Quantifying Equid Behavior—A Research Ethogram for Free-Roaming Feral Horses
Feral horses (Equus caballus) are globally distributed in free-roaming populations on all continents except Antarctica and occupy a wide range of habitats including forest, grassland, desert, and montane environments. The largest populations occur in Australia and North America and have been the sub...
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ftunivnebraskali:oai:digitalcommons.unl.edu:usgspubs-1018 2024-09-30T14:26:57+00:00 Quantifying Equid Behavior—A Research Ethogram for Free-Roaming Feral Horses Ransom, Jason I. Cade, Brian S. 2009-01-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgspubs/26 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/usgspubs/article/1018/viewcontent/Ransom_2009_Quantifying_equid_behavior.pdf unknown DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgspubs/26 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/usgspubs/article/1018/viewcontent/Ransom_2009_Quantifying_equid_behavior.pdf United States Geological Survey: Publications Earth Sciences text 2009 ftunivnebraskali 2024-09-02T07:48:18Z Feral horses (Equus caballus) are globally distributed in free-roaming populations on all continents except Antarctica and occupy a wide range of habitats including forest, grassland, desert, and montane environments. The largest populations occur in Australia and North America and have been the subject of scientific study for decades, yet guidelines and ethograms for feral horse behavioral research are largely absent in the scientific literature. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Fort Collins Science Center conducted research on the influences of the immunocontraceptive porcine zona pellucida (PZP) on feral horse behavior from 2003–2006 in three discrete populations in the American west (see Ransom and others, 2007; Ransom, 2009). These populations were the Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Range in Colorado, McCullough Peaks Herd Management Area in Wyoming, and Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range in Montana; the research effort included over 1,800 hours of behavioral observations of 317 adult free-roaming feral horses. The following ethogram was developed during the course of this study to facilitate accurate scientific data collection on feral horse behavior, which is often challenging to quantify. By developing this set of discrete behavioral definitions and a set of strict research protocols, scientists were better able to address both applied questions, such as behavioral changes related to fertility control, and theoretical questions, such as understanding social networks and dominance hierarchies within social groups of equids. Text Antarc* Antarctica University of Nebraska-Lincoln: DigitalCommons@UNL |
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University of Nebraska-Lincoln: DigitalCommons@UNL |
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Earth Sciences |
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Earth Sciences Ransom, Jason I. Cade, Brian S. Quantifying Equid Behavior—A Research Ethogram for Free-Roaming Feral Horses |
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Earth Sciences |
description |
Feral horses (Equus caballus) are globally distributed in free-roaming populations on all continents except Antarctica and occupy a wide range of habitats including forest, grassland, desert, and montane environments. The largest populations occur in Australia and North America and have been the subject of scientific study for decades, yet guidelines and ethograms for feral horse behavioral research are largely absent in the scientific literature. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Fort Collins Science Center conducted research on the influences of the immunocontraceptive porcine zona pellucida (PZP) on feral horse behavior from 2003–2006 in three discrete populations in the American west (see Ransom and others, 2007; Ransom, 2009). These populations were the Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Range in Colorado, McCullough Peaks Herd Management Area in Wyoming, and Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range in Montana; the research effort included over 1,800 hours of behavioral observations of 317 adult free-roaming feral horses. The following ethogram was developed during the course of this study to facilitate accurate scientific data collection on feral horse behavior, which is often challenging to quantify. By developing this set of discrete behavioral definitions and a set of strict research protocols, scientists were better able to address both applied questions, such as behavioral changes related to fertility control, and theoretical questions, such as understanding social networks and dominance hierarchies within social groups of equids. |
format |
Text |
author |
Ransom, Jason I. Cade, Brian S. |
author_facet |
Ransom, Jason I. Cade, Brian S. |
author_sort |
Ransom, Jason I. |
title |
Quantifying Equid Behavior—A Research Ethogram for Free-Roaming Feral Horses |
title_short |
Quantifying Equid Behavior—A Research Ethogram for Free-Roaming Feral Horses |
title_full |
Quantifying Equid Behavior—A Research Ethogram for Free-Roaming Feral Horses |
title_fullStr |
Quantifying Equid Behavior—A Research Ethogram for Free-Roaming Feral Horses |
title_full_unstemmed |
Quantifying Equid Behavior—A Research Ethogram for Free-Roaming Feral Horses |
title_sort |
quantifying equid behavior—a research ethogram for free-roaming feral horses |
publisher |
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgspubs/26 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/usgspubs/article/1018/viewcontent/Ransom_2009_Quantifying_equid_behavior.pdf |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica |
op_source |
United States Geological Survey: Publications |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgspubs/26 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/usgspubs/article/1018/viewcontent/Ransom_2009_Quantifying_equid_behavior.pdf |
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1811633084232105984 |