Henry S, Richard-Yris M-A, Hausberger M
UMR CNRS 6552, Ethologie-Evolution-Ecologie, Université de Rennes 1, Avenue du Général Leclerc, Campus de Beaulieu, F-35042 Rennes Cedex, France.
Dev Psychobiol. 2006 Dec;48(8):712-8. doi: 10.1002/dev.20189.
Whereas the way animals perceive human contact has been particularly examined in pet animals, a small amount of investigations has been done in domestic ungulates. It was nevertheless assumed that, as pet animals, non-aggressive forms of tactile contact were as well rewarding or positive for these species, even though the features of intraspecific relationships in pet animals and domestic ungulates may be to some extent different. We test here the hypothesis that horses may not consider physical handling by humans as a positive event. When comparing different early human-foal interactions, we found that early exposure to a motionless human enhanced slightly foals reactions to humans whereas forced stroking or handling in early life did not improve later human-foal relation. Foals that were assisted during their first suckling (e.g., brought to the dam's teat) even tended to avoid human approach at 2 weeks, and physical contact at 1 month of age. We argue that interspecies differences may exist in how tactile stimulation is perceived. It may be important for the establishment of a bond that a young animal is active in the process and able, through its behavioral responses, to help define what is positive for it. This way of investigation may have important general implications in how we consider the development of social relations, both within and between species.
虽然动物如何感知人类接触在宠物身上已得到特别研究，但在家养有蹄类动物方面的研究较少。然而，人们认为，作为宠物，非攻击性的触觉接触对这些物种同样具有奖励作用或积极意义，尽管宠物和家养有蹄类动物种内关系的特征可能在一定程度上有所不同。我们在此检验一个假设，即马可能不认为人类的身体接触是一件积极的事情。在比较不同的早期人类与马驹的互动时，我们发现早期接触静止的人类会略微增强马驹对人类的反应，而早期的强制抚摸或处理并不能改善后来的人类与马驹的关系。在首次哺乳时得到帮助（例如，被带到母马的乳头处）的马驹，甚至在2周大时倾向于避开人类靠近，在1月龄时避开身体接触。我们认为，在如何感知触觉刺激方面可能存在种间差异。对于建立联系而言，幼小动物在这个过程中积极主动，并能够通过其行为反应来帮助定义对它来说什么是积极的，这可能很重要。这种研究方式可能对我们如何看待物种内部和物种之间社会关系的发展具有重要的普遍意义。
