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Tidsbudget Przewalskis vildhäst (Equus ferus przewalskii) på Nordens Ark


During the winter 2011 Isaksson and Andersson did a time budget study on Nordens Ark?s Przewalskis horses during daytime when there were visitors and caretakers in the park. This time budget study was made during daytime and when there were no visitors or caretakers in the park. The horses where observed in the morning (5.30-6.30 am) and in the evening (5.45-6.45 pm) during four days. In addition to a time budget, the horses? positions in the enclosure were registered. The method used in the time budget study was scan sampling with instantaneous recording and a two-minute interval. The study showed that the horses were eating during 57% of the observation time. This result is only from daytime but if it is so that the horses eat as much of the time at night, this corresponds to a 14 hours? feeding time a day. Horses eat mostly in the morning (5.00-10.00 am) and in the evening (6.00-9.00 pm), which can mean that the horses at Nordens Ark?s when it comes to eating, have a feeding time which is less then what is normal. During almost the whole feeding time the horses stood by the hay rack. Naturally horses are in motion when they eat. If you look at the total time the horses at Nordens Ark was in motion it was only 10% of the observation time. The horses were most of the observation time in the zone with the hay rack and 84.6% of the observation time all five horses were in the same zone. Optimal for making the horses move more and to prolong their feeding time would be to give them an opportunity to graze on a natural pasture, which is not possible in this case. Nordens Ark has thoughts of buying time controlled hay barns. If these are located in different places in the enclosure it will make the horses move between them but they will still stand still when they eat. I therefore believe that it is better to focus on extending the feeding time by getting the horses to select what they eat, which is natural for them. It can be done for example by mixing tasteful hay with less tasteful roughage.

Författare

Martina Ahlner

Lärosäte och institution

SLU/Dept. of Animal Environment and Health

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