In July 2006, the diurnal activity rhythms of 13 heads of captive Qinling golden takin were observed in Shaanxi Provincial Centre for the Breeding and Conservation of Rare Wildlife (SPCBCRW) at daylight (from 9:00...In July 2006, the diurnal activity rhythms of 13 heads of captive Qinling golden takin were observed in Shaanxi Provincial Centre for the Breeding and Conservation of Rare Wildlife (SPCBCRW) at daylight (from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm in July). The behavioral ethnogram was identified through observation at the sampling site, with the behaviors of golden takin recorded at 5 min interval using instantaneous scannable sampling method. The results indicated that the resting of golden takin took an important part in the daylight activities. Meanwhile, drinking and urinating and defecating were 1.92 and 0.54 and 0.92 times per head per day. Ambient temperature had a strong effect on the diurnal activity rhythms of golden takin. The diurnal activity rhymes were affected by ages of the animals effectively, which was expressed through differentiation of the time budgets. Moreover, different individuals in the same population showed some non-synchronously activity rhythms.展开更多
Endosymbionts influence many aspects of their hosts’ health conditions, including physiology, development, immunity, metabolism, etc. Tree shrews(Tupaia belangeri chinensis) have attracted increasing attention in mod...Endosymbionts influence many aspects of their hosts’ health conditions, including physiology, development, immunity, metabolism, etc. Tree shrews(Tupaia belangeri chinensis) have attracted increasing attention in modeling human diseases and therapeutic responses due to their close relationship with primates. To clarify the situation of symbiotic bacteria from their body surface, oral cavity, and anus, 12 wild and 12 the third generation of captive tree shrews were examined. Based on morphological and cultural characteristics, physiological and biochemical tests, as well as the 16 S rDNA full sequence analysis, 12 bacteria strains were isolated and identified from the wild tree shrews: body surface: Bacillus subtilis(detection rate 42%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa(25%), Staphlococcus aureus(33%), S. Epidermidis(75%), Micrococcus luteus(25%), Kurthia gibsonii(17%); oral cavity: Neisseria mucosa(58%), Streptococcus pneumonia(17%); anus: Enterococcus faecalis(17%), Lactococus lactis(33%), Escherichia coli(92%), Salmonella typhosa(17%); whereas, four were indentified from the third generation captive tree shrews: body surface: S. epidermidis(75%); oral cavity: N.mucosa(67%); anus: L. lactis(33%), E. coli(100%). These results indicate that S. epidermidis, N. mucosa, L. lactis and E. coli were major bacteria in tree shrews, whereas, S. aureus, M. luteus, K. gibsonii, E. faecalis and S. typhosa were species-specific flora. This study facilitates the future use of tree shrews as a standard experimental animal and improves our understanding of the relationship between endosymbionts and their hosts.展开更多
Captive environments often fail to resemble the wild environment in respects of limited space, unchanging habitat, lack of stimulus and contingency. Common animal welfare problems which occur in captive animals includ...Captive environments often fail to resemble the wild environment in respects of limited space, unchanging habitat, lack of stimulus and contingency. Common animal welfare problems which occur in captive animals include low behavioral diversity, abnormal behavior and excessive inactivity. Environmental enrichment, as an effective strategy to tackle these problems and promote mental health of captive animals, has been recognized as an important principal for captive animal management. Among all the enriehment techniques, olfactory enrichment is a simple and effective method for improving the well-being of the olfactory sensitive felids. Behavioral problems were observed in six Amur leopards Panthera pardus orientalis at Beijing Zoological Garden. These were held in the older type exhibits which have now been rebuilt. These behaviors include stereotypic behavior and excessive inactivity caused by the spatially limited enclosures with low levels of stimuli. To determine the effects of predator, prey, and herb odors as potential enrichment materials for captive leopards, we conducted olfactory enrichment experiments for the leopards and tested the effects of nutmeg Myristica fragrans, feces of roe deer Capreolus capreolus and urine of Amur tiger Panthera tigris altaica to test for an increase in behavioral repertoire and activity. Odors provided in this study were also believed to improve the psychological and physiological health of individuals. To standardize the method of presentation the odors were introduced to the enclosures by rubbing or spraying onto a clean towel. Our results show that the selected three odors effectively increased the behavioral diversity. Ten new behavior types were observed in the nutmeg experiment, eight in the feces of roe deer experiment and six in the tiger urine experiment. Among the three odors, cats responded to nutmeg for the longest duration, followed by tiger urine and feces of roe deer. Leopards showed more play behavior in presence of nutmeg while more investigatory behavior in presences of feces of roe deer and tiger urine. Providing novel odors increased the spatial use of the exhibit and the animal' s increased use of the logs, sleeping platforms and bars in the cages. Novel odors also significantly increased the overall activity of the leopards, but the effects were diminished in about three hours.展开更多
