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Olfactory test

There was no significant difference between olfactory stimuli from different animals (Figure 1a) so the data for these stimuli was combined (Figure 1b). No difference between naturalistic and barren enclosures was found for the time the animals were interested in the olfactory stimuli.

Figure 1. Mean duration of interest (+ S.D.) in a) faeces from moose, wolf and bear and b) all olfactory stimuli combined in naturalistic (black bar) and barren (white bar) enclosures.

Auditory and visual test

No difference was found for the duration of interest in the different sound stimuli (Figure 2a) so the data for these stimuli was combined (Figure 2b). Difference in response between naturalistic and barren enclosures was found for auditory stimuli. The animals in barren enclosures were interested a longer period of time in these stimuli than animals in naturalistic enclosures.
The animals in naturalistic enclosures were interested in the visual stimuli, i.e. the silhouette, for longer duration than in the auditory stimuli.

Figure 2. Mean duration of interest (+ S.D.) in a) the presentation of moose, wolf and bear sound and in the silhouette, and b) all auditory stimuli combined and the visual stimuli in naturalistic (black bar) and barren (white bar) enclosures, ** p≤0.01; *p≤0.05.

There were differences between naturalistic and barren enclosures in the animals’ reaction to the different auditory and the visual stimuli (Figure 3). The animals that lived in naturalistic enclosures showed a different reaction to both the auditory stimuli and the visual stimulus than the animals in barren enclosures.
The animals that lived in a naturalistic enclosure showed a stronger reaction to the visual stimulus than to the auditory stimuli.

Figure 3. Percent of animals (+S.D.) in each response category for auditory and visual stimuli in naturalistic (black bar) and barren (white bar) enclosures.

Behavioural study

There was some difference in the animals’ behaviour after they had been presented the different stimuli compared to pre-test baseline (Figure 4). The animals moved for a significantly longer period of time after both olfactory and visual stimuli presentation during 0-120 minutes following the presentation compared to during pre-test baseline (Figure 4a). They moved also for a longer period of time during 0-15 minutes following the visual stimulus presentation compared to pre-test baseline.

During 0-90 following stimuli presentation the animals stood for a significantly longer period of time after olfactory stimuli compared to during pre-test baseline (Figure 4b). The animals stood for a significantly longer period of time during 0-180 minutes following auditory stimuli presentation compared to pre-test baseline. They also stood for a significantly longer period of time during 0-30 minutes following the visual stimulus presentation compared to pre-test baseline.

The animals ate for a significantly longer period of time during 0-150 minutes following the olfactory stimuli presentation compared to during pre-test baseline (Figure 4c). During 0-120 minutes following the auditory stimuli presentation the animals ate for a significantly longer period of time than during pre-test baseline.

During 0-180 minutes following stimuli presentation the animals rested for a significantly longer time during pre-test baseline compared to after both olfactory and auditory stimuli (Figure 4d). The animals rested for a significantly longer period of time during 15-90 minutes following visual stimulus presentation than during pre-test baseline. 
 

Figure 4. Percent of time the animals a) moved, b) stood, c) ate, and d) rested after the different types of stimuli presentation, O – p<0.05 for olfactory stimulus, A – p<0.05 for auditory stimulus, V – p<0.05 for visual stimulus compared to pre-test baseline.


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Last updated: 05/27/09