inhabited a wide variety of habitats throughout most of the northern hemisphere north of 20°N latitude. Because the animal preyed on livestock and competed with humans for wild prey, it was extirpated from much of its range outside of wilderness areas. Environmental awareness in the late 1960s brought for the wolf legal protection, increased research, and favorable media coverage. The species has increased in both Europe and North America, is beginning to reoccupy semiwilderness and agricultural land, and is causing increased damage to livestock. Because of the wolfs high reproductive rate and long dispersal tendencies, the …

Science, Values And Animal Welfare: Exploring The ‘Inextricable Connection’, D. Fraser

Animal Welfare Collection

In conceptualizing animal welfare, it is useful to distinguish among three types of concepts. 'Type l' are single, measurable attributes. 'Type 2' are single attributes that cannot be measured directly but can be estimated by correctly combining various contributing attributes. 'Type 3' are concepts involving multiple attributes which are grouped together because they serve some common function, and whose relative importance cannot be established in an entirely objective way. Individuals who treat animal welfare as a type 1 concept may propose single, objective measures of welfare, such as longevity or levels of stress-related hormones; however, this approach rests on judgements, …

Play Signals As Punctuation: The Structure Of Social Play In Canids, Marc Bekoff

Ethology Collection

Actions called play signals have evolved in many species in which social play has been observed. Despite there being only few empirical demonstrations, it generally is accepted that play signals are important in the initiation ("I want to play") and maintenance ("I still want to play") of ongoing social play. In this study I consider whether a specific and highly stereotyped signal, the bow, is used to maintain social play in adult and infant domestic dogs, infant wolves, and infant coyotes.

To answer this question the temporal placement of bows relative to actions that are also used in other contexts …

Vigilance, Flock Size, And Flock Geometry: Information Gathering By Western Evening Grosbeaks (Aves, Fringillidae), Marc Bekoff

Ethology Collection

Vigilance (scanning) and other behavior patterns were studied in free-ranging Evening Grosbeaks (Coccothraustes vespertinus) at feeders to assess how flock size and flock geometry influenced the behavior of individual birds. The present results indicate that the way in which individual grosbeaks are positioned with respect to one another effects many aspects of their behavior, especially when a flock contains four or more birds. Birds in a linear array who have difficulty seeing one another, when compared to individuals organized in a circle who can easily see one another, are (1) more vigilant, (2) change their head and body positions more …

Elephants, Robert H.I. Dale

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Book review for the following title:

Elephants. By Clive Spinage, Kent, UK: Harcourt Brace & Co., 1994, 319 pages. £27.45.

A Ten-Year History Of The Demography And Productivity Of An Arctic Wolf Pack, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

A pack of two to eight adult wolves (Canis lupus arctos) and their pups was observed during ten summers (1986–95) on Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. The author habituated the wolf pack to his presence in the first summer and reinforced the habituation each summer thereafter. The first alpha female produced four to six pups each year between 1986 and 1989. However, her daughter, who succeeded her as the alpha female, produced only one to three pups each year between 1990 and 1992 and in 1994, and apparently did not whelp in 1993 or in 1995. The tenure …

The Relationship Between Creep Feeding Behavior Of Piglets And Adaptation To Weaning: Effect Of Diet Quality, David Fraser, J. J.R. Feddes, E. A. Pajor

Feeding Behavior Collection

Individual variation in creep feed intake and its relation to adaptation to weaning were studied in piglets weaned at 4 wk of age. The animals received either a "low-complexity" creep-starter diet based on corn, barley and soybean meal (12 litters), or a "high-complexity", medicated, commercial diet without soybean meal (12 litters). Diets were fed as creep feed during the 2 wk before weaning, and as the sole diet during the 2 wk after weaning. Creep feeding behavior of piglets was monitored by video recording. Pigs fed the high-complexity diet consumed more creep feed (P < 0.05), tended to gain more during the week before weaning (P < 0.10), and converted feed more efficiently and gained more weight in the 2 wk after weaning (P < 0.01). Use of creep feed varied greatly among individual littermates. Multiple regression analysis showed that on the high-complexity diet, pigs that used creep feed more than their littermates tended to be those with low gains in weeks 1-3 after birth (P < 0.001), and tended to gain more weight during the week before and during the 2 wk after weaning (P < 0.01). The trends were consistent but weaker with the low-complexity diet. However, predictive power was low, with creep feeding accounting for only 4% of individual variation in post-weaning gain on the high-complexity diet and 1% on the low. Regardless of diet quality, therefore, creep feeding remained highly variable and only weakly related to weight gains during the 2 wk after weaning.