Different types of dominance hierarchies reflect different social relationships in primates. In this study, we clarified the hierarchy and social relationships in a one-male unit of captive Rhinopithecus bieti observe...Different types of dominance hierarchies reflect different social relationships in primates. In this study, we clarified the hierarchy and social relationships in a one-male unit of captive Rhinopithecus bieti observed between August 1998 and March 1999. Mean frequency of agonistic behaviour among adult females was 0.13 interactions per hour. Adult females exhibited a linear hierarchy with a reversal of 10.9%, indicating an unstable relationship; therefore, R. bieti appears to be a relaxed/tolerant species. The lack of a relationship between the agonistic ratio of the adult male towards adult females and their ranks indicated that males did not show increased aggression towards low-ranking females. Differentiated female affiliative relationships were loosely formed in terms of the male, and to some extent influenced by female estrus, implying that relationships between the male and females is influenced by estrus and not rank alone. A positive correlation between the agonistic ratio of adult females and their ranks showed that the degree to which one female negatively impacted others decreased with reduction in rank. Similarly, a positive correlation between the agonistic ratio of females and differences in rank suggests that a female had fewer negative effects on closely ranked individuals than distantly ranked ones. These data indicate that rank may influence relationships between females. A steeper slope of regression between the agonistic ratio and inter-female rank differences indicated that the extent of the power difference in high-ranking females exerting negative effects on low-ranking ones was larger during the mating season than the birth season, suggesting that rank may influence the mating success of females.展开更多
The influence of social upbringing on the activity pattern of lion Panthera leo cubs was investigated at three sites. In this study, stimulus objects such as sticks, grass, fresh dung (elephant Loxondota africana, ze...The influence of social upbringing on the activity pattern of lion Panthera leo cubs was investigated at three sites. In this study, stimulus objects such as sticks, grass, fresh dung (elephant Loxondota africana, zebra Equus quagga, impala Aepyceros melampus, duiker Sylvicapra grimmia, kudu Tragelaphus strepsiceros, giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis and wildebeest Connochaetes taurinus) and cardboard boxes, were utilized in an enrichment program aimed at encouraging active behaviors of captive lion cubs at Antelope Park and Masuwe. Lion cubs at Chipangali were not behaviorally enriched. Activity patterns were recorded for 10 days at each site. We recorded moving, resting, playing, grooming, visual exploration and display of hunting instincts. We found that behavioral enrichment enhanced the active behaviors of captive lion cubs. Orphan-raised cubs spent more time moving, playing and displaying hunting instincts than mother-raised cubs, but the time spent grooming was similar across areas and suggests that grooming is not influenced by enrichment. Mother-raised cubs spent more time engaged in visual exploration than orphan-raised cubs and this could be a behavior acquired from mothers or a result of confidence to explore because of their presence. Activity patterns were different among time treatments across our three study sites. Based on these findings, we suggest that lion cubs raised in captivity could benefit from behavioral enrichment to encourage active behaviors essential for eventual reintroduction into the wild展开更多
We studied early development of peer dominance relationships in a captive group of Japanese macaques Macaca fuscata fuscata at the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University. This study aims to give detailed descr...We studied early development of peer dominance relationships in a captive group of Japanese macaques Macaca fuscata fuscata at the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University. This study aims to give detailed descriptions on characteristic patterns of maternal rank acquisition from infant to juvenile. Focal subjects were 22 young monkeys belonging to three cohorts born in 2002, 2003 and 2005. Data were collected with a total 2130 sessions of 30-minute continuous recording of focal subjects combined with all occurrence-sampling methods. The onset of aggressive behavior varied per cohort and was delayed in cohorts with fewer close-aged associates. More than 60% of dyadic combinations in agonistic interactions between peers were unidirectional throughout the study period. Although some bidirectional interactions could have involved unstable relationships between particular individuals, most of the bidirectional interactions included a few continuous series of alternating one-sided interactions. A linear order could be found among peers from the first appearance of aggressive behavior, and nearly 90% of those dyads were concordant with that of their mother's rank order. Young males were responsible for most of the dominance relations that would not be predicted based on their mother's rank. These results suggest that infant monkeys may recognize their own social status relative to their opponent's before onset of aggressive behavior and adjust themselves into the matrilineal rank system accordingly.展开更多
The textile and garment value chain is typical buyer-driven and captive governance. Based on the results of 153 questionnaires survey of textile and garment companies around China in 2008 as well as case studies, the ...The textile and garment value chain is typical buyer-driven and captive governance. Based on the results of 153 questionnaires survey of textile and garment companies around China in 2008 as well as case studies, the roles of China textile and garment enterprises in value chain were showed in this paper. The survey covers several different sectors, in which companies have different decision power, strategies and performance, to f'md how to take advantage of companies strengths, and gain long-term benefit enhancing its competence in global production network.展开更多
To meet the demand of raw material, i.e., wood, from the available sources always remained a big challenge for paper industries since the last two decades. For a sustainable supply of raw material in future, major pla...To meet the demand of raw material, i.e., wood, from the available sources always remained a big challenge for paper industries since the last two decades. For a sustainable supply of raw material in future, major plantation activities were undertaken by paper industries, like West Coast Paper Mills Limited (WCPM), by constituting a society, i.e., Society for Afforestation, Research and Allied Works (SARA), Dandeli in 2001. The main aim was to promote afforestation programme through major plantations activities on the degraded lands (under rainfed condition) and to generate employments and capacity building. The WCPM is a leading paper manufacturing industry of the country (under the flagship of Bangur group) located at the bank of Kali River in Dandeli of Uttar Kannada district in State Karnataka. To date, company through SARA has raised captive plantations on more than 50,000 acres of degraded land by farmers in different districts of Maharashtm, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu States under Captive