●野生動物研究センター(WRC)セミナーのお知らせ●

2018年3月28日(水) 13:30～　@野生動物研究センター地下１階会議室

（場所は以下をご参照ください。）

http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

◼︎発表者：水野佳緒里◼︎ (スライド：英語、口頭説明：日本語）

野生アジアゾウの集団移動

動物の集団が移動するとき、特定の個体が移動方向と開始のタイミングを決め他のメンバーが従う場合(unshared decision)と、複数の個体が意思を示し合わせることで決定する場合(shared decision)がある。アジアゾウは離合集散性が高く、集団の構成員は一定でない。寿命は約60年と長く、他の哺乳類よりも並外れた記憶容量を持つ。知識もしくは経験量が年齢とともに増えると仮定すると、集団内の各個体が持つ知識にはばらつきがあると考えられる。そのような特性を持つ集団が移動するとき、最も知識のある個体が集団を先導すると予測される。

発表者はスリランカのウダワラウェ国立公園の水場を集団で訪れるゾウのビデオ観察を行った。各イベントにおいて(i)水場に最初に到着した個体、(ii)水場から出発する際に出発方向へ体を向けた個体、(iii)最初に出発方向へ移動をし始めた個体を記録した。

(i)~(iii)が同じ個体によって行われたイベントは30%(8/27)であり、常に特定の個体が集団を先導しているわけではないことが示唆された。

今後は、集団の移動方向およびタイミングが決定される際にどのような要因（出発し始める個体の特性や移動速度、群れのまとまり具合、集団構成）が効いているのかを明らかにすべく、取得したビデオデータの分析を進めていく。

今後のセミナー予定

4/4(水) 休み  

4/11(水) 安全講習会

--------------------------

Wildlife Research Center Seminar

Date: March. 28th  (Wed) 13:30-

@Wildlife Research Center B1 floor

(Please see the map below.)

http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

◼︎Speaker: Kaori Mizuno◼︎ (Slides in English and talk in Japanese)

Upcoming seminar

4/4(Wed) No seminar 

4/11(Wed) Safety lecture

●野生動物研究センター(WRC)セミナーのお知らせ●

2018年3月14日(水)　13:30～　@野生動物研究センター地下１階会議室

（場所は以下をご参照ください。）

http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

◼︎発表者：榊原香鈴美◼︎　(スライド：英語、口頭説明：日本語）

水中遊泳者への探索行動と遊泳隊列の性・成長段階差

　沿岸定住性のミナミハンドウイルカは、限られた環境の中で個体群を持続している。発表者は、水中での直接観察から野生イルカの探索傾向と集団内の遊泳隊列の性・成長段階差を明らかにした。結果、メスの探索傾向の強さと、オスがメスを追いかけるような特徴的な遊泳位置関係が明らかになり、これらは資源獲得や繁殖成功につながる重要な特徴であることが示唆される。本セミナーではこれらの結果と、在学中に関わった研究として、熊本のスナメリの採餌行動や集団形成についても紹介する。

今後のセミナー予定

3/21(水) 休み 

3/28(水) 水野 

--------------------------

Wildlife Research Center Seminar

Date: March. 14th  (Wed) 13:30-

@Wildlife Research Center B1 floor

(Please see the map below.)

http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

◼︎Speaker: Kasumi Sakakibara◼︎ (Slides in English and talk in Japanese)

Difference by sex and age class: inquiring behavior and swimming order

　Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins is philopatry and keep the population in the limited environment. I observed the dolphin behavior directly underwater, so that I clarified the differences the inquisitive characteristics and swimming position in the group by sex and age class. In the results, females might be more inquisitive than males and males tended to follow females, especially adult females. These results showed the important characteristic for gaining the resource and successful breeding. I will talk about that mainly, I talk also feeding behavior and the huge group in finless porpoise as ongoing study.

 

Upcoming seminar

3/21(Wed) No seminar

3/28(Wed) Mizuno 

●野生動物研究センター(WRC)セミナーのお知らせ● (The English version is below)

2018年2月28日(水)　13:30～　@野生動物研究センター地下１階会議室

（場所は以下をご参照ください。）

http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

◼︎発表者：辻 紀海香◼︎　(スライド：英語、口頭説明：日本語）

御蔵島に生息するミナミハンドウイルカの夜間生態

伊豆諸島御蔵島周辺海域には、ミナミハンドウイルカ(Tursiops aduncus）の定住個体群が存在する。本個体群においては、長期的な個体識別データを基に社会行動や社会構造など、日中の行動や生態に関する研究が多く行われてきた。その一方で、夜間生態については目視調査が難しいことなどから、これまでにほとんど研究が行われておらず、夜間も島の周辺に生息している可能性が高いことが示唆されているのみである（Morisaka et al., 2015）。そこで本研究では、本種の夜間生態の一端を明らかにすることを目的に、音声録音調査を行った。

