Abstract
Mirror-induced behaviour has been described as a cognitive ability of an animal to self-direct their image in front of the mirror. Most animals when exposed to a mirror responded with a social interactive behaviour such as aggressiveness, exploratory and repetitive behaviour. The objective of this study is to determine the mirror-induced self-directed behaviour on wildlife at the Royal Belum Rainforest, Malaysia. Wildlife species at the Royal Belum Rainforest were identified using a camera traps from pre-determined natural saltlick locations. Acrylic mirrors with steel frame were placed facing the two saltlicks (Sira Batu and Sira Tanah) and the camera traps with motion-detecting infrared sensor were placed at strategically hidden spot. The behavioural data of the animal response to the mirror were analysed using an ethogram procedure. Results showed that barking deer was the species showing the highest interaction in front of the mirror. Elephants displayed self-directed response through inspecting behaviour via usage of their trunk and legs while interacting to the mirror. Interestingly, the Malayan tapir showed startled behaviour during their interaction with the mirror. However, the absence of interactive behaviour of the Malayan tiger signalled a likelihood of a decreased social response behaviour. These results suggested that the ability to self-directed in front of the mirror is most likely related to the new approach to study the neural mechanism and its level of stimulus response in wildlife. In conclusion, research on mirror-induced self-directed behaviour in wildlife will have profound implications in understanding the cognitive ability of wildlife as an effort to enhance the management strategies and conservation.
Highlights
Mirror-induced behaviour in animals provides some evidence for self-directed behaviour, which is described as the ability of animals to interact or respond their image in front of the mirror
Most of animals exposed to a mirror responded with social interactive behaviour such as aggression, investigation and repetition against the reflection[1,2,3,4,11]
The step by step behavioural response as reported in previous studies showed that most animals with high cognition such as primates will perceive mirror image as a living being by displaying social interaction[11,12]
Summary
Mirror-induced behaviour in animals provides some evidence for self-directed behaviour, which is described as the ability of animals to interact or respond their image in front of the mirror. The study suggested that MSR goes through four stages of behaviour when animals react to the image from the mirror viz; social response, physical mirror inspection, repetitive mirror-testing behaviour and realization of seeing themselves or self-recognition[1,6]. The animal will progress to self-body inspection after abandoning any form of social behaviour towards the mirror image. This study will be exploring the mirror-induced self-directed behaviour of different wildlife species in the Royal Belum Rainforest, Malaysia. The study of mirror-induced self-directed behaviour in wildlife is based on aspect of physiological and behavioural functions of animals, and how this mechanism correlated with social and ecological interactions towards enhancing the management strategies for the endangered species in the rainforest
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