Plantation Project through Contract for Farming (CFF) since 2006 under a simple agreement period of only five years. After five years, society arranged to harvest the first rotation crop of the farmer of 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 plantations and paid the amount of the crop directly to farmers. SARA has a mutual contract with WCPM for purchasing pulpwood. With this, farmers are getting full amount of their crop harvested after five years without any hurdle through SARA. SARA did all the expenditures, i.e., from land development, plantation and harvesting. Under its agroforestry plantation programme, superior planting material of various pulpwood species suited to particular area, i.e., Eucalyptus, Subabul, Casuarina and Acacia were planted on farmer's land. Farmers were also encouraged for intercropping, like maize, peanut (groundnut), chilly, tomato and ginger with plantations. Apart from this, SARA is also providing free fodder to the livestock of farmers. Various types of fodder species such as Stylosanthes scabra, S. hamata are grown with plantation. SARA has also set up its own hi-tech clonal nursery developing around 5-6 millions of clonal ramets every year through clonal propagation technology. Till date, SARA has received 0.15 million ton (MT) of pulpwood from the plantations on farmer's land with a yield of 25-30 MT/acre. This type of activities will prove a boon for farmers as well as for industry, when raw material is going to be short in India. It will also conserve our natural resources, high conservative valued forests (HCVF) and will reduce the pressure on forest for wood. In addition, this will maintain the balance between environment and nature. To meet the requirement of pulpwood for industry, this type of plantation activities will open new ways for industry to secure raw material for future use. Also, this would be helpful to enhance productivity and generate employments for rural communities to improve their living standard and capacity building.展开更多
The microsatellite analysis of DNA plays an important role in studying the population genetics such as population structure, genetic variability and diversity, phylogenetic relationships of wild population of endanger...The microsatellite analysis of DNA plays an important role in studying the population genetics such as population structure, genetic variability and diversity, phylogenetic relationships of wild population of endangered species. The main aim of this study was the estimation of ten microsatellite markers variability in the F. cherrug and F. peregrinus populations. We investigated genetic diversity and structure of populations by using non-invasive genetic identification of individuals to characterize populations of raptors living in the captivity and wild in the Czech Republic during the breeding seasons 2009 and 2010. Within Falco cherrug, significant moderate genetic differentiation (FsT) was observed between Falco cherrug wild and captive. This means that there could be a little differentiation between the wild and the captive populations caused by Falco cherrug subspecies origin or hybridization in the captivity. The absence of significant genetic differentiation between Falco peregrinus wild and captive may be caused by the influence of reintroduction the captive populations in the past. Whereas one breeding population ofFalco peregrinus (Kokorinsko2 2010) was clustered by UPGMA dendrogram into the individual group, we assumed this population like independent, maybe not influenced by other groups. Moreover, a larger sample size would be necessary to confirm the hypothesis.展开更多
A study was aimed to overlook biological status including egg hatching, diet and diseases of common, Grus grus L. and demoiselle, Anthropoidedes virgo L. cranes in captive form in the southern districts of the Norther...A study was aimed to overlook biological status including egg hatching, diet and diseases of common, Grus grus L. and demoiselle, Anthropoidedes virgo L. cranes in captive form in the southern districts of the Northern Pakistan. Field survey, questionnaire and interview with communities were the major tools for the data collection. Total 165 and 85 camps were visited, respectively, in fall, 2008 and spring, 2009. These camps were established in Baran dam, Kurram, Kashu, Kethu and Dowa in Bannu; and Gambilla, Lunder and Chall rivers in Lakki. The numbers of 1,650 hunters have 6,600 demoiselle and 3,300 common captive cranes in Bannu and Lakki, respectively. From 920 breeding pairs, 900 eggs were obtained, from which only 640 were hatched. Among natural foods of the cranes, snails, grasshoppers and earthworms, the pebbles were the most favorite foods. The young ones of cranes were fed on maize bread, eggs of insects and other small animals like wasp's larvae and grasshoppers by hunters. They faced the problems of development of feathers, trapping in mud and parasitic attack during their development. The cranes suffered from many diseases; head tumor, influenza and stomach blockage were the most common in the adults and young ones. The hunters used traditional things, garlic, coriander and brown sugar with antibiotics for treatments of diseases. Migratory cranes were found to be declining viewed by hunters in southern districts of Northern Pakistan. Knowledge about egg hatching, foods and diseases of common and demoiselle captive cranes, might be assisted in their conservation.展开更多
Social stability in group-living animals is an emergent property which arises from the interaction amongst multiple behavioral networks. However, pinpointing when a social group is at risk of collapse is difficult. We...Social stability in group-living animals is an emergent property which arises from the interaction amongst multiple behavioral networks. However, pinpointing when a social group is at risk of collapse is difficult. We used a joint network model- ing approach to examine the interdependencies between two behavioral networks, aggression and status signaling, from four sta- ble and three unstable groups of rhesus macaques in order to identify characteristic patterns of network interdependence in stable groups that are readily distinguishable from unstable groups. Our results showed that the most prominent source of aggres- sion-status network interdependence in stable social groups came from more frequent dyads than expected with opposite direc- tion status-aggression (i.e. A threatens B and B signals acceptance of subordinate status). In contrast, unstable groups showed a decrease in opposite direction aggression-status dyads (but remained higher than expected) as well as more frequent than ex- pected dyads with bidirectional aggression. These results demonstrate that not only was the stable joint relationship between ag- gression and status networks readily distinguishable from unstable time points, social instability manifested in at least two differ- ent ways. In sum, our joint modeling approach may prove useful in quantifying and monitoring the complex social dynamics of any wild or captive social system, as all social systems are composed of multiple interconnected networks [Current Zoology 61 (1): 70-84, 2015].展开更多
