Odour Profiling for Animal Management and Behavioural Manipulation: An Overview of the Tools and Applications

Olfaction plays a prominent role in the evolution of animal behaviour, facilitating both intraspecies and interspecies communication, and predator-prey interactions. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) underpin these odours, and their analysis is therefore central to characterising and replicating cues such as pheromones, allelochemicals, and other released signals used to attract, deter, or condition animal responses. Thus, this review aims to introduce the reader to the applications of animal odours in animal management and behavioural control, and to provide a critical, practice-oriented guide to selecting and combining VOC sampling and analytical techniques for animal odour studies. Animal odour profiling typically involves three steps: (1) sampling, (2) transfer to the instrument, and (3) detection/identification of VOCs. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is the gold standard for VOC analysis, and is often paired with headspace techniques, including static headspace, dynamic headspace, and solid-phase microextraction (SPME) to facilitate sampling and transfer of VOCs. In addition, liquid and distillation-based extraction methods are discussed, which remain important for capturing less volatile or matrix-bound components in animal odour and semiochemical research. On the analytical side we discuss GC-MS alongside emerging and complementary techniques, including proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry (PTR-MS), selected ion flow tube-mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS), gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O), and electronic noses, emphasising their respective strengths and limitations for qualitative and quantitative VOC analysis. Collectively, the literature shows that no single sampling or analytical approach is universally optimal. Effective animal odour profiling therefore requires matching extraction and detection strategies to the volatility, stability, and behavioural relevance of target VOCs. Careful consideration should also be given to how these methodological choices influence the odour profiles used in ecological, behavioural, and applied management contexts.