獐(Hydropotes inermis)的警戒行为模式及逃跑起始距离的适应性变化

为了掌握獐的警戒行为特征并为重引入项目提供管理依据,以人为干扰源观察獐的警戒反应,发现其警戒模式包括听 (listen) 或扫视 (scan) ,盯视 (stare) ,走开 (walk away) ,跑开 (run away),吼叫 (bark) 和压脖 (stretch) 。利用逃跑起始距离对上海松江圈养 (自由采食) 獐、上海华夏圈养(人工饲喂) 獐和江苏盐城野生獐进行警戒性比较,得出：人工饲喂獐警戒性最小,野生獐警戒性最大。可通过野化训练提高人工饲喂獐的警戒性;人类活动、种群密度、围栏和区域面积可能影响獐的警戒性。     

圈养大熊猫野化培训期的生境选择特征

大熊猫(Ailuropoda melanoleuca)是我国特有的珍稀物种,也是世界上最濒危的野生动物之一。为了将人工繁育的部分大熊猫个体重引入其历史分布区或复壮野生种群,中国保护大熊猫研究中心从2003年开始进行圈养大熊猫的野外放归工作,通过野化培训以提高圈养大熊猫适应和选择野外环境的能力。对野化培训大熊猫"淘淘"的生境选择研究表明:该野化培训大熊猫幼仔经常活动于新笋密度较大的区域[生境与对照:(2.68±1.14)对(1.58±0.66)],却避开成竹密度过大[(9.91±2.51)对(12.18±4.68)]、竹子较高[(4.57±1.09) m对(4.98±0.66) m]以及枯死竹过多[(2.52±0.86)对(3.39±1.33)]的区域;喜欢活动于离水源[(1.59±0.67)对(2.19±0.87)]和隐蔽场所较近[(5.37±2.14) m对(8.35±7.76)m],以及距离乔木较远[(3.09±0.69) m对(2.70±0.42) m]和郁闭度较低[(1.85±0.57)对(2.10±0.47)]的区域(P < 0.05),新笋密度大小是该栖息地在整个野化培训期间是否被利用的最重要因素。该野化培训大熊猫幼仔保持着与带仔母兽相近的生境选择特征,对竹子环境的选择也与卧龙野生大熊猫相似,野化培训对该大熊猫幼仔产生了积极的作用。野化培训大熊猫幼仔形成的家域和核域面积分别为9.21 hm² 和1.93 hm²,占野化培训圈面积的51.95%和10.89%,其中家域面积仅有卧龙野生大熊猫的1.4%-2.4%,所以在以后的野化培训过程中需要采取增加野化培训圈中环境丰富度等方式,促进野化培训大熊猫形成较大的家域面积。     

河南董寨朱鹮再引入释放前的野化训练

2013年3—10月在河南董寨模拟野生环境的大网笼中对34只人工饲养朱鹮(Nipponia nippon)进行了再引入释放前的野化训练。野化朱鹮在一周内快速地将飞行能力提升到野生朱鹮的水平,在10 d内夜宿环境由地面至栖杠最后过渡到树上。在觅食方面,朱鹮在2个月内完成了对不同类型觅食地的适应,遵循由旱地到湿地、由浅水至深水的顺序。野化个体对猛禽有天敌防御本能,警戒距离和惊飞距离分别约300和50 m;但对饲养管理人员表现出警戒缺失。野化网笼中配对朱鹮的离婚率高达66.7%,但朱鹮的配对繁殖时间越长,配对关系越稳定。有无育雏经验对繁殖成功率无显著影响,过高的营巢密度和其他鸟类的干扰是导致野化训练期间繁殖失败的主要原因。研究表明,饲养朱鹮经过2~3个月的野化训练,能够满足再引入释放的要求。进一步完善栖杠的搭建方式、投食策略和野化管理模式,可以提高朱鹮野化训练的效率。开展释放后监测,掌握朱鹮在野外的适应能力、存活率和繁殖成功率,有助于评估野化训练的成效。     