The Chinese alligator Alligator sinensis is one of the most endangered crocodilian species, and typically exhibits temperature-dependent sex determination. It is extremely important to clarify the sex structure of Chi...The Chinese alligator Alligator sinensis is one of the most endangered crocodilian species, and typically exhibits temperature-dependent sex determination. It is extremely important to clarify the sex structure of Chinese alligators to implement recovery projects successfully. However, the sex ratio of wild Chinese alligators remains unknown. In this study, we collected 28 years of sex ratio data from Chinese alligators residing in the natural and artificial habitats of Changxing Nature Reserve, China, and examined the differences in the sex ratio dynamics between these two populations. We observed that the sex ratio of wild Chinese alligators is 1 male to 4.507 females, which was significantly lower compared to that of the captive population (1 to 2.040; P 〈 0.001), and is significantly different to previously documented sex ratios for this species (all P 〈 0.01). Furthermore, we documented an annually stable (P = 1.000) female-biased sex ratio for wild alligators at hatching [1 male to 4.747 females; 0.174 (0.167~).182)], in contrast to a dramatically fluctuating sex ratio (P 〈 0.001) in captivity [1 male to 1.674 females; 0.374 (0.246-0.593)], showing a potential mechanism for adjusting the sex structure. Finally, we found that the hatchling sex ratios were similar to that of the population sex ratio (P = 0.748), with little correlation to air temperature values in the 60-70 day incubation period during the breeding season (July and August; both P 〉 0.05). Overall, this study indicates that the stabilized female-biased sex ratio of Changxing Chinese alligators might result from selection pressure caused by local mate competition and major inbreeding .展开更多
In hand reared birds and mammals, it is generally considered that the development of hoarding behavior is the result of an interaction between the development and maturation of the nervous system and learning from ind...In hand reared birds and mammals, it is generally considered that the development of hoarding behavior is the result of an interaction between the development and maturation of the nervous system and learning from individual experience. How- ever, few studies have been done on wild animals. We tested differences in hoarding behavior between captive reared and wild individuals of two sympatric small rodents, Korean field mice Apodemus peninsulae and Chinese white-bellied rats Niviventer confucianus. Our aim was to identify if lack of experience from the wild would result in poorly developed hoarding behavior. The Korean field mice perform scatter- and larder-hoarding behaviors whereas Chinese white-bellied rats hoard food in larders only. Within outdoor enclosures we compared seed-hoarding behavior in reared juveniles (RJ, 40-50 d old, pregnant mothers were captured in the wild), wild juveniles (WJ, as young as the RJ) and wild adults (WA, over-winter animals). We found that a lack of experience from the wild had significant effects on seed-hoarding behavior for both species. The RJ-group removed and hoarded fewer seeds than the WJ- and WA-groups. The two latter groups hoarded seeds in a similar way. In the Korean filed mouse the ILl-group placed more seeds on the ground surface than other groups. These findings suggest that wild experience is important for the acquisition of an appropriate food-hoarding behavior (especially for scatter-hoarding) in these species展开更多
Threespine stickleback were used to examine phenotypic plasticity of telencephala in relation to inferred ecology. Fish from derived, allopatric, freshwater populations were sampled from three shallow, structurally co...Threespine stickleback were used to examine phenotypic plasticity of telencephala in relation to inferred ecology. Fish from derived, allopatric, freshwater populations were sampled from three shallow, structurally complex lakes with ben- thic-foraging stickleback (benthics) and from three deep, structurally simple lakes with planktivores (limnetics). The telencepha- Ion of specimens preserved immediately after capture (field-preserved), field-caught fish held in aquaria for 90 days (lab-held), and lab-bred fish from crosses and raised in aquaria were compared. Field-preserved sea-run (ancestral) stickleback were col- lected from two separate sites, and parents of lab-bred sea-run stickleback were collected from one of these sites. In field-preserved and lab-held fish, the telencephala of limnetics exhibited triangular dorsal shape, while those of benthics and sea-run fish had rounder shapes. No such pattern was detected in lab-bred fish. Within each treatment type, benthics had larger relative telencephalon sizes, using overall brain size as the covariate, than limnetics. Among field-preserved samples, sea-run fish had smaller telencephalon sizes than lake fish. Intra-population analyses of lake samples showed that field-preserved fish consis- tently had larger relative telencephalon sizes than lab-bred fish. The opposite was true of the sea-run population. In a separate study using one benthic population and one limnetic population, samples were preserved in the field immediately or held in the lab for 30, 60, and 90 days before they were sacrificed. In both populations, the telencephalon shapes of lab-held fish were similar to those of field-preserved fish but became progressively more like lab-bred ones over 90 days. In contrast, relative telencephalon size decreased dramatically by 30 days after which there was littie change. In freshwater threespine stickleback, the telencephalon exhibits considerable phenotypic plasticity, which was probably present in the ancestor [Current Zoology 58 (1): 189-210, 2012].展开更多
基金The project was sponsored by the Scientific Re-search Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, State Education Ministry (1999-363).
