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Home / Equine Research Bank / Animals (Basel) / Social Behaviour of Horses in Response to Vocalisations of P...
Animals : an open access journal from MDPI2020; 10(12); 2331; doi: 10.3390/ani10122331

Social Behaviour of Horses in Response to Vocalisations of Predators.

Abstract: We tested the hypothesis that social defensive responses to the vocalisation of a predator still exist in horses. The recordings of a grey wolf, an Arabian leopard and a golden jackal were played to 20 Konik polski and Arabian mares. Durations of grazing, standing still, standing alert and the number of steps in walk and trot/canter were measured. In one-minute scans, the distances of the focal horse from the reference horse (DIST-RH) and from the nearest loudspeaker (DIST-LS) were approximated. The vocalisation of a leopard aroused the Arabians more than the Koniks (less grazing, stand-still and walk, more stand-alert and trotting/cantering). Koniks showed more relaxed behaviours to the leopard vocalisation (more grazing, stand-still and walk), but high alertness to the wolf playback (stand-alert, trotting/cantering). Spatial formation of the herd of Koniks showed tight grouping (lower DIST-RH) and maintaining distance from the potential threat (DIST-LS) in response to the wolf howling, while the Arabians approached the loudspeakers in linear herd formation when the leopard growls were played. Adult horses responded to potential predation by changing spatial group formations. This ability to apply a social strategy may be one of the explanations for the least number of horses among all hunted farm animal species.
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Publication Date: 2020-12-08 PubMed ID: 33302443PubMed Central: PMC7764477DOI: 10.3390/ani10122331Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

The study investigated how horses react socially to the sounds of predators, revealing that their defensive responses still exist. Specifically, researchers observed differences in behavior and spatial formations when specific predator vocalizations (from a wolf, a leopard, and a jackal) were played to the horses.

Research Methodology

  • Recordings of the vocalizations of a grey wolf, an Arabian leopard, and a golden jackal were played to a group of 20 Konik polski and Arabian mares.
  • The researchers tracked a variety of behaviors showing different states of alertness: grazing, standing still, standing alert, and the number of steps taken at different paces (walk and trot/canter).
  • They also tracked the distances of the ‘focal’ horse (the one being specifically observed) from both a reference horse (DIST-RH) and from the nearest loudspeaker (DIST-LS), and took note of these every minute in order to approximate changes in the herd’s spatial formation.

Research Findings

  • The Arabian horses reacted more strongly to the leopard’s vocalization than the Koniks did, showing higher levels of alertness and less relaxed behaviors (like grazing).
  • Conversely, the Koniks responded more strongly to the wolf’s vocalization, showing more alert behaviors and less relaxed ones.
  • The spatial formation of the Konik herd changed in response to the wolf’s vocalizations. They formed tighter groups (lower DIST-RH) and moved away from the potential threat (higher DIST-LS).
  • The Arabian horses, in response to the leopard’s vocalizations, approached the source of the sound in a linear herd formation.

Conclusions

  • The researchers concluded that adult horses respond to potential threats by changing their social behaviors and group formations.
  • This adaptability in response to potential predation (e.g., maintaining distance from the threat, forming tightly-knit groups, or advancing toward the sound source to investigate) could be the reason why horses are among the least hunted species of farm animals.

Cite This Article

APA
Janczarek I, Wiśniewska A, Chruszczewski MH, Tkaczyk E, Górecka-Bruzda A. (2020). Social Behaviour of Horses in Response to Vocalisations of Predators. Animals (Basel), 10(12), 2331. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10122331

Publication

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
ISSN: 2076-2615
NlmUniqueID: 101635614
Country: Switzerland
Language: English
Volume: 10
Issue: 12
PII: 2331

Researcher Affiliations

Janczarek, Iwona
  • Department of Horse Breeding and Use, Faculty of Animal Sciences and Bioeconomy, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, 20-950 Lublin, Poland.
Wiśniewska, Anna
  • Department of Horse Breeding and Use, Faculty of Animal Sciences and Bioeconomy, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, 20-950 Lublin, Poland.
Chruszczewski, Michael H
  • Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, 00-183 Warsaw, Poland.
Tkaczyk, Ewelina
  • Department of Horse Breeding and Use, Faculty of Animal Sciences and Bioeconomy, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, 20-950 Lublin, Poland.
Górecka-Bruzda, Aleksandra
  • Department of Animal Behaviour and Welfare, Institute of Genetics and Animal Biotechnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Jastrzębiec, 05-552 Magdalenka, Poland.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Citations

This article has been cited 6 times.
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