Comparison of clinical examinations of back disorders and humans' evaluation of back pain in riding school horses

International audienceBACKGROUND: Questionnaires are a common tool to assess people's opinion on a large scale or to sound them out about their subjective views. The caretakers' opinion about animals' "personality" has been used in many studies. The aim of the present study was to assess whether the owners' subjective evaluation was effective to detect back disorders. Back disorders have been shown to have a high prevalence in working horses. Caretakers from 17 riding schools (1 caretaker/school, 161 horses) were given a questionnaire about their horses' health status, including back disorders. Out of these 161 horses, 59 were subjected to manual palpation of the spine and 102 were subjected to sEMG examination all along the spine. RESULTS: The results showed that subjective caretaker-reported evaluation via questionnaire survey was not efficient to detect back disorders: only 19 horses (11.8%) were reported as suffering from back pain, whereas the experimenters' evaluation detected 80 of them (49.7%) as suffering from back disorders. While most caretakers under-evaluated back disorders, a few "over-evaluated" it (more horses reported as affected than found via clinical evaluations). Horses were less prone to present back disorders when under the care of these "over-attentive" caretakers. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that back pain is difficult to evaluate, even for professionals, and that subjective evaluations using a questionnaire is not valid in this case. The results also highlighted the real need for observational training (behaviours, postures) outside and during riding

The response of commensal Hamadryas baboons to seasonal reduction in food provisioning

On top of the scenic escarpment road of A1 Hada, people regularly feed baboons and members of a large troop of Papio hamadryas developed commensal habits, waiting for handouts beside the road. Alarmed by the increasing baboon number, local authorities wish to control the troop’s enlargement. A direct solution to prevent the troop’s growth would be to forbid people to feed baboons. However, both the sufficiency of natural vegetation and the ability of the troop to return to feeding on natural resources is uncertain. The response of baboons to a reduced provisioning was studied when the road was closed for maintenance during winter. We compared the relative share of natural vegetation and handouts in the troop’s diet along the year and monitored range use in relation to food availability. The main effects of handout reduction were the enlargement of daily range combined with relocation and diversification of sleeping sites, the troop splitting into small sleeping groups. Baboons switched easily to a natural diet. Numerous plant species were consumed, but the Juniper species typical of these elevations were the most commonly selected. The results show the feasability and efficiency of the reduction of food provision in managing such commensal groups living partially from human handouts.En haut de la falaise de Al Hada, les automobilistes de passage nourrissent quotidiennement les babouins et une grande troupe de Papio hamadryas vit principalement de cette manne. La croissance de cette troupe de singes commensaux préoccupe les autorités locales qui aimeraient en limiter l’effectif. La solution la plus directe serait l’interdiction de nourrir les animaux, poussant ainsi les babouins à exploiter la végétation naturelle, mais la qualité des ressources naturelles et la capacité des babouins à les utiliser restent incertaines. La réponse à une réduction de l’apport alimentaire a été étudiée pendant que la route était fermée pour réparation en hiver. Nous avons comparé au cours de l’année la répartition de l’alimentation de la troupe entre nourriture naturelle et nourriture d’origine humaine ainsi que les variations du trajet en fonction des disponibilités alimentaires. Les effets principaux de la réduction de l’apport de nourriture sont l’accroissement du trajet quotidien, accompagné de la relocalisation et de la diversification des sites de sommeil. La troupe se divise aussi en groupes plus petits. Les babouins s’adaptent facilement à un régime naturel et consomment de nombreuses plantes. Les genévriers (Juniperus excelsa et Juniperus phoenicea), dominants sur le site, sont l’élément majeur du régime d’hiver. Les résultats montrent la faisabilité et l’efficacité de la réduction des apports alimentaires pour réduire la pression excercée par de telles groupes commensales sur les alentours de villes et des sites touristiques.Boug A., Biquand Sylvain, Biquand-Guyot Véronique, Kamal K. The response of commensal Hamadryas baboons to seasonal reduction in food provisioning. In: Revue d'Écologie (La Terre et La Vie), tome 49, n°3, 1994. pp. 307-319

Group Composition in Wild and Commensal Hamadryas Baboons - a Comparative-Study in Saudi-Arabia

WOS:A1992JP06000003International audiencePapio hamadryas was surveyed throughout its range in Saudi Arabia and was observed at altitudes ranging from 0 to 2300 m. Wild populations occur along the whole range of altitude, while commensal populations are only found above 850 m altitude. No variation in group size was found with altitude. Comparison of wild and commensal populations showed the following. (1) Their composition in terms of age and sex classes, overall adult sex ratios, and group size does not significantly differ. (2) Groups of both populations include, in similar proportions, three types of parties: one-male units (\textgreater70%), two-male units (\textgreater13%), and a few other units of variable composition. (3) The mean size of commensal parties is significantly larger than in the wild population; specifically one-male units are larger in the commensal population due to a larger number of females per male. Thus, female distribution in commensal groups is more inequitable than that in wild groups. (4) Finally, the number of females included in two-male units increases with altitude. These differences are discussed in terms of food availability and predator pressure and are compared with results obtained on other Arabian and Ethiopian populations

Short-Term Variations of Dialects in Short Songs of Two Species of Colonial Caciques (Cacicus)

International audienceThe vocalizations involved in social communication of many oscine species present dialectal variants in vocalizations involved in social communication. Different hypotheses predict the function of these dialects: the "local adaptation" hypothesis, the "social adaptation" hypothesis and the "epiphenomenon" hypothesis. The social adaptation hypothesis predicts a rapid change in local dialects adjusted to each colonial variant via vocal sharing of constantly drifting song types. Here we investigated the dialect temporal variations of two colonial Cacicus species as we know that spatially-restricted dialectical variants, probably linked to social organization, exist in these species. Sound recordings were collected in the field, focalising on a series of nesting colony trees followed over several years. Songs were analysed from sonograms and their temporal and frequency parameters were compared. The fact that we observed short-term variations of colonial dialects tends to support the hypothesis of a culturally acquired colony-specific vocalization in both species

Weakly aggressive behaviour towards nymphs in the cockroach Schultesia nitor (Blattaria: Zetoborinae).

International audienceThis paper describes aggressive behaviour in the cockroach Schultesia nitor, a tropical forest species living in bird nests. Young S. nitor nymphs are known to show active dispersal while old nymphs and adults are contrastingly strongly gregarious, a combination of features never observed in other cockroach species. Our laboratory experiments using video recording of confrontations between pairs show that aggressive behaviour towards conspecific nymphs is not exhibited towards nymphs of the species Phoetalia pallida, and thus can be considered species specific in S. nitor. But, it is not kin oriented: the mother and all adults of both sexes in different physiological states exhibit this behaviour as well. Six types of aggressive interactions were discriminated, occurring in agesymmetric pairs of nymphs and adults. Even more frequent aggression was exhibited by adults and last instar nymphs towards younger nymphs of all instars. The frequency of aggressive acts and types of aggressive interactions varied according to sex and size of the two interacting individuals. The possible function and evolution of this behaviour is discussed, with emphasis on the difficulty of interpreting obvious but weak and not kin-biased aggression

Morphométrie et comportement : leçons de la systématique

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Morphological characteristics for males and females.

<p>All data. SD: standard deviation</p><p>*: significant difference.</p><p>Morphological characteristics for males and females.</p

Morphological measurement differences between males and females.

<p>Box plots of mass, wing and tarsus data. All data were collected by a single ringer (AC). *: significant difference at p ≤ 0.05.</p