Náttúrufræðingurinn - 2019, Síða 24

Náttúrufræðingurinn
96
18. mynd. Folaldið Freyja frá Bæ, aðeins tveggja daga gömul, étur skít úr móður sinni sem er nauðsynlegt fyrir örveruflóruna í meltingarvegi. Sjá
rammagrein um Stjarna á bls. 87. – Freyja, two days old, eating faeces from her mother (coprophagy). Ljósm./Photo: Hrefna Sigurjónsdóttir,
Bær, Eilífsdalur Kjós, W-Iceland, 2016.
Rannsóknir þær sem hér eru lagðar
til grundvallar eru mikilvægar. Hegðun
hrossa í mörgum hópum var mæld og
rannsóknirnar náðu yfir langan tíma.
Á mjög fáum stöðum í heiminum er sá
möguleiki fyrir hendi að bera hálfvillt
stóð, þar sem nær náttúruleg félagskerfi
geta myndast, saman við hópa taminna
hesta sem lifa við svipaðar umhverfis-
aðstæður en mismunandi félagskerfi.
Okkur er ekki kunnugt um að sambæri-
leg samantekt úr mörgum rannsóknum
á félagshegðun hesta, af sama hesta-
kyni og við frjálsa beit, hafi verið gerð
annars staðar. Niðurstöðurnar hafa því
ekki einungis hagnýtt gildi fyrir hesta-
menn, eins og nefnt hefur verið, heldur
eru þær mikilvæg viðbót við þekkingu
manna á sviði hesta- og atferlisfræði í
íslensku og alþjóðlegu vísindasamfélagi.
SUMMARY:
sOcial BehaViOur Of hOrses
iN Pastures – OVerView Of
icelaNdic research
Social behaviour of horses kept in
spacious enclosures has been studied
systematically by many researchers in
Iceland since 1997. The first author has
been involved in all the studies reported
here. The main aim of this study was
to explore how group composition and
management factors correlate with
frequencies of social interactions (ago-
nistic behaviours and mutual groom-
ing) in horse groups. Since welfare of
horses correlates with low aggression
levels and social contact opportuni-
ties, information of this kind is import-
ant. Behavioural data on 426 Icelandic
horses in total 20 groups were col-
lected over a period of 15 years. The
research was carried out at 11 different
places in Iceland in spring, summer,
autumn and winter. To our knowledge
no comparable overview of studies on
horse behaviour of this kind has been
compiled previously. The results show
that the composition of the group with
respect to age and sex is very important.
Low frequencies of agonistic behaviours
in breeding groups where one stallion
defended mares and their offspring, is
of special interest. The horses were less
aggressive when in groups with young
foals and where group membership was
stable. Interestingly, the more foals there
were in the groups, the less aggressive
the horses were. Unfamiliar yearlings in
peer groups were especially aggressive.
Mutual grooming was most frequent in
groups with relatively high number of
young horses and in unstable and small
groups. Thus, in view of minimizing
aggression and competition for food,
water and shelter, the results can be of
help for horse owners when planning
which horses are put together in a group.