Individual Differences In The Cognitive Abilities Of Chimpanzees, Sarah T. Boysen

Psychology Collection

No abstract provided.

Colostrum Intake By Newborn Piglets, David Fraser, Jeffrey Rushen

Feeding Behavior Collection

Colostrum intake by newborn piglets was studied by weighing piglets every 10 min for their first 1-4 h with the sow, and their cumulative weight increases were used as estimates of colostrum intake. In seven litters, four piglets were monitored for 4 h beginning about 2 h after the birth of the first piglet in order to determine if colostrum is available continuously or released in discrete ejections. There was little synchrony between litter-mates in their intake in the first hour, but by the second hour of monitoring (starting about 3 h after farrowing began), much of the colostrum was …

Consumption Of Solid Food By Suckling Pigs: Individual Variation And Relation To Weight Gain, Edmond A. Pajor, David Fraser, Donald L. Kramer

Feeding Behavior Collection

Individual daily consumption of supplementary solid food ('creep feed') was measured from Day 10 to weaning at Day 28 for 39 piglets in four litters, and its relationship to body weight and weight gain up to Day 42 was investigated. Individual consumption was measured by combining the weight of the feed removed from the dispensers (monitored electronically) and a video image of piglet activity at the feeder. Creep feed consumption varied greatly, both between and within litters. On average, pigs began feeding on Day 12 (range Day 10-28), intake was relatively low (usually < 5 g day ^‒1) until Day 20 but increased …

Effect Of Straw On The Behaviour Of Growing Pigs, David Fraser, P. A. Phillips, B. K. Thompson, T. Tennessen

Social Behavior Collection

The effects of straw on the behaviour of young growing pigs were studied in two experiments. In Experiment 1, group of three pigs, aged about 7 weeks, were housed in raised decks with or without straw bedding. Time-lapse video recording showed no major differences between treatments in the amount or daily pattern of overall activity and feeding. Detailed observations showed that bedding reduced the incidence of rooting and chewing on pen-mates, but had little effect on other social activities such as mounting and aggressive biting. Experiment 2 compared groups of eight growing pigs aged about 10 weeks, housed in floor …

Introgression Of Coyote Mitochondrial Dna Into Sympatric North American Gray Wolf Populations, Niles Lehman, Andrew Eisenhawer, Kimberly Hansen, L. David Mech, Rolf O. Peterson, Peter J. P. Gogan, Robert K. Wayne

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genotypes of gray wolves and coyotes from localities throughout North America were determined using restriction fragment length polymorphisms. Of the 13 genotypes found among the wolves, 7 are clearly of coyote origin, indicating that genetic transfer of coyote mtDNA into wolf populations has occurred through hybridization. The transfer of mtDNA appears unidirectional from coyotes into wolves because no coyotes sampled have a wolf-derived mtDNA genotype. Wolves possessing coyote-derived genotypes are confined to a contiguous geographic region in Minnesota, Ontario, and Quebec, and the frequency of coyote- type mtDNA in these wolf populations is high (> 500%). The …

Nutritive And Nonnutritive Sucking And The Temporal Organization Of The Suckling Behavior Of Domestic Piglets, Jeffrey Rushen, David Fraser

Feeding Behavior Collection

Detailed video recordings of the suckling behavior of one piglet from each of four litters were analyzed to determine how the components of piglet suckling behavior are organized in relation to the time of milk ejection and the temporal pattern of grunting by the sow. Early in the suckling episode, most piglets massaged the udder with their snouts, and then changed gradually to sucking the teats with slow mouth movements (1-2/sec). The piglets then had a distinct phase of sucking with rapid mouth movements (4-5/sec) which began suddenly and lasted about 5 to 15 sec. The weight gains of piglets …

Wolf Population Survival In An Area Of High Road Density, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Wolf mortality in a high-road-density area of Minnesota exceeds that in an adjacent wilderness, and is primarily human-caused. The wolf population there is maintained primarily by ingress from the adjacent wilderness areas. A road density of 0.58 km/km² can be exceeded and the area still support wolves if it is adjacent to extensive roadless areas.

