气味滚动,在像狼这样的各种大型食肉动物中观察到的行为,需要动物降低下巴和脖子朝向气味,然后摩擦头部,脖子,肩膀,回到它。这种行为在暴露于不同气味的狼中很普遍,尽管其确切目的仍不确定。在这项研究中,奥西耶克动物园的圈养狼在嗅觉浓缩期间对气味的反应不同。在这项研究的最初一年,最高的兴趣,反应频率和气味滚动行为都证明了这一点,当狼遇到咖喱和迷迭香等气味时,还有鹿/mouflon和老鼠的粪便。虽然某些气味,如美洲驼粪便和鹿/mouflon粪便,在第二年的研究中获得了更长的兴趣,其他人,比如豚鼠的粪便和牛至,引起较短的反应。与雄性相比,雌性狼对气味的参与程度更高,特别是通过气味滚动行为,在这项研究的第二年,仅在女性中观察到。有趣的是,某些气味不会触发气味滚动,建议选择性偏好。另一方面,绵羊羊毛引起的气味滚动持续时间最长,并且在上午和下午的会议之间观察到行为没有显着差异。尽管存在多种假设来解释狼气味滚动的原因,它似乎是由不熟悉的气味引起的。
Scent rolling, a behaviour observed in various large carnivores like
wolves, entails the animal lowering its chin and neck towards a scent, followed by rubbing the head, neck, shoulders, and back into it. This behaviour is prevalent among
wolves exposed to diverse scents, though its exact purpose remains uncertain. In this study, captive
wolves at Osijek Zoo responded differently to odours during olfactory enrichment sessions. In the initial year of this study, the highest level of interest, evidenced by both the frequency of responses and scent-rolling behaviour, was noted when the
wolves encountered odours such as curry and rosemary, along with deer/mouflon and rat faeces. While certain odours, such as llama faeces and deer/mouflon faeces, garnered longer durations of interest in the second year of study, others, like guinea pig faeces and oregano, elicited shorter responses. Female
wolves demonstrated a higher level of engagement with scents compared with males, particularly through scent rolling behaviour, which was exclusively observed in females during the second year of this study. Interestingly, certain odours did not trigger scent rolling, suggesting selective preferences. On the other hand, sheep\'s wool induced the longest duration of scent rolling, and a lack of significant differences in behaviour was observed between morning and afternoon sessions. Despite the existence of multiple hypotheses put forward to explain the causation of scent rolling in wolves, it seems to be elicited by unfamiliar odours.