College of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Linyi University, 276000 Linyi, China.
College of Animal Science and Technology, Hebei Agricultural University, 071000 Baoding, China.
Animal. 2023 Aug;17(8):100884. doi: 10.1016/j.animal.2023.100884. Epub 2023 Jun 15.
Prey animals modify their behaviour and physiology in the presence of predators. Domestic animals differ from wild animals in having less exposure to wild predators, but whether they still retain an antipredator instinct is frequently unknown. In this study, we used domesticated Small Tail Han sheep as a model prey animal to gauge their response to the presence of predators, in the form of odours from the faeces of lion, tiger, and leopard. The faeces of male sheep and male rabbit (as a heterogeneous non-predator) were used as control. We found that the frequency and time of feeding, exploration, moving, watching, and lying down behaviours were significantly affected by predator odour, and that there was an interaction between odour sources and sex. When exposed to predator odour, sheep reduced their frequency and time of feeding, and increased their exploratory, moving, and watching behaviours. Female sheep showed greater motivation towards frequent and lengthy exploration, moving, watching, and lying down behaviours than male sheep, and less motivation towards feeding and drinking behaviours. Serum cortisol levels were lowest in response to tiger stimuli. These results illustrated that Small Tail Han sheep could recognise predator odour and adjust their behaviour to display antipredator strategies, and displayed some physiological responses, although only changing in serum cortisol could be significantly attributed to the odour of predators.
被捕食动物会在捕食者存在的情况下改变其行为和生理特征。与野生动物相比，家畜接触野生捕食者的机会较少，但它们是否仍然保留着一种抗捕食者的本能，这常常是未知的。在这项研究中，我们使用家养的小尾寒羊作为一种模型被捕食动物，来衡量它们对来自狮子、老虎和豹子粪便的捕食者气味的反应。雄性绵羊和雄性兔子的粪便（作为一种非异性捕食者）被用作对照。我们发现，捕食者气味显著影响了绵羊的进食、探索、移动、观察和躺下行为的频率和时间，并且气味源和性别之间存在相互作用。当暴露于捕食者气味时，绵羊减少了进食的频率和时间，增加了探索、移动和观察行为。与雄性绵羊相比，雌性绵羊表现出更大的动机去频繁而长时间地探索、移动、观察和躺下，而对进食和饮水行为的动机较小。对老虎刺激的血清皮质醇水平最低。这些结果表明，小尾寒羊可以识别捕食者的气味，并调整其行为以表现出抗捕食者的策略，尽管只有血清皮质醇的变化可以显著归因于捕食者的气味。