2015年6月と8月に1日ずつ、定点型受動式録音装置（AUSOMS-micro）を御蔵島周辺海中に設置し、24時間の連続録音を行った。設置地点は、日中にイルカがよく観察される海岸線から約200 mまでの範囲の、水深10～15 mの4地点である。記録された音声を、ホイッスル、クリックス、その他の音声に分類し、時間帯や場所による比較を行った。

総録音時間は194時間で、4地点すべてにおいてホイッスルとクリックスが記録された。明期と暗期で録音された音声の発声頻度に差はなく、夜も昼と同様に島周辺にいると考えられた。また、場所による発声時間帯に違いがあったほか、同じ地点でも日によって発声時間帯が異なった。さらに滞在時間が極端に短く、通過しているのみと考えられる地点があり、同じ島周りでも利用の仕方が異なる可能性が考えられた。

今後のセミナー予定

3/7(水) 休み 

3/14(水) 榊原

3/21(水) 休み 

--------------------------

Wildlife Research Center Seminar

Date: February. 28th  (Wed) 13:30-

@Wildlife Research Center B1 floor

(Please see the map below.)

http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

◼︎Speaker: Kimika Tsuji◼︎ (Slides in English and talk in Japanese)

Nighttime distribution and behavior of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin around Mikura Island

Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) population inhabit coastal areas around Mikura Island in the Izu Island Chain. Study about social behavior and social relationship of the population in the daytime have studied a lot. But there is few study about nighttime activity, because it is difficult to observe them in the dark. In this study, I studied the distribution and behavior of the population by recording the sound of underwater for 24 consecutive hours. I put a hydrophone in 4 points around the Island in June and August 2015. The total recording time was 194 hours, whistle and clicks were recorded at all four points. There was no difference in the vocalization frequency of the sound recorded in the daytime and the nighttime. Also, there were differences in vocalization frequency by time of day depending on places, and vocalization frequency varied from day to day even at the same spot. Furthermore, the sojourn time was extremely short, there were points considered to be passing only, and it was thought that the habitat use might be different even around the same island.

Upcoming seminar

3/7(Wed) No seminar 

3/14(Wed) Sakakibara 

3/21(Wed) No seminar 

●野生動物研究センター(WRC)セミナーのお知らせ●

2018年2月14日(水) 13:30～　@野生動物研究センター地下１階会議室

（場所は以下をご参照ください。）

http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

◼︎発表者：浜中京介（動物行動学研究室）◼︎

動物園の熱帯産ヘビ類3種間における摂水行動の比較

 摂水行動は、動物の形態や体内環境、餌、周囲の環境など様々な要因に影響され得る。したがって、摂水はその種の環境への適応を反映した行動の一つであると言え、これを調べることでその基礎生態の重要な一部分を知ることができると考えられる。加えて、これを知ることで飼育環境の改善も期待できる。

 ヘビ類では一般に摂餌の頻度が低くても生きていける種が多く、大型の種などは数週間から数か月の絶食にも耐えられることが知られているが、摂水に関しての知見は少なく、その頻度や水場の利用といった基本的な摂水行動は未知の部分が多い。そこで、京都市動物園熱帯動物館において飼育されているボア科2種およびニシキヘビ科１種のヘビの摂水行動を3週間撮影し、映像から各種の摂水様式を調査するとともに種間での比較を行った。

今後のセミナー予定

2/21(水) 斎藤 

2/28(水) 辻 

--------------------------

Wildlife Research Center Seminar

Date: February. 14th  (Wed) 13:30-

@Wildlife Research Center B1 floor

(Please see the map below.)

http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

◼︎Speaker: Kyosuke Hamanaka (Laboratory of Ethology)◼︎

A comparison of drinking behavior among three tropical snake species

 Drinking behavior is affected by various factors such as forms, diets, and internal or external environment. Therefore, we can say drinking behavior reflects a species’ adaptation to the environment, and researching this behavior can lead to knowledge about an important part of the ecology of the species. Furthermore, rearing environment can be improved by it.

 Generally, most of snakes don’t need frequent feeding, and some species can live without feeding for several weeks to a few months, but less is known about drinking behavior and its frequency. Then, I took the videos of three tropical snake species around the water stations in Kyoto City Zoo for three weeks and compared their drinking behavior.