卧龙圈养大熊猫母兽带仔野化培训

对卧龙圈养大熊猫进行母兽带仔野化培训．初步建立了大熊猫初生幼仔到半岁幼兽的野化培训方法;建立了大熊猫幼仔与研究者的隔离方法,避免了培训个体对人和人工饲养环境的依赖;探索了提高圈养大熊猫活力的新方法;初步证明了带仔野化培训的科学性和合理性。     

圈养獐春夏季昼间行为时间分配及活动节律

2008 年3 ～7 月,在上海市浦东新区华夏公园进行獐重引入试点,采用瞬时扫描取样法和全事件记录法,对圈养条件下24 只獐(12 雌,12 雄)春夏季昼间行为时间分配及活动节律进行了观察。结果表明:休息是春夏季最主要的行为方式,其次是摄食和运动。獐的昼间行为具有明显的节律性,以晨昏活动为主,主要活动时间集中在06:00 ～08:00 和16:00 ～18:00。单因素方差分析(One-way ANOVA analysis)和Mann-Whitney U 检验表明,在时间分配上,春、夏季休息、站立、排遗、梳理和运动行为差异极显著;雌雄间休息、站立、反刍、梳理和警戒行为差异极显著。雌性春、夏季站立、排遗、梳理、运动和社会行为差异极显著,摄食差异显著;雄性春、夏季休息、摄食、梳理、警戒和社会行为差异极显著,站立、反刍、排遗和运动行为差异显著。本研究结果表明重引入獐的行为时间分配和活动节律与野生种群相似,动物福利得到较好满足,对下一步在上海地区的种群复壮和迁地野放等具有重要意义。     

哺乳期圈养雌獐昼夜行为时间分配及活动节律

2014年7—8月,在浙江省富阳市獐养殖场采用瞬时扫描取样法对圈养条件下哺乳期雌獐昼夜行为时间分配及活动节律进行了调查研究。结果表明:1雌獐的日活动行为时间分配依次为卧息(59.01±2.93)%、走动(13.91±2.39)%、采食(10.60±0.74)%、梳理(7.76±1.10)%、反刍(2.84±0.66)%、站立(2.72±1.01)%、警戒(1.53±0.59)%、社会行为(1.26±0.54)%、排遗(0.36±0.22)%。2雌獐的昼间卧息时间极显著低于夜间(P<0.01),梳理时间显著低于夜间(P<0.05),而走动、采食、反刍、警戒和社会行为的时间极显著高于夜间(P<0.01),站立行为差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。3一天中,雌獐的采食行为和反刍行为呈现双峰型的节律特征,走动、站立和梳理行为出现了3个高峰期,卧息和社会行为则呈多峰型,其中取食高峰后延迟1~2 h为反刍高峰。4卧息行为分别与采食行为和走动行为呈极显著的负相关关系,而采食行为与走动行为之间呈显著的正相关关系。总之,哺乳期圈养雌獐的日活动行为体现出明显的节律性,且大多数行为时间具有明显的昼夜差异。     

人工栽培与野生种抱茎獐牙菜矿物元素和氨基酸对比分析

抱茎獐牙菜又称藏茵陈,是藏药中常用草药,广泛应用于肝胆疾病的治疗。近年来,为满足日益增加的需求量,发展了人工栽培抱茎獐牙菜,研究比较人工栽培与野生抱茎獐牙菜之间的各种成分含量,对人工栽培抱茎獐牙菜替代野生抱茎獐牙菜用药有重要意义。本文对人工栽培及野生抱茎獐牙菜的矿物元素及氨基酸进行测定比较发现,人工栽培抱茎獐牙菜的矿物元素绝大多数比野生抱茎獐牙菜含量高,人工栽培抱茎獐牙菜氨基酸大多比野生抱茎獐牙菜含量高。     