Non-Breeder Asymmetry In Florida Scrub Jays, Jonathan P. Balcombe

Ethology Collection

The data of Woolfenden and Fitzpatrick (1984) show a statistically significant asymmetry in the sex ratio of non-breeders when one of the breeders is not the non-breeder's parent. 1 propose that the asymmetry is attributable to a combination of two factors acting on non-breeders: the value of inheriting a territory, and incest avoidance. Although natal territories are only occasionally inherited by non-breeders, and then apparently only by males, the rate of inheritance is significantly higher for parent/step-parent breeders (n = 6) than when both breeders are the non-breeder's parents (n = 1). An alternative hypothesis, that step-parents determine the non-breeder …

Survey And Reconnaissance Of Sea Turtles In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Larry Ogren

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

This is a report on the results of an aerial survey of nesting beaches conducted during the period from May 16, 1977 to August 11, 1977. The area covered included the barrier beaches and offshore islands from the Florida-Alabama state line to the Rio Grande, Texas. Additional historical information is provided in order to compare current nesting activity with previous years as well as anecdotal observations on the occurrence of sea turtles in this region.

Spatial Memory In Pigeons On A Four-Arm Radial Maze, Robert H.I. Dale

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Pigeon spatial memory was examined using a four-arm radial maze. The maze had four arms, spaced at 90° intervals, extending radially from a central choice area. Subjects were forced into three arms, then permitted two choices to enter the remaining ann. Five subjects chose accurately (90% correct) with delays of 5 min or less, their choices depended on extramaze cues, and the food in the target arm provided no essential cues. After an incorrect first choice, subjects' second choices were more accurate than chance. These data suggest that, while spatial memory has many similar characteristics in rats and pigeons, pigeon …

Wolf Distribution And Road Density In Minnesota, L. David Mech, Steven H. Fritts, Glenn L. Radde, William J. Paul

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Distribution of the wolf (Canis lupus) in parts of Wisconsin (Thiel 1985) and Michigan and Ontario (Jensen et al. 1986) has been related to the density of roads passable by 2-wheel-drive vehicles. Wolves in those regions generally do not occur where road densities exceed 0.58 km/km², whereas similar areas nearby with fewer roads do contain wolves.

In a small segment of the wolf range in Minnesota, wolves did not have territories where roads exceeded a density of 0.73 km/km² (T. K. Fuller, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, unpublished data). In another small area of Minnesota …

Mineral-Deficient Diets And The Pig’S Attraction To Blood: Implications For Tail-Biting, David Fraser

Abnormal Behavior Collection

In two experiments, individually penned growing pigs were exposed daily to two "tail models” (lengths of cotton cord about the size of a pig's tail), one of which had been impregnated with pigs' blood. When fed a balanced "control" diet, the pigs chewed significantly more on the blood-covered model than on the plain one, but with Iarge individual differences between animals. Four weeks of receiving a diet lacking all mineral supplements (iodized salt, dicalcium phosphate, limestone, iron, zinc, manganese, copper, and selenium) caused a pronounced increase in chewing the blood-covered model, and 4 wk of recovery on the control diet …

Attraction To Blood As A Factor In Tail-Biting By Pigs, David Fraser

Abnormal Behavior Collection

Canvas models, about the size of a pig's tail, were impregnated with pigs' blood or left plain, and were presented to pigs for 12 days in a 2-choice preference test. The pigs showed large, consistent, individual differences in response: some pigs chewed the models continuously while others chewed only slightly; some chewed much more on the blood-covered model, while others showed no preference. On average, the pigs chewed considerably more on the blood-covered model than on the plain one. In a second experiment, pigs presented with a choice test involving a blood-covered and a plain model showed a significant increase …