 

Upcoming seminar

2/21(Wed) Saito 

2/28(Wed) Tsuji

Wildlife Research Center Seminar

Date: January. 31st  (Wed) 13:30-

@Wildlife Research Center B1 floor

(Please see the map below.)

http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

◼︎Speaker: Seiko Fukushima◼︎

Cooperative management and operation of national parks: The cases in Kinki region

Japan has adopted a Regional Natural Park System that designates national park land as such regardless of private land ownership. It means that national park areas include the place for life and industry, and therefore there are many stakeholders. From the above, national parks in Japan need to be managed while taking into account the lifestyles of local residents and relevant industry conditions, on the other hand, their local activities have contributed directly or indirectly to the promotion of national park protection and usage.

Based on my experience in Kinki Regional Environment Office, I will introduce how we are dealing with management of national parks in terms of collaboration with various regional parties, and suggest what are needed and important for effective management.

We will have Asura international seminar (Dr. Oliver Ryder) from 10:00 at the same venue. We would be happy if you join us. 

Upcoming seminar

2/7(Wed) Presentation of guests from zoos 

2/14(Wed) Hamanaka

2/21(Wed) Saito

Wildlife Research Center Seminar

Date: January.17th  (Wed) 13:30-

@Wildlife Research Center B1 floor

(Please see the map below.)

http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

◼︎Speaker: Momoko Oka◼︎

Verification of the effectiveness of environmental enrichment and the visitor effect in captive tigers

Zoo animals are often kept in environments that are significantly different from the original habitat and as a result, stereotypic behaviors such as walking in the same route in the field may be occurred. Environmental enrichment is device for improving the welfare of zoo animals and is considered important for decreasing stereotypic behavior. It is thought that stereotypic behavior involves multiple factors such as the existence of environmental enrichment and the influence of visitors, but no complex study has been done. In this study, I observed the Amur tigers in Kyoto City Zoo, and examined the effectiveness of environmental enrichment and the factors that influence behavior of tigers.

 

Upcoming seminar

(1/23(Tue) Master thesis presentation) 

1/31(Wed)  Dr. Oliver Ryder, Seiko Fukushima

2/7(Wed) Presentation of guests from zoos 

Wildlife Research Center Seminar

Date: January. 10th  (Wed) 13:30-

@Wildlife Research Center B1 floor

(Please see the map below.)

http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

(Practice of master thesis presentation)

◼︎Speaker: Sota Inoue◼︎

Spatial positioning of individuals in feral horses

 Various animals form groups to benefit from several perspectives. There is also diversity in membership forming the group. However, spatial positioning of individuals is the universal issue in animal group. Theoretical studies have predicted the importance to individuals’ condition, feeding efficiency and transferring information between individuals. Although empirical studies have also suggested the importance, there are still necessity to discuss and fragility regarding on quantitativity. Investigation focusing on species living in two dimension is especially difficult because it is mostly impossible to take high quality  data excepting some good combination of situations. I used a drone to take pictures of horses group from the sky to reveal basic characteristics of spatial positioning in a group of feral horses. in Serra D’Arga, Portugal. Horses live in plain area on the top of mountain. Therefore, this combination, drone and horses, is very suitable to tackle this problem. Results showed that each individual have personal space within three body length and nearest neighborhood were located right and left side. In addition, social network analysis was conducted in affiliative network and inter-individual distance network, because horses have high sociality. The result showed there is no correlation between those two networks, which might suggest that horses have complexity in their society that cannot be simply described with affiliative relationships between individuals.

◼︎Speaker: Anna Kawakita◼︎

Sex differences of giraffe in shade use and feeding posture during the dry season in Katavi National Park, Tanzania

Many giraffes live in savanna. Most of the savanna environment is sunny, and there are a few shade places where tall trees exist. How do giraffe use sunny and shade places? In order to investigate the sex differences of giraffe behaviors, I observed adult giraffes during the dry season in 2016 and 2017 in Katavi National Park, Tanzania. I found that males spent more time in the shade than females, and they preferred feeding on large shade trees with their neck stretched vertically upwards. They could ruminate and rest at same places under the trees which they ate. Female giraffes mainly fed on shrubs under the sun, and they sometimes went into the shade for rumination and taking a rest. The sex difference in shade use might be related with the difference of body size and feeding posture.

