Discrimination of conspecifics by juvenile domestic pigs, Sus scrofa
Social recognition is important for the formation and maintenance of dominance hierarchies that are based on conspecific assessment. Pigs are assumed to recognize individuals because they react aggressively towards unfamiliar conspecifics, but we know little about the extent of their discriminatory abilities or the influential variables. We investigated the ability of 6-week-old female pigs to […]
The effects of environmental context on laboratory rat social recognition
Moving an animal from the environmental context in which it has learned a particular task to an entirely different context can reduce performance. We investigated the effect of switching environmental contexts on the ability of adult laboratory rats, Rattus norvegicus, to recognize and habituate to repeated presentations of juvenile conspecifics. Adults were exposed to juveniles […]
The reduction of stereotypic pacing in tigers (Panthera tigris) by obstructing the view of neighbouring individuals
Until recently, little attention has been focused on the influence of social interactions and the presence of conspecifics on stereotypic pacing in captive carnivores. This study examined the effect of adding a visual barrier between two tiger (Panthera tigris) exhibits on stereotypic pacing behaviour. Continuous sampling was used to record the duration of time tigers […]