The aim of this study was to clarify the relationships between flight distance (FD) and the physiological and behavioral responses in cows during handling. We measured the FDs of 16 Japanese Black cows that are not routinely handled and selected the 4 longest (LFD) and 4 shortest FD cows (SFD). During the handling test, each cow was tethered and brushed by same person who conducted the FD test. Behavioral responses (vocalization, tail swinging, head shaking and stepping) and heart rate (HR) of each cow were recorded before, during and after the handling period (5min per period). Behavioral responses and the mean HR (MHR) of each period, the percentage of time the HR during handling was higher than MHR before handling (PHR) and the recovery times from the first peaks during handling to MHR before handling (RT) were compared between the LFD and SFD cows. No difference between LFD and SFD cows was found for any behavioral response. However, the MHR (P<0.05) and PHR (P=0.05) were higher in LFD than in SFD cows. Furthermore, RT was longer in LFD than in SFD cows (P=0.07). Therefore, flight distance might be associated with physiological traits of animals in response to human contact.

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The aim of this study was evaluate the aversive effects of some predator-related stimuli on goats by analyzing their physiological and behavioral responses. In experiment 1, the respective effects of chain saw (ChS), dog barking (DoB), wolf howling (WoH), Lion Growl (LiG), Tiger Growl (TiG), Vision of Wolves (WoV) on a TV monitor, and Skin of Dog (DoS) were examined in four female Shiba goats. The significant increase in plasma cortisol (Cor) level (P<0.01, repeated measures ANOVA and Tukey's test) and decrease in self grooming frequency (P<0.1, Friedman's test and Nemenyi's test) were found in DoB and DoS session. In experiment 2, the aversion of ChS, DoB, WoH, LiG, TiG and DoS to the same four goats were evaluated by measuring the latency to starting to eat the fodder placed on just front of each stimulus. All goats did never approach to the fodder in DoB and DoS sessions throughout the 30min test period whereas they started to eat fodder immediately in other sessions. The correlations between the results of experiment 2 and experiment 1 of each goat were high (latency vs plasma Cor level: r=0.78-0.94, latency vs self grooming frequency: r=-0.73--0.98). In experiment 3, the physiological and behavioral effects of ChS, DoB, figure of the dog (DoF), DoS and skin of the dog covered with the cardboard box (CDS) were examined with the same way as experiment 1. The plasma Cor levels or self grooming frequency in DoB and DoS were significantly higher or lower than others. Four goats of five showed the higher plasma Cor level or the lower self grooming frequency in CDS session. These results indicate that the aversion to DoB and DoS that observed in experiment 2 seemed to be induced by the psychological stress to these stimuli. In addition, visual stimuli might not effective at least when these were presented alone, whereas auditory and olfactory stimuli might be effective in goats.

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