文摘In July 2006, the diurnal activity rhythms of 13 heads of captive Qinling golden takin were observed in Shaanxi Provincial Centre for the Breeding and Conservation of Rare Wildlife (SPCBCRW) at daylight (from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm in July). The behavioral ethnogram was identified through observation at the sampling site, with the behaviors of golden takin recorded at 5 min interval using instantaneous scannable sampling method. The results indicated that the resting of golden takin took an important part in the daylight activities. Meanwhile, drinking and urinating and defecating were 1.92 and 0.54 and 0.92 times per head per day. Ambient temperature had a strong effect on the diurnal activity rhythms of golden takin. The diurnal activity rhymes were affected by ages of the animals effectively, which was expressed through differentiation of the time budgets. Moreover, different individuals in the same population showed some non-synchronously activity rhythms.
基金This study was supported by the National 863 Project of China (2012AA021801) and the Project of Frontier Study of Foundation, CAS (KSCX2-EW-R-11, KSCX2-EW-J-23)
文摘Endosymbionts influence many aspects of their hosts’ health conditions, including physiology, development, immunity, metabolism, etc. Tree shrews(Tupaia belangeri chinensis) have attracted increasing attention in modeling human diseases and therapeutic responses due to their close relationship with primates. To clarify the situation of symbiotic bacteria from their body surface, oral cavity, and anus, 12 wild and 12 the third generation of captive tree shrews were examined. Based on morphological and cultural characteristics, physiological and biochemical tests, as well as the 16 S rDNA full sequence analysis, 12 bacteria strains were isolated and identified from the wild tree shrews: body surface: Bacillus subtilis(detection rate 42%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa(25%), Staphlococcus aureus(33%), S. Epidermidis(75%), Micrococcus luteus(25%), Kurthia gibsonii(17%); oral cavity: Neisseria mucosa(58%), Streptococcus pneumonia(17%); anus: Enterococcus faecalis(17%), Lactococus lactis(33%), Escherichia coli(92%), Salmonella typhosa(17%); whereas, four were indentified from the third generation captive tree shrews: body surface: S. epidermidis(75%); oral cavity: N.mucosa(67%); anus: L. lactis(33%), E. coli(100%). These results indicate that S. epidermidis, N. mucosa, L. lactis and E. coli were major bacteria in tree shrews, whereas, S. aureus, M. luteus, K. gibsonii, E. faecalis and S. typhosa were species-specific flora. This study facilitates the future use of tree shrews as a standard experimental animal and improves our understanding of the relationship between endosymbionts and their hosts.
基金founded by the Knowledge Innovation Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CXTDS2005-4)the Natural Scientific Foundation of China (No.30230080,No.30670267)
文摘Captive environments often fail to resemble the wild environment in respects of limited space, unchanging habitat, lack of stimulus and contingency. Common animal welfare problems which occur in captive animals include low behavioral diversity, abnormal behavior and excessive inactivity. Environmental enrichment, as an effective strategy to tackle these problems and promote mental health of captive animals, has been recognized as an important principal for captive animal management. Among all the enriehment techniques, olfactory enrichment is a simple and effective method for improving the well-being of the olfactory sensitive felids. Behavioral problems were observed in six Amur leopards Panthera pardus orientalis at Beijing Zoological Garden. These were held in the older type exhibits which have now been rebuilt. These behaviors include stereotypic behavior and excessive inactivity caused by the spatially limited enclosures with low levels of stimuli. To determine the effects of predator, prey, and herb odors as potential enrichment materials for captive leopards, we conducted olfactory enrichment experiments for the leopards and tested the effects of nutmeg Myristica fragrans, feces of roe deer Capreolus capreolus and urine of Amur tiger Panthera tigris altaica to test for an increase in behavioral repertoire and activity. Odors provided in this study were also believed to improve the psychological and physiological health of individuals. To standardize the method of presentation the odors were introduced to the enclosures by rubbing or spraying onto a clean towel. Our results show that the selected three odors effectively increased the behavioral diversity. Ten new behavior types were observed in the nutmeg experiment, eight in the feces of roe deer experiment and six in the tiger urine experiment. Among the three odors, cats responded to nutmeg for the longest duration, followed by tiger urine and feces of roe deer. Leopards showed more play behavior in presence of nutmeg while more investigatory behavior in presences of feces of roe deer and tiger urine. Providing novel odors increased the spatial use of the exhibit and the animal' s increased use of the logs, sleeping platforms and bars in the cages. Novel odors also significantly increased the overall activity of the leopards, but the effects were diminished in about three hours.