◼︎Speaker: Miho Tanaka◼︎

Upcoming seminar

1/17(Wed) Oka

(1/23(Tue) Master thesis presentation)

1/31(Wed) Fukushima

Wildlife Research Center Seminar

Date: December. 20th  (Wed) 13:30-

@Wildlife Research Center B1 floor

(Please see the map below.)

http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

◼︎Speaker: Sota Inoue◼︎

Spatial positioning of individuals in feral horses

 Various animals form groups to benefit from several perspectives. There is also diversity in membership forming the group. However, spatial positioning of individuals is the universal issue in animal group. Theoretical studies have predicted the importance to individuals’ condition, feeding efficiency and transferring information between individuals. Although empirical studies have also suggested the importance, there are still necessity to discuss and fragility regarding on quantitativity. Investigation focusing on species living in two dimension is especially difficult because it is mostly impossible to take high quality  data excepting some good combination of situations. I used a drone to take pictures of horses group from the sky to reveal basic characteristics of spatial positioning in a group of feral horses. in Serra D’Arga, Portugal. Horses live in plain area on the top of mountain. Therefore, this combination, drone and horses, is very suitable to tackle this problem. Results showed that each individual have personal space within three body length and nearest neighborhood were located right and left side. In addition, social network analysis was conducted in affiliative network and inter-individual distance network, because horses have high sociality. The result showed there is no correlation between those two networks, which might suggest that horses have complexity in their society that cannot be simply described with affiliative relationships between individuals.

◼︎Speaker: Anna Kawakita◼︎

Sex differences of giraffe behaviors in Katavi National Park, Tanzania.

Giraffes are sexually dimorphic. Adult males are larger than females, and they have a larger home range. Feeding postures are also different between the sexes. Males often eat with their neck stretched vertically upwards. Giraffes give a birth through the year, and the gestation period is about 15 months. How do male giraffes seeking fertile females move around? This study examined sex differences of how giraffes save their energy, focusing on shade use. I conducted focal animal sampling observations in 2016 and 2017 in Katavi National Park, Tanzania. I found that males spent more time in the shade, while females spent more under the sun. Males preferred the trees with a large shade area, and they also ruminated and took a rest there, while females did only rumination and rest under the trees, not feeding so much. Males might save their energy in the shade, which probably makes easier for them to move around larger areas.

◼︎Speaker: Miho Tanaka◼︎

Scars on wild indo-pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) -The behavior observation and experiment of tooth rake pattern- 

In the marine environment, it is difficult to observe the wild dolphin directly for a long time. The behavior and habitat-use of dolphins still have many black boxes. We can easily observe various scars on dolphin body. Scars are formed as a result of interactions between individuals and the external environment. So, we think that the scars use as a measure for external environments. Last time, I talked about the observation results of tooth rakes. This time, I’ll talk about the behavior of interaction between dolphins and the experiment to reproduce tooth rakes based on that behavior.

 

Upcoming seminar

12/27(Wed) , 1/3(Wed) No seminar 

1/10(Wed) Practice of master thesis presentation 

Wildlife Research Center Seminar

Date: November. 22nd  (Wed) 13:30-

@Wildlife Research Center B1 floor

(Please see the map below.)

http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

◼︎Speaker: Daisuke Muramatsu◼︎

Activity pattern and thermoregulation of wild sloths: How do they manage with little energy?

How lazy are they? This question is always listed in the FAQs about sloths. Here, we introduce the activity pattern and thermoregulation of wild sloth, Bradypus tridactylus, to explore their sloth life.

   Herbivorous mammals tend to have large digestive organs which make the animal bigger and heavier. However, the ecology of arboreal animals often make it difficult to have large body size. Kleiber’s law makes the matter worse because smaller animals need higher energy intake per unit weight. Consequently, most arboreal mammals eat other than leaves, such as high-calorie fruits, nuts, seeds, or insects. Three-toed sloths are the exceptions to the above because 94.4 to 100 percent of their diet is tree or liana leaves. Supposedly their calorie intake is very low due to the low available caloric density of leaves and slow digestive process relating bacterial breakdown of structural carbohydrates and detoxification of secondary compounds contained in leaves. They would need high body temperature to assist bacterial breakdown, however, thermogenesis is generally energy-consuming. To investigate how they manage with little energy, we attached heart-rate and temperature loggers on wild B. tridactylus living in the Amazonian rainforest, and recorded their activity level and body surface temperature.

   Our results showed that the heart-rate of sloths were much lower than that of other endotherms; their heart-rate was 34.5% of the expected value calculated from their body weight. Their body surface temperature changed with ambient temperature, suggesting that they gave up keeping constant body temperature and consume little energy for thermogenesis. Their body surface temperature was, however, always higher than ambient temperature. They may have passively warmed-up their body by sunbathing because we often observed steep increases of the body surface temperature during daytime. Their body temperature appeared to increase without thermogenesis because their heart-rate did not increase at that time.