利用红外照相技术分析野生白冠长尾雉活动节律及时间分配

2012年3月-2013年3月,利用红外相机技术在湖北省广水市蔡河镇对野生白冠长尾雉的活动节律和时间分配进行了研究。利用16台红外相机在40个相机位点对白冠长尾雉进行了监测。累计1774个相机日,拍摄到2242个独立视频,其中白冠长尾雉的视频占18%,共记录538只次,雌雄比为1.43:1。结果表明,白冠长尾雉每日有两个活动高峰期,上午雄性个体的活动高峰期比雌性个体早两个小时。白冠长尾雉的主要行为是移动和觅食,分别占到总频次的40.71%和33.10%,其余5种行为依次为: 警戒9.29%,梳理7.14%,休息5.00%,对抗2.62%,育幼2.14%。雌性白冠长尾雉的警戒行为频次比例显著高于雄性个体(P < 0.05)。不同季节之间取食行为、移动行为、对抗行为比例之间有显著差异,冬季的取食行为比例明显高于夏季(P < 0.05),夏季移动行为比例显著高于秋季(P < 0.05)和冬季(P < 0.05),而警戒、梳理、休息和育幼行为比例则无显著差异。     

大熊猫野化放归中的遗传学分析

大熊猫为我国特有的濒危物种,由于人类活动的影响,其生境遭到破碎化以致孤立小种群间基因流受限制,严重威胁野生孤立小种群的续存。野化放归以复壮并建立能自我维持的野生种群是物种保护的一种有效措施,这在国内外已有成功先例。野化放归圈养大熊猫以复壮野生种群是大熊猫保护的重要策略之一。然而,破碎化生境阻碍了小种群间的基因交流,加剧了因近交和遗传漂变带来生存力下降的危机。因此大熊猫的放归必须首先考虑其遗传背景,以改善种群基因库为目的。综合微卫星与线粒体等分子标记分析显示,现存野生大熊猫种群和圈养种群仍具有中等或以上的遗传水平,具有较大的进化潜力,这为大熊猫野化放归提供了遗传学支持。另外,小相岭和大相岭种群的遗传水平最低,应首先考虑这些种群的复壮,并且对秦岭种群进行特殊管理与保护。大熊猫的野化放归应着重于野放个体亲缘度的合理选择、基因丰富度的优先选择和有害基因的反向选择等三个遗传因素。本文旨在综合分析大熊猫现存种群遗传现状及其在野化放归中的决策性,以期为大熊猫野化放归提供参考依据。     

青藏高原异地半圈养藏羚警戒行为的适应性研究

行为是反映动物应对环境变化的最直接形式。动物可以根据周围环境条件的变化以及自身的生理状况来调整行为,异地放养是保护珍稀动物的有效方法,但必然会对其行为产生影响。为了探讨藏羚(Pantholops hodgsonii)对异地环境的行为学适应,对异地圈养藏羚的警戒行为进行了不同季节间的比较研究,采用全事件记录法和焦点动物取样法,记录和统计了异地圈养藏羚在冷季和暖季的警戒行为,进而推测其对人类干扰的行为适应性。研究结果表明,雌性和雄性藏羚的警戒时间及警戒比例(警戒时间占全天活动时间的比例)在暖季存在显著差异(警戒时间:Z=4.36,P<0.05;警戒比例:Z=4.559,P<0.05),而在冷季则无差异(警戒时间:Z=0.001,P>0.05;警戒比例:Z=0.0014,P>0.05);而季节差异对雌、雄性藏羚的警戒时间、警戒比例均具有极显著的影响(雄性-警戒时间:F=31.758,P<0.01;警戒比例:F=21.768,P<0.01;雌性-警戒时间:F=14.98,P<0.01;警戒比例:F=11.05,P<0.01);但是季节和性别对藏羚警戒行为的影响没有交互作用(Z=?0.576,P>0.05)。这些结果提示异地圈养藏羚警戒行为的变化可能是对陌生环境适应的结果。     

Genetic assessment of captive Chinese water deer populations in Zhoushan Archipelago,China

Chinese water deer is a rare and vulnerable animal in China because of the poaching for medical use and the habitat loss. In this study, the genetic diversity and population genetic structure of 40 Chinese water deer from three populations in Zhoushan Archipelago were investigated with ten highly polymorphic microsatellite loci, including 4 screened from the nuclear DNA in the study, and 6 selected from the literature. According to the results, these captive populations had a higher genetic diversity than other rare cervid species, such as forest musk deer. No signs of inbreeding were detected. Low genetic differentiation among these populations was found. The probable reasons included the isolation by distance, the exchange among islands, or the supplement of the wild Chinese water deer. We proposed the deer raisers to strengthen the exchanges from different islands or mainland, and if possible, some deer would be returned to the wild to expand the wild population.     