基金Foundation items: This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31160422, 30960084) the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2013M542379), the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-12- 1079), and the Key Subject of Wildlife Conservation and Utilization in Yunnan Province. Acknowledgements: Special thanks to Prof. R.-J. ZOU at Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences for support Mr. Y.-Z. LU (animal keeper) for his assistance during data-collection and to three anonymous reviewers for valuable suggestions.
文摘Different types of dominance hierarchies reflect different social relationships in primates. In this study, we clarified the hierarchy and social relationships in a one-male unit of captive Rhinopithecus bieti observed between August 1998 and March 1999. Mean frequency of agonistic behaviour among adult females was 0.13 interactions per hour. Adult females exhibited a linear hierarchy with a reversal of 10.9%, indicating an unstable relationship; therefore, R. bieti appears to be a relaxed/tolerant species. The lack of a relationship between the agonistic ratio of the adult male towards adult females and their ranks indicated that males did not show increased aggression towards low-ranking females. Differentiated female affiliative relationships were loosely formed in terms of the male, and to some extent influenced by female estrus, implying that relationships between the male and females is influenced by estrus and not rank alone. A positive correlation between the agonistic ratio of adult females and their ranks showed that the degree to which one female negatively impacted others decreased with reduction in rank. Similarly, a positive correlation between the agonistic ratio of females and differences in rank suggests that a female had fewer negative effects on closely ranked individuals than distantly ranked ones. These data indicate that rank may influence relationships between females. A steeper slope of regression between the agonistic ratio and inter-female rank differences indicated that the extent of the power difference in high-ranking females exerting negative effects on low-ranking ones was larger during the mating season than the birth season, suggesting that rank may influence the mating success of females.
文摘The influence of social upbringing on the activity pattern of lion Panthera leo cubs was investigated at three sites. In this study, stimulus objects such as sticks, grass, fresh dung (elephant Loxondota africana, zebra Equus quagga, impala Aepyceros melampus, duiker Sylvicapra grimmia, kudu Tragelaphus strepsiceros, giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis and wildebeest Connochaetes taurinus) and cardboard boxes, were utilized in an enrichment program aimed at encouraging active behaviors of captive lion cubs at Antelope Park and Masuwe. Lion cubs at Chipangali were not behaviorally enriched. Activity patterns were recorded for 10 days at each site. We recorded moving, resting, playing, grooming, visual exploration and display of hunting instincts. We found that behavioral enrichment enhanced the active behaviors of captive lion cubs. Orphan-raised cubs spent more time moving, playing and displaying hunting instincts than mother-raised cubs, but the time spent grooming was similar across areas and suggests that grooming is not influenced by enrichment. Mother-raised cubs spent more time engaged in visual exploration than orphan-raised cubs and this could be a behavior acquired from mothers or a result of confidence to explore because of their presence. Activity patterns were different among time treatments across our three study sites. Based on these findings, we suggest that lion cubs raised in captivity could benefit from behavioral enrichment to encourage active behaviors essential for eventual reintroduction into the wild
文摘We studied early development of peer dominance relationships in a captive group of Japanese macaques Macaca fuscata fuscata at the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University. This study aims to give detailed descriptions on characteristic patterns of maternal rank acquisition from infant to juvenile. Focal subjects were 22 young monkeys belonging to three cohorts born in 2002, 2003 and 2005. Data were collected with a total 2130 sessions of 30-minute continuous recording of focal subjects combined with all occurrence-sampling methods. The onset of aggressive behavior varied per cohort and was delayed in cohorts with fewer close-aged associates. More than 60% of dyadic combinations in agonistic interactions between peers were unidirectional throughout the study period. Although some bidirectional interactions could have involved unstable relationships between particular individuals, most of the bidirectional interactions included a few continuous series of alternating one-sided interactions. A linear order could be found among peers from the first appearance of aggressive behavior, and nearly 90% of those dyads were concordant with that of their mother's rank order. Young males were responsible for most of the dominance relations that would not be predicted based on their mother's rank. These results suggest that infant monkeys may recognize their own social status relative to their opponent's before onset of aggressive behavior and adjust themselves into the matrilineal rank system accordingly.
文摘The textile and garment value chain is typical buyer-driven and captive governance. Based on the results of 153 questionnaires survey of textile and garment companies around China in 2008 as well as case studies, the roles of China textile and garment enterprises in value chain were showed in this paper. The survey covers several different sectors, in which companies have different decision power, strategies and performance, to f'md how to take advantage of companies strengths, and gain long-term benefit enhancing its competence in global production network.