◼︎Speaker: Takahiro Kato (SOKENDAI (The Undergraduate University for Advanced Studies))◼︎

Causes and consequences of sex-specific embryo mortality in tree sparrows Passer montanus: sex allocation of secondary sex ratio?

Sex-specific mortality (SSM) of offspring is a pervasive phenomenon across animal taxa. In avian species, it has been reported that embryo mortality was higher for males than females. Although SSM is one of factors biasing offspring sex ratio after fertilization stage, its cause and consequences remain little known. Here, we investigated causes of SSM at cytological, hormonal and behavioural levels in wild population of tree sparrows Passer montanus using 6 years’ fieldwork in Akita prefecture, Japan. Also, we investigated a consequence and a function of SSM. 

We found that approximately 40% of eggs were unhatched, despite that most of them were fertilized. Although primary sex ratio (at egg laying) was even, offspring sex ratio was biased to female at subsequent developmental stages by death of male embryos. Regarding behavioural causes, male embryo mortality increased in high breeding density. Moreover, male embryo mortality increased when the frequency of nest visit by the conspecific and hetero-specific competitors was high. 

A frequency of maternal defense positively associated to density, raising a possibility that elevated level of maternal stress induces SSM. Indeed, we found that maternal corticosterone level had a negative effect on embryo development. 

Regarding the consequence of SSM, we tested a hypothesis that the presence of unhatched eggs boosts offspring condition. We compared physical conditions of nestlings between two experimental settings: the broods in which unhatched eggs were added or removed experimentally. As a result of this experiment, the condition of nestlings increased only in the brood in which unhatched eggs were in presence. Moreover, their condition increased with a decrease of brood size possibly because parental food provision concentrated on survived nestlings. This study suggested that SSM is a breeding strategy to adjust their reproduction in response to environmental heterogeneity.

Upcoming seminar

11/29(Wed) Canceled 

12/6(Wed) Anna Kawakita 

Wildlife Research Center Seminar

Date: November. 15th  (Wed) 13:30-

@Wildlife Research Center B1 floor

(Please see the map below.)

http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

◼︎Speaker: Monamie Ringhofer (Kyoto University Institute for Advanced Study)◼︎

Horses’ cognitive skills to maintain the social bond with others: experiments on domestic horses and field observations of feral horses

Horses have widely contributed to human society since they were domesticated in approximately 6000 years ago. Especially, horse riding is getting attention as a method of mind-body therapy. Why horses became so close in relationship with humans? The original sociality of horses and the process of domestication might had influence on this relationship. There are a lot of studies about the society and social cognitive ability of non-human primates, close evolutionary relatives of humans, and among them great apes may be the most sophisticated ability in cognitive abilities. Recently, there have been various investigations concerning interactions between humans and domestic animals, and these have shown that dogs demonstrate high social communication skills with humans. However there are still few studies investigating horses’ society and their social cognitive skills with conspecifics and humans. I have observed social behaviour of feral horses and conducted experiments on domestic horses to investigate horses’ social cognitive skills, from individual to society level. I especially focus on their behavioural synchrony and their understanding of others, which is thought to be important to maintain social relationships in human society. In this presentation I would like to talk about my past and ongoing projects on domestic and feral horses.

Upcoming seminar

11/22(Wed) Takahiro Kato / Daisuke Muramatsu 

11/29(Wed) Canceled

12/6(Wed) Anna Kawakita

◼︎発表者：田中美帆◼︎

ミナミハンドウイルカ（Tursiops aduncus）体表面の歯傷‐予備観察と今後について‐

海棲哺乳類において、野生下の行動を直接観察することは難しい。体表面に残された傷は、海棲哺乳類が同種他個体や外敵と直接接触したことで形成される。この傷を正しく評価することは、海棲哺乳類がどのような環境でどのような行動をしているのかを理解する上で非常に重要であると考えている。今回のセミナーでは、ミナミハンドウイルカ（Tursiops aduncus）の体表面に多く観察される「白傷」について、現段階までの観察結果と今後の見通しについて発表する。この白傷は、群れの個体同士での噛みつき行動によって形成されると考えられている。水中でイルカ同士の攻撃行動を観察することは難しいが、個体がもつ白傷の量を比較することで、どのような個体が攻撃を受けやすいのかなどイルカの社会関係への理解が深まるのではないかと考えている。

今後のセミナー予定

11/15(水) リングホーファー萌奈美

11/22(水) 加藤貴大

--------------------------

Wildlife Research Center Seminar

Date: November. 8th  (Wed) 13:30-

@Wildlife Research Center B1 floor

(Please see the map below.)

