GPS-equipped sheep prove herd mentality exists
Woolly thinking helps tight-knit groups of animals to survive
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British Boffins from Cambridge, University College London and The Royal Veterinary College have used an Australian farm to research flocking behaviour in herd animals and feel they have validated theories about how herds of animals protect themselves from predators.
Detailed in Current Biology, the team started with the long-held theory that “A major factor in the evolution of flocking behaviour is thought to be predation, whereby larger and/or more cohesive groups are better at detecting predators...” Herds are also thought to be better at responding to predators, as once an individual herd member detects a threat it will alert its herd-mates. All members of a herd were thought to then bunch up, to make it harder for predators to pick a target.
The team found most of those assumptions valid after setting a trained sheep dog on 46 Australian sheep, all of which wore GPS trackers. The sheep “demonstrated classic aggregation and avoidance behaviour” once the dog came within 70 metres, and each individual “moved towards the flock centroid until they were in a tight cluster” as shown in this video of one test (AVI download).
The resulting tightly-knit (pardon the pun) herd of sheep meant no lone individual could be picked off by a predator, which could explain why so many land and animals gather in groups.
The researchers admit that larger-scale tests are needed to fully validate the theory. ®
COMMENTS
Huh?
Why'd they need to put GPS trackers on a herd of sheep to prove they bunch up and start bleating when there's a sheepdog around? Couldn't they just watch the sheepdog trials on TV?
quote: "why would anyone feel the need to prove this scientifically, when such behaviour has been observed and known about for millennia"
Primarily, I would assume, so that they actually have some hard data regarding sizes, distances, response times etc. to be able to provide a herd model for predictive purposes? The sun has been observed to rise each morning since the dawn (heh) of civilisation, however if you want a prediction of when it will rise on any particular day, you actually have to spend some time in scientific observation (i.e. writing all the boring details down). Then create a mathematical model, then check the model against observed data and correct accordingly (the model that is, not the data).
Stuff falls when you drop it, but it took Newton to do the rigourous analysis and provide us with the mathematical models we use in ballistics today. People probably wondered why he was wasting his time on something everyone already knew as well ;)
"More research is needed..."
Obligatory final sentence of any study report.
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