文摘To meet the demand of raw material, i.e., wood, from the available sources always remained a big challenge for paper industries since the last two decades. For a sustainable supply of raw material in future, major plantation activities were undertaken by paper industries, like West Coast Paper Mills Limited (WCPM), by constituting a society, i.e., Society for Afforestation, Research and Allied Works (SARA), Dandeli in 2001. The main aim was to promote afforestation programme through major plantations activities on the degraded lands (under rainfed condition) and to generate employments and capacity building. The WCPM is a leading paper manufacturing industry of the country (under the flagship of Bangur group) located at the bank of Kali River in Dandeli of Uttar Kannada district in State Karnataka. To date, company through SARA has raised captive plantations on more than 50,000 acres of degraded land by farmers in different districts of Maharashtm, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu States under Captive Plantation Project through Contract for Farming (CFF) since 2006 under a simple agreement period of only five years. After five years, society arranged to harvest the first rotation crop of the farmer of 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 plantations and paid the amount of the crop directly to farmers. SARA has a mutual contract with WCPM for purchasing pulpwood. With this, farmers are getting full amount of their crop harvested after five years without any hurdle through SARA. SARA did all the expenditures, i.e., from land development, plantation and harvesting. Under its agroforestry plantation programme, superior planting material of various pulpwood species suited to particular area, i.e., Eucalyptus, Subabul, Casuarina and Acacia were planted on farmer's land. Farmers were also encouraged for intercropping, like maize, peanut (groundnut), chilly, tomato and ginger with plantations. Apart from this, SARA is also providing free fodder to the livestock of farmers. Various types of fodder species such as Stylosanthes scabra, S. hamata are grown with plantation. SARA has also set up its own hi-tech clonal nursery developing around 5-6 millions of clonal ramets every year through clonal propagation technology. Till date, SARA has received 0.15 million ton (MT) of pulpwood from the plantations on farmer's land with a yield of 25-30 MT/acre. This type of activities will prove a boon for farmers as well as for industry, when raw material is going to be short in India. It will also conserve our natural resources, high conservative valued forests (HCVF) and will reduce the pressure on forest for wood. In addition, this will maintain the balance between environment and nature. To meet the requirement of pulpwood for industry, this type of plantation activities will open new ways for industry to secure raw material for future use. Also, this would be helpful to enhance productivity and generate employments for rural communities to improve their living standard and capacity building.
文摘The microsatellite analysis of DNA plays an important role in studying the population genetics such as population structure, genetic variability and diversity, phylogenetic relationships of wild population of endangered species. The main aim of this study was the estimation of ten microsatellite markers variability in the F. cherrug and F. peregrinus populations. We investigated genetic diversity and structure of populations by using non-invasive genetic identification of individuals to characterize populations of raptors living in the captivity and wild in the Czech Republic during the breeding seasons 2009 and 2010. Within Falco cherrug, significant moderate genetic differentiation (FsT) was observed between Falco cherrug wild and captive. This means that there could be a little differentiation between the wild and the captive populations caused by Falco cherrug subspecies origin or hybridization in the captivity. The absence of significant genetic differentiation between Falco peregrinus wild and captive may be caused by the influence of reintroduction the captive populations in the past. Whereas one breeding population ofFalco peregrinus (Kokorinsko2 2010) was clustered by UPGMA dendrogram into the individual group, we assumed this population like independent, maybe not influenced by other groups. Moreover, a larger sample size would be necessary to confirm the hypothesis.
文摘A study was aimed to overlook biological status including egg hatching, diet and diseases of common, Grus grus L. and demoiselle, Anthropoidedes virgo L. cranes in captive form in the southern districts of the Northern Pakistan. Field survey, questionnaire and interview with communities were the major tools for the data collection. Total 165 and 85 camps were visited, respectively, in fall, 2008 and spring, 2009. These camps were established in Baran dam, Kurram, Kashu, Kethu and Dowa in Bannu; and Gambilla, Lunder and Chall rivers in Lakki. The numbers of 1,650 hunters have 6,600 demoiselle and 3,300 common captive cranes in Bannu and Lakki, respectively. From 920 breeding pairs, 900 eggs were obtained, from which only 640 were hatched. Among natural foods of the cranes, snails, grasshoppers and earthworms, the pebbles were the most favorite foods. The young ones of cranes were fed on maize bread, eggs of insects and other small animals like wasp's larvae and grasshoppers by hunters. They faced the problems of development of feathers, trapping in mud and parasitic attack during their development. The cranes suffered from many diseases; head tumor, influenza and stomach blockage were the most common in the adults and young ones. The hunters used traditional things, garlic, coriander and brown sugar with antibiotics for treatments of diseases. Migratory cranes were found to be declining viewed by hunters in southern districts of Northern Pakistan. Knowledge about egg hatching, foods and diseases of common and demoiselle captive cranes, might be assisted in their conservation.