What Cues Do Ungulates Use to Assess Predation Risk in Dense Temperate Forests?

Anti-predator responses by ungulates can be based on habitat features or on the near-imminent threat of predators. In dense forest, cues that ungulates use to assess predation risk likely differ from half-open landscapes, as scent relative to sight is predicted to be more important. We studied, in the Białowieża Primeval Forest (Poland), whether perceived predation risk in red deer (Cervus elaphus) and wild boar (Sus scrofa) is related to habitat visibility or olfactory cues of a predator. We used camera traps in two different set-ups to record undisturbed ungulate behavior and fresh wolf (Canis lupus) scats as olfactory cue. Habitat visibility at fixed locations in deciduous old growth forest affected neither vigilance levels nor visitation rate and cumulative visitation time of both ungulate species. However, red deer showed a more than two-fold increase of vigilance level from 22% of the time present on control plots to 46% on experimental plots containing one wolf scat. Higher vigilance came at the expense of time spent foraging, which decreased from 32% to 12% while exposed to the wolf scat. These behavioral changes were most pronounced during the first week of the experiment but continuous monitoring of the plots suggested that they might last for several weeks. Wild boar did not show behavioral responses indicating higher perceived predation risk. Visitation rate and cumulative visitation time were not affected by the presence of a wolf scat in both ungulate species. The current study showed that perceived predation risk in red deer and wild boar is not related to habitat visibility in a dense forest ecosystem. However, olfactory cues of wolves affected foraging behavior of their preferred prey species red deer. We showed that odor of wolves in an ecologically equivalent dose is sufficient to create fine-scale risk factors for red deer.     

Contagious fear: Escape behavior increases with flock size in European gregarious birds

Flight initiation distance (FID), the distance at which individuals take flight when approached by a potential (human) predator, is a tool for understanding predator–prey interactions. Among the factors affecting FID, tests of effects of group size (i.e., number of potential prey) on FID have yielded contrasting results. Group size or flock size could either affect FID negatively (i.e., the dilution effect caused by the presence of many individuals) or positively (i.e., increased vigilance due to more eyes scanning for predators). These effects may be associated with gregarious species, because such species should be better adapted to exploiting information from other individuals in the group than nongregarious species. Sociality may explain why earlier findings on group size versus FID have yielded different conclusions. Here, we analyzed how flock size affected bird FID in eight European countries. A phylogenetic generalized least square regression model was used to investigate changes in escape behavior of bird species in relation to number of individuals in the flock, starting distance, diet, latitude, and type of habitat. Flock size of different bird species influenced how species responded to perceived threats. We found that gregarious birds reacted to a potential predator earlier (longer FID) when aggregated in large flocks. These results support a higher vigilance arising from many eyes scanning in birds, suggesting that sociality may be a key factor in the evolution of antipredator behavior both in urban and rural areas. Finally, future studies comparing FID must pay explicit attention to the number of individuals in flocks of gregarious species.     

Do Père David's Deer Lose Memories of Their Ancestral Predators?

Whether prey retains antipredator behavior after a long period of predator relaxation is an important question in predator-prey evolution. Père David''s deer have been raised in enclosures for more than 1200 years and this isolation provides an opportunity to study whether Père David''s deer still respond to the cues of their ancestral predators or to novel predators. We played back the sounds of crows (familiar sound) and domestic dogs (familiar non-predators), of tigers and wolves (ancestral predators), and of lions (potential naïve predator) to Père David''s deer in paddocks, and blank sounds to the control group, and videoed the behavior of the deer during the experiment. We also showed life-size photo models of dog, leopard, bear, tiger, wolf, and lion to the deer and video taped their responses after seeing these models. Père David''s deer stared at and approached the hidden loudspeaker when they heard the roars of tiger or lion. The deer listened to tiger roars longer, approached to tiger roars more and spent more time staring at the tiger model. The stags were also found to forage less in the trials of tiger roars than that of other sound playbacks. Additionally, it took longer for the deer to restore their normal behavior after they heard tiger roars, which was longer than that after the trial of other sound playbacks. Moreover, the deer were only found to walk away after hearing the sounds of tiger and wolf. Therefore, the tiger was probably the main predator for Père David''s deer in ancient time. Our study implies that Père David''s deer still retain the memories of the acoustic and visual cues of their ancestral predators in spite of the long term isolation from natural habitat.     

