Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, Strasbourg, France.
PLoS One. 2019 Jan 14;14(1):e0210158. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0210158. eCollection 2019.
Understanding whether captive-reared animals destined to reintroduction are still able to discriminate predators has important implications for conservation biology. The endangered European hamster benefits from conservation programs throughout Europe, in which several thousand individuals are released into the wild every year. Despite this, the anti-predator strategy of hamsters and their ability to maintain predator discrimination in captivity remain to be investigated. Here, we explore the predator discrimination behaviour of captive-reared European hamsters and their response to different predation cues. When first exposed to the urine of cats and goats in a Y-maze test, hamsters spent more time close to the cat scent rather than to the goat scent. In a second experiment, during which hamsters were exposed to a non-mobile European ferret (inside a cage), hamsters significantly increased the time spent close to the ferret's cage and displayed aggressive behaviour towards the ferret. Furthermore, they did not take refuge inside an anti-predation tube (APT), a device designed to upgrade wildlife underpasses and reconnect wild hamster populations. Finally, when exposed to a mobile ferret (but without physical contact), hamsters displayed mobbing and aggressive behaviours towards the ferret, before taking refuge inside the APT. Taken together, our results show that captive-reared hamsters are still able to detect and react to predation cues, but that they initially adopt an offensive strategy (grunting, spitting, mobbing) during the risk-assessment phase. After risk assessment, however, hamsters used the APT as a refuge. Our study provides important insights into the anti-predator behaviour of hamsters. Testing the efficacy of the APT, a device that will allow upgrading wildlife underpasses for the hamster and other rodents, is also of great importance and is instrumental in conservation efforts for these species.
了解被圈养的用于再引入的动物是否仍然能够识别捕食者，这对保护生物学具有重要意义。濒危的欧洲仓鼠受益于整个欧洲的保护计划，每年有数千只个体被放归野外。尽管如此，仓鼠的捕食防御策略及其在圈养环境中保持捕食者识别能力仍有待研究。在这里，我们探索了圈养繁殖的欧洲仓鼠的捕食者识别行为及其对不同捕食线索的反应。当首次在 Y 型迷宫测试中接触猫和山羊的尿液时，仓鼠在猫的气味附近停留的时间比在山羊的气味附近停留的时间长。在第二个实验中，当仓鼠暴露在一个非活动的欧洲雪貂（在笼子里）中时，仓鼠明显增加了靠近雪貂笼子的时间，并对雪貂表现出攻击性。此外，它们没有躲在防捕食管（APT）中，APT 是一种旨在升级野生动物地下通道并重新连接野生仓鼠种群的设备。最后，当暴露在活动的雪貂（但没有身体接触）时，仓鼠对雪貂表现出骚扰和攻击性行为，然后躲在 APT 中。总之，我们的结果表明，圈养繁殖的仓鼠仍然能够检测和对捕食线索做出反应，但它们在风险评估阶段最初会采取攻击性策略（咕噜声、吐口水、骚扰）。然而，在风险评估之后，仓鼠会将 APT 用作避难所。我们的研究为仓鼠的捕食防御行为提供了重要的见解。测试 APT 的效果，这是一种允许升级野生动物地下通道以适应仓鼠和其他啮齿动物的设备，也非常重要，这对这些物种的保护工作至关重要。