http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

◼︎Speaker: Miho Tanaka ◼︎

Upcoming seminar

11/15(Wed) Monamie Ringhofer

11/22(Wed) Takahiro Kato

------------------------------ -----------
Wildlife Research Center Seminar

■Self introduction by guest researchers from abroad■

Date: 1st November 2017 (Wed)　13:30-
@Wildlife Research Center B1 floor
(Please see the map below.)
http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/m ap.html

Speaker: Sota Inoue
Herd and harem: two social classes in feral horses

Feral horse (Equus Caballus) live in stable harems and unstable bachelor groups. Harem groups usually consist of two different social systems of one male or multiple males with females and their immature offspring. Several previous studies have reported a social system of herd that consists of some harem. These reports however have not revealed characteristics of a herd. I found herd that were composed of one male groups in Serra D’Arga in north Portugal. Two specific groups always formed this herd. This herd shared activities of foraging, resting, and moving. It was almost same as multiple male harems. One of interesting findings was the boundary between these two harems. Even if they were very close each other, they did not mix. This herd was divided with straight border line or convex hull. Present study indicates the spatial perception of horses and the ability of individual identification based on vision. In addition, this result suggests that feral horses in Portugal have at least two social classes, harem and herd.

Speaker: Maegan Fitzgerald

Tropical forests and the biodiversity within them are rapidly declining in the face of increasing human populations. Resource management and conservation of endangered species requires an understanding of how species perceive and respond to their environment. Species Distribution Modeling (SDM) is an appropriate tool for identifying conservation areas of concern and importance. In this study, SDM was used to identify areas of suitable chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) habitat within the Greater Nimba Landscape of Guinea, West Africa. This location was ideal for investigating the effects of landscape structure on habitat suitability due to the topographic variation of the landscape and the Critically Endangered status of the Western chimpanzee communities in this area. Suitable habitat was predicted based on the location of direct and indirect signs of chimpanzee presence and the spatial distribution of 12 biophysical variables within the study area. Model performance was assessed by examining the area under the curve (AUC). The overall predictive performance of the model was 0.721. The variables most influencing habitat suitability were the normalized difference vegetation index (37.8%), elevation (27.3%), hierarchical slope position (11.5%), brightness (6.6%), and distance to rivers (5.4%). The final model highlighted the isolation and fragmentation of chimpanzee habitat within the Greater Nimba Landscape. Understanding the factors influencing chimpanzee habitat suitability, specifically the biophysical variables considered in this study, will greatly contribute to efforts to conserve chimpanzees.

Wildlife Research Center Seminar

Date: October. 11th 2017 (Wed) 13:30-15:30
@Wildlife Research Center B1 floor
(Please see the map below.)
http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

Speaker: Aoi Matsukawa

The Burrow structure of porcupines in Bornean tropical rain forests

Three species of porcupine live in the tropical rain forests of Borneo. Because the species dig the largest and most complex burrow in this area, their burrows may provide important hiding spaces for small animals at the forest floor. In this seminar, we will present the structure of porcupine burrow and the animals using them.

Upcoming seminar
10/18(Wed) Canceled
10/25(Wed) Maegan Fitzgerald / Sota Inoue
11/1(Wed) Self introductions of guest researchers/students

Wildlife Research Center Seminar

Date: October. 4th 2017 (Wed) 13:30-
@Wildlife Research Center B1 floor
(Please see the map below.)
http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

Nachiketha Sharma Ramamurthy

*Behavioral and vocal responses of Asian elephants to different source of
disturbances*

The rapid growth in human-elephant conflicts is an issue of major concern
among many biologists and conservationists. Besides assessing the influence
of man-made threats or perturbations, addressing how elephants are
responding to such changes and adapting to it, is essential for their
welfare and management. Understanding the cognitive abilities of elephants
in modified landscapes, then, could help in improvising and developing the
effective conflict mitigation strategies. Hence, to understand how
elephants respond to different forms of disturbances including human
presence, we conducted a study on free-ranging Asian elephants of the
Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. In this presentation, I will be discussing, my
preliminary findings on how Asian elephants respond to different source of
disturbances and future directions of my study.