Seeing a Ghost? Vigilance and Its Drivers in a Predator‐free World

Vigilance is a key to the early detection of predators, but may be costly if it impairs foraging efficiency. Hence, we would expect vigilance to be suppressed and/or counter‐selected in predator‐free environments, although this might depend on the environmental drivers influencing perceived predation risk. We studied vigilance in two populations of Sitka black‐tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis) on Haida Gwaii (Canada) which have not been exposed to predators since they colonized the study islands approx. 60 yr ago. In this context, anti‐predator behavior should not have any obvious current benefit. Moreover, its maintenance should be particularly costly in our study populations because these deer have depleted their food resources and, thus, anti‐predator behaviors should interfere with time spent searching for scarce resources. We used bait stations equipped with camera traps to assess vigilance under standardized feeding conditions. We expected to observe lower vigilance levels than those observed elsewhere in locations with predators. We investigated how vigilance varied in relation to the amount of bait, the level of visibility, and between day and night. During the day, deer spent, on average, 14% of their time in overt vigilance during foraging bouts, a level similar to, although in the lower range of, values reported at sites where predators are present. Levels of vigilance were lower at night, and decreased with increasing visibility, but not during the day. Deer were less vigilant when bait availability was high, but only when visibility was also high. We discuss why the maintenance of vigilance is here best explained by the ghosts of predators past, and how, at the temporal scale of a few generations, the ecological factors driving vigilance levels might override the absence of significant risk from large predators.     

European Roe Deer Increase Vigilance When Faced with Immediate Predation Risk by Eurasian Lynx

Prey animals must balance antipredatory behaviour with foraging behaviour. According to the risk allocation hypothesis, prey increase antipredatory behaviour and reduce foraging activity during pulses of high risk, but with continuous risk, other activities must continue and antipredatory behaviour decreases despite the risk. We studied the impact of lynx presence on the vigilance behaviour of wild roe deer under conditions of (i) a pulsed elevated risk by experimentally spreading lynx urine as an olfactory cue, and (ii) continuous risk by comparing an area where lynx was eradicated 160 years ago to an area where lynx has been re‐introduced 30 years ago. Roe deer were extremely vigilant in response to the predator olfactory cue; however, roe deer vigilance did not differ measurably among areas with or without potential lynx presence. Deer were more vigilant before sunset than during the night at both study areas, probably due to long‐term adaptation of roe deer to human hunting during daytime. Vigilance decreased from August to September even though activity of lynx increases in autumn, which may be a result either of increased foraging due to decrease in food quality in autumn, or of changes in social organization of the deer. Our results suggested that the degree of vigilance depends on environmental cues. We found that roe deer respond to lynx urine despite a long absence of lynx in the ecosystem. Our results support the risk allocation hypothesis for responses to pulses of high risk but not for responses to continuous elevated levels of risk.     

Scanning pattern of greater rheas,<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Rhea americana</Emphasis>: collective vigilance would increase the probability of detecting a predator

Many models using vigilance to predict the probability of detecting an approaching predator assumes that prey scanning events should be produced at random. Consequently, the length of intervals among successive scans must follow a negative exponential distribution. We analyzed the scanning behavior of the greater rhea, Rhea americana, which is a gregarious, flightless bird, in eastern Argentina. We investigated whether individual and/or collective scanning departed from random and whether this departure varied with group size. We used two simulation models based on observed scanning sequences to assess the effectiveness of vigilance on the individual and collective level when faced with an opportunistic or stalking predator. The analysis of 59 behavioral sequences of wild greater rheas foraging solitary or in groups of two to six or more individuals revealed that the inter-scan length of individual sequences significantly departed from random. In contrast, inter-scan intervals for collective vigilance were shorter than individual ones, but only fit the random expectation for groups of two and five individuals. Models showed that collective vigilance could increase the probability of detecting a predator, thereby reducing their vulnerability, independent of whether the predator uses a stalking or opportunistic approaching strategy.     

