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Changes in the social arrangement of the lowland gorillas in Prague ZOO after incorporation of a new fertile female
Vítková, Eliška ; Vančata, Václav (advisor) ; Vančatová, Marina (referee)
In my several months of research I have been engaged in studying the distribution of affiliated and agonistic behaviour in a group and primarily towards a new female, over the course of ranking the new female into the group and changes in the social arrangement of the western lowland gorillas in Prague Zoo. For the research standardised observational methods were used, ad libitum sampling, focal animal sampling and scan sampling and statistical analysis on data was carried out with the aid of ethological software (Noldus- MatMan 1.0). Hypotheses stated that the agonistic contact towards Bikire would be initiated by females and above all from the female Shinda, also affiliated contact for Bikire would be initiated by the young and under aged, that the frequency of agonistic contact towards Bikire will gradually decline, that the other adults in the group are dominant to Bikire, that will result in lower affiliated contact and that the social structure will change in the group. From the results of the research it is confirmed, that agonistic contact towards the new female was initiated exclusively by females and in particular the female Shinda. Further it was confirmed, the initiators of the affiliated contact towards Bikire are the young and under aged female member Moja. It was revealed the other...
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The effect of the pre-weaning play on the coping ability of piglets
Večlová, Barbora ; Chaloupková, Helena (advisor) ; Fuchs, Roman (referee)
This diploma thesis is focused on animal play behaviour, it's features and factors that influence it. It also shows how play can be used as an animal welfare indicator and moreover that play may also improve welfare. Play is interesting from physiology and neurology point of view as well because it is able to trigger positive emotions. This thesis also describes the main hypotheses explaing evolutionary functions of play. The newest hypothesis claims that play may be a "training for the unexpected"(Špinka et al., 2001). Our experiments tested this hypothesis. We investigated if play of piglets before weaning could improve their coping with stress and reduce agonistic behaviour after weaning and later in life. Results show that play in an extra space before weaning does not influence pig's behaviour very much, but it seems to have some impact. Results also show other factors influencing agonistic behaviour of pigs - groupsize, gender and weight gain.
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Otcovská role harémového samce: Analýza interakcí hřebec-hříbě
ŠANDLOVÁ, Kateřina
The aim of this thesis was to analyze the interactions between stallion and his offspring in two socially natural herds of Exmoor ponies. These interactions have not been thoroughly revised yet. We studied and compared aggressive and friendly interactions, snapping of the foals and play behavior between the individuals, with the main focus on the foal-stallion interactions. The results suggest, that the stallion is the most common adult recipient of foal behaviour and can play an important role in the foals motorical and social development.
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Characteristics of inter-individual relationship (friend vs. rival) in red deer and its effect on agonistic behavior and endocrinological feedback
Peterka, Tomáš ; Bartoš, Luděk (advisor) ; Fuchs, Roman (referee)
Red deer males aggregate for a major part of a year to bachelor groups. Social position - Rank - is unstable in these groups. Previous experiments revealed that rank modulated by agonistic behaviour influences antler growth and antler cycle timing. Antlers are secondary sexual characteristics of the deer family and one of the fastest growing tissue in the vertebrate taxa. Their development is modulated by androgenic hormone, testosterone. In our experiment, we observed agonistic behaviour of 19 males. They were equipped with GPS collars and regularly handled for blood samples and downloading of telemetrical data. Based on statistical analysis, we found that in our bachelor group 13 stags kept similar interindividual distances which did not exceed 22 metres ("Closest associates"), whereas the rest of the group moved tens of metres away ("Wanderers"). In regard to the number of agonistic interactions and the interindividual relationship, which arose from that, we divided the bachelor group on "Friends" (˂9 interactions) and "Rivals" (≥9). We found that the number of interactions depended on average distance among males in groups divided by dyadic relationship ("Friends" and "Rivals"). With increasing distance, "Rivals" increased the number of interactions, while "Friends" did not show this trend....