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今後のセミナー予定
10/11(水) 松川あおい
10/18(水) 休み
10/25(水) Maegan Fitzgerald / 井上漱太

Upcoming seminar
10/11(Wed) Aoi Matsukawa
10/18(Wed) Canceled
10/25(Wed) Maegan Fitzgerald / Sota Inoue

Wildlife Research Center Seminar

Date: June. 21th 2017 (Wed) 13:30-
@Wildlife Research Center B1 floor
(Please see the map below.)
http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/m ap.html

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Wildlife Research Center Seminar

Date: June 14th 2017 (Wed) 13:30-
@Wildlife Research Center B1 floor
(Please see the map below.)
http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

■Moe Yanagi■ (Chairperson: Dr. Muramatsu)

Comparison of feeding habits between African savanna elephants, forest elephants and hybrids in Kibale National Park, Uganda

There are two species of African elephants : savanna elephant Loxodonta africana and forest elephant L. cyclotis. These two species can be distinguished genetically, morphologically and ethologically. Previous study showed hybridization between forest and savanna elephants in some areas, especially around the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) - Uganda border. Many areas along the border including the Albertine Rift have had a long history of high-density human occupation and their poaching. Increase of transboundary elephant movement between Uganda and DRC and hybridization may result from human pressures. I would like to conduct census to quantify the relative abundance of elephants and their habitat use in Kibale National Park, Uganda. I also would like to confirm their diet by stable isotope analysis from dung samples, then compare with the results from their genetic analysis so that we can evaluate the relationship between their genetic information and their diet.

■■

Upcoming seminar
6/21 (Wed) Prof. Sugiura
6/28 (Wed) Matsushima
7/5 (Wed) Sakakibara
7/12 (Wed) Sato (M1)
7/19 (Wed) Mi Yeon KIM

Wildlife Research Center Seminar

Date: June 7th 2017 (Wed) 13:30-
@Wildlife Research Center B1 floor
(Please see the map below.)
http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

■Momoko Oka■ (Chairperson: Dr. Kinoshita)

Environmental Enrichment for captive tigers and its application to promote visitors’ interest in animals

The purpose of my graduation study was to clarify the reproductive cycle and the estrous cycle of the sumatran tiger to promote the captive breeding at zoo. I compared the fecal concentrations of steroid hormones and the behaviors. Androstenedione were found to be reliable indicators of the estrous cycle. From now, I am planning to study about the validity of the environmental enrichment for captive tigers. Additionally, I will also investigate whether the enrichment can promote visitors’ interest and understanding of animals.
■■

Upcoming seminar
6/14 (Wed) Yanagi
6/21 (Wed) Dr. Sugiura

Wildlife Research Center Seminar

Date: May. 24th, 2017 (Wed) 13:30-
@Wildlife Research Center B1 floor
(Please see the map below.)
http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

■Kodzue Kinoshita■

Introduction of studies on breeding in orangutans and chimpanzees which I had conducted at Primate Research Institute

I will present three introductions of breeding research that I had conducted at Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University for two and a half years until this March. The first one is the differences of leucine aminopeptidase and sex steroid hormone concentrations between a stillbirth and live births in Bornean orangutan. The second one is the change of sex steroid hormone concentration in a chimpanzee whose estrus returned early after birth. And the last one is the difference of semen characteristics between Borneo orangutan and chimpanzee.


■Reiko Takizawa■

Designation of Yanbaru National Park and land use of the forest by local
people


Upcoming seminar
5/30 (Tue) CET Bio International Seminar
5/31 (Wed) No seminar
6/7 (Wed) Oka-san
6/14 (Wed) Yanagi-san

Wildlife Research Center Seminar

Date: May.17th 2017 (Wed) 13:30-
@Wildlife Research Center B1 floor
(Please see the map below.)
http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

◼︎Dr. Sherif Ramadan◼︎ Chairperson: Hiroko Sakuragi

DNA polymorphism of Androgen receptor gene (AR) is associated with fear responses in camel (Camelus dromedarius)

Camel is an important livestock species in many regions of the world. It can be used for milk, meat and wool production, for transportation, racing contests, tourism, agricultural work, and for beauty contest. Reduced fear and increased tolerance for stress were assumed to have been an early prerequisite for the successful domestication of all species including camels. Fear greatly influences health, quality of life and social interactions. Genetic markers for behavioural characteristics have already been identified in different livestock species. Androgens reduce fear reactions in human and different animals and this was proved by injections of exogenous testosterone. Melanin-based coloration is often associated with variation in physiological and behavioural traits and this association stems from pleiotropic effects of the genes regulating body coloration. In this study, we found DNA polymorphisms (16, 17, 18 and 19 repeat) in the glutamine repeat in the androgen receptor gene (ARQ repeat) and one non-synonymous (C/T) SNP in exon1 of the tyrosinase gene (TYR) which resulted in an amino acid substitution (Pro/Leu). We examined the association between both of ARQ repeat and (C/T) SNP of TYR gene polymorphisms with fear response in dromedary camel. We assessed the fear response of 32 individuals to the approach of an unfamiliar person and 33 individual camels to a novel object (a red Pilate’s ball) tests based on videos recording for each behavioural test. Results showed that there was a significant association of AR polymorphism with camel fear response with a trend that individuals carrying shorter genotypes (16 Q repeat) recorded greater fear responses to both tests, while (C/T) SNP of the TYR gene showed non-significant association. This study is a first step in the identification of potential genetic markers associated with camel personality. However, many other genes involved and affect camel personality, so investigating more genes affecting camel personality are eagerly anticipated.
◼︎◼︎

