Behaviour of wild boar (Sus scrofa) and fallow deer (Dama dama) in response to olfactory cues of predators

Charvi Ayyagari

Bakalářská práce

Abstract:

Predator-prey interactions are central to community ecology, and anti-predatory behaviour forms an important part of evolutionary ecology. Prey species such as ungulates have evolved to balance complex trade-offs between exhibiting anti-predatory behaviour and participating in essential activities such as foraging and reproduction. Prey assess risk through vigilance behaviour, using visual, auditory, and olfactory cues to evaluate the level of threat in their surroundings. When risk is high, species often express avoidance behaviours, such as reducing the frequency and duration of visits to resource sites or increasing the latency before approaching. In this way, vigilance acts as a behavioural mechanism for risk assessment, while visitation frequency, visit duration, and latency can serve as higher-level proxies for the outcome of this assessment. Due to the intensive effort required for direct vigilance analysis, this study focuses on these avoidance metrics to capture the behavioural responses of prey to predator-associated olfactory cues. The 12-week experiment followed three phases and exposed two ungulate species, wild boar and fallow deer, to various olfactory cues, of which three predator-related cues are examined in this review: human, wolf and lynx (bobcat) urine. The results show no significant difference in the visitation or foraging rates between trials in wild boar, whereas fallow deer exhibited stronger avoidance-related responses, particularly through temporal avoidance in the case of the ambush predator cue, lynx (bobcat urine). Observations also suggest generally nocturnal activity in both species; however, in fallow deer, the increased night activity may be linked to the presence of predatory cues.

Keywords

Predation Risk, Vigilance, Prey, Behavioural ecology, Adaptation

Jazyk práce: angličtina

Datum vytvoření / odevzdání či podání práce: 30. 3. 2026

Obhajoba závěrečné práce

• Vedoucí: Tomasz Pawel Podgórski, Ph.D.

Česká zemědělská univerzita v Praze

Fakulta lesnická a dřevařská

Bakalářský studijní program:
Environmental Engineering