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Characteristics of inter-individual relationship (friend vs. rival) in red deer and its effect on agonistic behavior and endocrinological feedback
Peterka, Tomáš ; Bartoš, Luděk (advisor) ; Fuchs, Roman (referee)
Red deer males aggregate during the period of antler growth to bachelor groups. Social position - Rank - is unstable in these groups. Previous experiments revealed that rank modulated by agonistic behaviour influence the antler growth and antler cycle timing. Antlers are the secondary sexual characteristics of the deer family and one of the fastest growing tissue in vertebrate taxa. Their development is modulated by androgenic hormone, testosterone. In our experiment, we observed agonistic behaviour of 19 males. They were equipped with GPS collar and observation lasted for two hours in the evening an in the morning, once or twice a week from the end of May to the end of August. Deer were handled regularly for blood samples and downloading the telemetrical data from collars. Base on a statistical analysis we found that in our bachelor group 13 stags kept similar interindividual distances which did not exceed the 22 metres level. These stags - the closest associates - differed in the sum of agonistic interactions. Those who reached 8 or less interactions were called Friends, while subgroup of the others reaching much more interactions were classified as Rivals. We found that number of interactions depended on average distance among males in groups (Friends and Rivals). Rivals with increasing distance...
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Changes in the social arrangement of the lowland gorillas in Prague ZOO after incorporation of a new fertile female
Vítková, Eliška ; Vančata, Václav (advisor) ; Vančatová, Marina (referee)
In my several months of research I have been engaged in studying the distribution of affiliated and agonistic behaviour in a group and primarily towards a new female, over the course of ranking the new female into the group and changes in the social arrangement of the western lowland gorillas in Prague Zoo. For the research standardised observational methods were used, ad libitum sampling, focal animal sampling and scan sampling and statistical analysis on data was carried out with the aid of ethological software (Noldus- MatMan 1.0). Hypotheses stated that the agonistic contact towards Bikire would be initiated by females and above all from the female Shinda, also affiliated contact for Bikire would be initiated by the young and under aged, that the frequency of agonistic contact towards Bikire will gradually decline, that the other adults in the group are dominant to Bikire, that will result in lower affiliated contact and that the social structure will change in the group. From the results of the research it is confirmed, that agonistic contact towards the new female was initiated exclusively by females and in particular the female Shinda. Further it was confirmed, the initiators of the affiliated contact towards Bikire are the young and under aged female member Moja. It was revealed the other...
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The effect of the pre-weaning play on the coping ability of piglets
Večlová, Barbora ; Chaloupková, Helena (advisor) ; Fuchs, Roman (referee)
This diploma thesis is focused on animal play behaviour, it's features and factors that influence it. It also shows how play can be used as an animal welfare indicator and moreover that play may also improve welfare. Play is interesting from physiology and neurology point of view as well because it is able to trigger positive emotions. This thesis also describes the main hypotheses explaing evolutionary functions of play. The newest hypothesis claims that play may be a "training for the unexpected"(Špinka et al., 2001). Our experiments tested this hypothesis. We investigated if play of piglets before weaning could improve their coping with stress and reduce agonistic behaviour after weaning and later in life. Results show that play in an extra space before weaning does not influence pig's behaviour very much, but it seems to have some impact. Results also show other factors influencing agonistic behaviour of pigs - groupsize, gender and weight gain.
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Reproduction of domestic horses (Equus caballus): The effects of inbreeding, social environment and breeding management
DUBCOVÁ, Jana
This thesis is focused on horse social behaviour and reproduction under human management. First part of the thesis covers issues about reproduction influenced by humans, breeding in restricted areas and artificial processes which can interfere or threaten the domestic horse population survival. These issues are described in lifetime order from conception, through lactation and maternal investment up to weaning, and on the background of detailed information about particular individuals. The second part is focused on social interactions and forming dominance hierarchy within the groups of domestic horses.
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