文摘Social stability in group-living animals is an emergent property which arises from the interaction amongst multiple behavioral networks. However, pinpointing when a social group is at risk of collapse is difficult. We used a joint network model- ing approach to examine the interdependencies between two behavioral networks, aggression and status signaling, from four sta- ble and three unstable groups of rhesus macaques in order to identify characteristic patterns of network interdependence in stable groups that are readily distinguishable from unstable groups. Our results showed that the most prominent source of aggres- sion-status network interdependence in stable social groups came from more frequent dyads than expected with opposite direc- tion status-aggression (i.e. A threatens B and B signals acceptance of subordinate status). In contrast, unstable groups showed a decrease in opposite direction aggression-status dyads (but remained higher than expected) as well as more frequent than ex- pected dyads with bidirectional aggression. These results demonstrate that not only was the stable joint relationship between ag- gression and status networks readily distinguishable from unstable time points, social instability manifested in at least two differ- ent ways. In sum, our joint modeling approach may prove useful in quantifying and monitoring the complex social dynamics of any wild or captive social system, as all social systems are composed of multiple interconnected networks [Current Zoology 61 (1): 70-84, 2015].
文摘The Chinese alligator Alligator sinensis is one of the most endangered crocodilian species, and typically exhibits temperature-dependent sex determination. It is extremely important to clarify the sex structure of Chinese alligators to implement recovery projects successfully. However, the sex ratio of wild Chinese alligators remains unknown. In this study, we collected 28 years of sex ratio data from Chinese alligators residing in the natural and artificial habitats of Changxing Nature Reserve, China, and examined the differences in the sex ratio dynamics between these two populations. We observed that the sex ratio of wild Chinese alligators is 1 male to 4.507 females, which was significantly lower compared to that of the captive population (1 to 2.040; P 〈 0.001), and is significantly different to previously documented sex ratios for this species (all P 〈 0.01). Furthermore, we documented an annually stable (P = 1.000) female-biased sex ratio for wild alligators at hatching [1 male to 4.747 females; 0.174 (0.167~).182)], in contrast to a dramatically fluctuating sex ratio (P 〈 0.001) in captivity [1 male to 1.674 females; 0.374 (0.246-0.593)], showing a potential mechanism for adjusting the sex structure. Finally, we found that the hatchling sex ratios were similar to that of the population sex ratio (P = 0.748), with little correlation to air temperature values in the 60-70 day incubation period during the breeding season (July and August; both P 〉 0.05). Overall, this study indicates that the stabilized female-biased sex ratio of Changxing Chinese alligators might result from selection pressure caused by local mate competition and major inbreeding .
文摘In hand reared birds and mammals, it is generally considered that the development of hoarding behavior is the result of an interaction between the development and maturation of the nervous system and learning from individual experience. How- ever, few studies have been done on wild animals. We tested differences in hoarding behavior between captive reared and wild individuals of two sympatric small rodents, Korean field mice Apodemus peninsulae and Chinese white-bellied rats Niviventer confucianus. Our aim was to identify if lack of experience from the wild would result in poorly developed hoarding behavior. The Korean field mice perform scatter- and larder-hoarding behaviors whereas Chinese white-bellied rats hoard food in larders only. Within outdoor enclosures we compared seed-hoarding behavior in reared juveniles (RJ, 40-50 d old, pregnant mothers were captured in the wild), wild juveniles (WJ, as young as the RJ) and wild adults (WA, over-winter animals). We found that a lack of experience from the wild had significant effects on seed-hoarding behavior for both species. The RJ-group removed and hoarded fewer seeds than the WJ- and WA-groups. The two latter groups hoarded seeds in a similar way. In the Korean filed mouse the ILl-group placed more seeds on the ground surface than other groups. These findings suggest that wild experience is important for the acquisition of an appropriate food-hoarding behavior (especially for scatter-hoarding) in these species
文摘Threespine stickleback were used to examine phenotypic plasticity of telencephala in relation to inferred ecology. Fish from derived, allopatric, freshwater populations were sampled from three shallow, structurally complex lakes with ben- thic-foraging stickleback (benthics) and from three deep, structurally simple lakes with planktivores (limnetics). The telencepha- Ion of specimens preserved immediately after capture (field-preserved), field-caught fish held in aquaria for 90 days (lab-held), and lab-bred fish from crosses and raised in aquaria were compared. Field-preserved sea-run (ancestral) stickleback were col- lected from two separate sites, and parents of lab-bred sea-run stickleback were collected from one of these sites. In field-preserved and lab-held fish, the telencephala of limnetics exhibited triangular dorsal shape, while those of benthics and sea-run fish had rounder shapes. No such pattern was detected in lab-bred fish. Within each treatment type, benthics had larger relative telencephalon sizes, using overall brain size as the covariate, than limnetics. Among field-preserved samples, sea-run fish had smaller telencephalon sizes than lake fish. Intra-population analyses of lake samples showed that field-preserved fish consis- tently had larger relative telencephalon sizes than lab-bred fish. The opposite was true of the sea-run population. In a separate study using one benthic population and one limnetic population, samples were preserved in the field immediately or held in the lab for 30, 60, and 90 days before they were sacrificed. In both populations, the telencephalon shapes of lab-held fish were similar to those of field-preserved fish but became progressively more like lab-bred ones over 90 days. In contrast, relative telencephalon size decreased dramatically by 30 days after which there was littie change. In freshwater threespine stickleback, the telencephalon exhibits considerable phenotypic plasticity, which was probably present in the ancestor [Current Zoology 58 (1): 189-210, 2012].