González-Redondo Pedro, Diego-Fuentes Natalia, Romero Carlos
Departamento de Agronomía, Universidad de Sevilla, Carretera de Utrera km 1, 41013 Seville, Spain.
Facultad de Ciencias y Artes, Universidad Católica Santa Teresa de Jesús de Ávila (UCAV), Calle Canteros s/n, 05005 Ávila, Spain.
Animals (Basel). 2025 Jul 30;15(15):2237. doi: 10.3390/ani15152237.
Game-farmed quails that are currently raised in captivity and released in hunting preserves are not attractive for many hunters because of their low antipredator instinct, which is due to the fact that in most cases, these farm-reared quails are hybrids between European common () and Japanese () quails, with the latter having been selectively bred for docility. This study aimed at assessing the antipredator response of game-farmed and Japanese quails by performing three tests: human approach test, simulated aerial predator approach test and tonic immobility test. Thirty game-farmed quails (average body weight: 133 g) and thirty Japanese quails (323 g) were subjected to the tests. For each genotype of quail, fifteen males and fifteen females were used. In the human approach test, the distance at which quails moved was greater for game-farmed quails than for Japanese ones (37.4 vs. 19.6 m, < 0.001). In the simulated aerial predator approach test, female quails of the Japanese species crouched down at the longest distance with respect to the predator (9.83 m), whereas no significant difference existed for this trait among the other three groups (6.84 m, on average). The percentage of quails flying when the predator got closer was higher for the Japanese species than for the game-farmed quails (23.3 vs. 3.33%, = 0.023). Fewer inductions were needed to cause tonic immobility in the game-farmed quails than in the Japanese ones (3.10 vs. 4.10, = 0.009), but then, the duration of the tonic immobility response did not differ significantly between the two genotypes. No effect of sex was detected in the human approach and tonic immobility tests. In conclusion, as compared with Japanese quails, game-farmed quails showed more fearful behaviour when confronted with a human being.
目前在圈养环境中饲养并放归到狩猎保护区的养殖鹌鹑，对许多猎人来说并不具有吸引力，因为它们的反捕食本能较低，这是由于在大多数情况下，这些养殖鹌鹑是欧洲普通鹌鹑（）和日本鹌鹑（）的杂交品种，而后者已被选择性培育以使其温顺。本研究旨在通过进行三项测试来评估养殖鹌鹑和日本鹌鹑的反捕食反应：人类接近测试、模拟空中捕食者接近测试和强直性静止测试。三十只养殖鹌鹑（平均体重：133克）和三十只日本鹌鹑（323克）接受了测试。对于每种基因型的鹌鹑，使用了十五只雄性和十五只雌性。在人类接近测试中，养殖鹌鹑移动的距离比日本鹌鹑更远（37.4米对19.6米，<0.001）。在模拟空中捕食者接近测试中，日本品种的雌性鹌鹑相对于捕食者蹲下的距离最长（9.83米），而其他三组之间在该特征上没有显著差异（平均6.84米）。当捕食者靠近时飞行的鹌鹑百分比，日本品种高于养殖鹌鹑（23.3%对3.33%，=0.023）。使养殖鹌鹑进入强直性静止状态所需的诱导次数比日本鹌鹑少（3.10次对4.10次，=0.009），但随后，两种基因型之间强直性静止反应的持续时间没有显著差异。在人类接近和强直性静止测试中未检测到性别影响。总之，与日本鹌鹑相比，养殖鹌鹑在面对人类时表现出更恐惧的行为。
