Fear reactions of ewes to photographic images

The aim of this study was to analyse fear reactions of 18 adult Romanov ewes individually confronted with 3 visual stimuli, namely pictures of a human, of a sheep or of a traffic cone (control). These pictures were projected in real size on a wall of the test pen by means of a slide projector. Twenty-six behavioural items related to fear were recorded. Furthermore, fearfulness scores were calculated to compare the overall fear levels of the subjects when confronted with the photographic images. We hypothesized that if animals recognized a man or a sheep in the presented slides, fear reactions would be enhanced in the presence of the picture of a human and reduced in the presence of a sheep picture as compared with the control situation. Our results suggest that ewes may be able to recognize the sheep picture as a conspecific. For example, sniffings were primarily directed towards the anogenital region and the head. The reduced fear reactions of isolated ewes in the presence of a sheep picture is similar to that observed previously in the presence of real conspecifics. In contrast, they did not differ when sheep were confronted with a human or a control image, indicating that additional stimuli may be needed for the human image to be fear-eliciting.