Upcoming seminar
5/24 (Wed) Dr. Kinoshita, Takizawa-san
5/30 (Tue) CET Bio International Seminar
5/31 (Wed) No seminar
6/7 (Wed) Oka-san

2017年5月10日（水）13:30～＠野生動物研究センター地下１階会議室
（場所は以下をご参照ください。）
http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

来週の野生動物研究センター（WRC）のセミナーでは、海外からの招聘学生のみなさまに自己紹介をしていただきます。

今後のセミナー予定
5/17 (水) ラマダンさん
5/24 (水) 木下さん、滝澤さん（野生動物学特論）
5/30 (火) CET Bio国際セミナー
5/31 (水) お休み

-----------------------------------------
Wildlife Research Center Seminar

■Self introduction by students from foreign countries■

Date: 10th May 2017 (Wed)　13:30-
@Wildlife Research Center B1 floor
(Please see the map below.)
http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

Upcoming seminar
5/17 (Wed) Dr. Ramadan
5/24 (Wed) Dr. Kinoshita, Takizawa-san
5/30 (Tue) CET Bio International Seminar
5/31 (Wed) No seminar

Wildlife Research Center Seminar
Date: Wednesday, April 26, 2017 (13:30-)
@Wildlife Research Center B1 floor
(Please see the map below.)
http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

■Hiroko SAKURAGI■

Wild Chimpanzee Mothers and Nonmothers are Attentive to Infants at Onset of Travel

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) have a fission-fusion group pattern, meaning an individual could travel alone or with other group members. The only members within a community (or unit-group) that always travel together are mother-infant pairs. Certain pairs have a third member traveling with them most of the time, if not at all times, making them a triad. An older sibling of the infant or a close associate of the mother would be the third member. It could be assumed that a mother, who would likely avoid endangering her infant’s life, would not leave it when she starts to travel. If she does, wouldn’t that be when certain other individuals are available – individuals that she can expect to attend to her child? In chimpanzees, older siblings and nulliparous young females are known to show caretaking behavior toward infants, such as carrying. Those individuals overlap with the third members of triads described above. In this study, a mother’s preceding distance from her infant at the onset of travel was found to be large in the following order: 1) triads; third member was closer to the infant than the mother, 2) pairs (no third members exist), 3) triads; third member was farther from the infant than the mother. I also found that the larger the mother’s preceding distance was, the more the third member tended to wait for the infant. The former result suggest that mothers precede their infants at the onset of travel being aware that the third member is able to attend to the infant, and that they expect the third member to behave appropriately. The latter result suggest that third members are aware of both the mother’s and infant’s situations, and that they flexibly adjust their behaviors if necessary. This study was conducted in Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania. The study period was from November 2016 to January 2017. Focal animals were 12 mother-infant pairs.

Wildlife Research Center Seminar
Date: April 19th, 2017 (Wed) 13:30-
@Wildlife Research Center B1 floor
(Please see the map below.)
http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

■Miho Tanaka■ Chairperson Matsushima

Wounds of wild indo pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus)

We can find many wounds and scars on the body of wild dolphins. These wounds and scars could be an information source to understand ecology and behavior of wild dolphins that is difficult to observe directly. For example, we might estimate their habitat use in nighttime and aggressive social interaction from these wounds and scars. In this study, we studied crater-like wounds and white scars on the body of the wild indo-pacific bottlenose dolphin formed by cookie-cutter sharks (CCS, isistius brasiliensis) and by conspecific dolphins. We studied wild indo-pacific bottlenose dolphin around Mikura Island, Tokyo. In this area, long-term identification surveys were conducted using video records. We collected images of newly formed wounds from the video records between 2013-2016 and examined morphological changes of each wounds during the study period.

2017年4月12日(水)　15:10～　@野生動物研究センター地下１階会議室
（場所は以下をご参照ください。）
http://www.wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/map.html

安全講習会をおこないます。
普段とは開始時刻が異なり、15時10分からです。
ご注意ください。