Effects of odors on behaviors of captive Amur leopards Panthera pardus orientalis

Captive environments often fail to resemble the wild environment in respects of limited space,unchanging habitat,lack of stimulus and contingency. Common animal welfare problems which occur in captive animals include low behavioral diversity,abnormal behavior and excessive inactivity. Environmental enrichment,as an effective strategy to tackle these problems and promote mental health of captive animals,has been recognized as an important principal for captive animal management. Among all the enrichment techniques,olfactory enrichment is a simple and effective method for improving the well-being of the olfactory sensitive felids. Behavioral problems were observed in six Amur leopards Panthera pardus orientalis at Beijing Zoological Garden.These were held in the older type exhibits which have now been rebuilt. These behaviors include stereotypic behavior and excessive inactivity caused by the spatially limited enclosures with low levels of stimuli. To determine the effects of predator,prey,and herb odors as potential enrichment materials for captive leopards,we conducted olfactory enrichment experiments for the leopards and tested the effects of nutmeg Myristica fragrans,feces of roe deer Capreolus capreolus and urine of Amur tiger Panthera tigrisaltaica to test for an increase in behavioral repertoire and activity. Odors provided in this study were also believed to improve the psychological and physiological health of individuals. To standardize the method of presentation the odors were introduced to the enclosures by rubbing or spraying onto a clean towel. Our results show that the selected three odors effectively increased the behavioral diversity. Ten new behavior types were observed in the nutmeg experiment,eight in the feces of roe deer experiment and six in the tiger urine experiment. Among the three odors,cats responded to nutmeg for the longest duration,followed by tiger urine and feces of roe deer. Leopards showed more play behavior in presence of nutmeg while more investigatory behavior in presences of feces of roe deer and tiger urine. Providing novel odors increased the spatial use of the exhibit and the animal' s increased use of the logs,sleeping platforms and bars in the cages. Novel odors also significantly increased the overall activity of the leopards,but the effects were diminished in about three hours.     

Innate predator recognition in giant pandas

Innate predator recognition confers a survival advantage to prey animals. We investigate whether giant pandas exhibit innate predator recognition. We analyzed behavioral responses of 56 naive adult captive giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), to urine from predators and non-predators and water control. Giant pandas performed more chemosensory investigation and displayed flehmen behaviors more frequently in response to predator urine compared to both non-predator urine and water control. Subjects also displayed certain defensive behaviors, as indicated by vigilance, and in certain cases, fleeing behaviors. Our results suggest that there is an innate component to predator recognition in captive giant pandas, although such recognition was only slight to moderate. These results have implications that may be applicable to the conservation and reintroduction of this endangered species.     

The Effect of Simulated African Wild Dog Presence on Anti‐predator Behaviour of Kudu and Impala

In this study, we examined the behavioural, temporal and spatial effects of simulated African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) presence on its two main prey species: kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) and impala (Aepyceros melampus). We spread African wild dog faeces around waterholes and played African wild dog sounds at different intervals to mimic immediate and non‐immediate predation pressure. We looked at anti‐predator behaviour at both a herd and individual level and distinguished between high‐quality (detracts from all other activities), high‐cost vigilance and low‐quality (used to monitor the surrounding in spare time), low‐cost vigilance to determine costs involved. We found that simulated African wild dog presence had little effect on anti‐predator behaviour of their free‐ranging prey. Only when immediate predation risk was mimicked did kudu invest in (additional) high‐quality vigilance, whereas impala showed no response. Regardless of direct cues of African wild dog presence, behavioural adjustments to reduce predation risk were primarily based on environmental factors such as time of the day and broad‐scale habitat structure. Predators have been shown to utilize waterholes to hunt, and prey species are therefore likely to maximize anti‐predator behaviour in this high‐risk environment based on environmental variables affecting predation risk, the main predator within the system, and water requirements, leaving little flexibility to respond to (simulated) African wild dog presence.