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Kimura, Rikako. 2001. Volatile substances in feces, urine and urine-marked feces of feral horses. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 81: 411-420. The identity and amount of volatile substances in the feces, urine and feces scent-marked with urine (i.e., feces mixed with urine) of feral horses was determined by acid/steam distillation and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The frequency of excretion and scent marking, as evaluated in the breeding and non-breeding seasons, showed clear evidence of seasonal behavioral differences. The concentration of each substance (fatty acids, alcohols, aldehydes, phenols, amines and alkanes) in the feces differed according to maturity, sex and stage in the reproductive process. They had a characteristic chemical fingerprint. Although the levels of tetradecanoic and hexadecanoic acids in the feces of estrous mares were significantly higher than the respective levels in the feces of non-estrous mares, in the case of scent-marked feces by stallions, the levels of them in the feces from estrous mares had decreased to levels similar to those in non-estrous mares. The concentration of these substances in mares were not significantly different. The presence of a high concentration of cresols in the urine of stallions in the breeding season suggests that one role of scent marking by stallions is masking the odor of the feces produced by mares. soit sensiblement plus élevée dans les fèces des juments en chaleur que chez celles qui ne le sont pas, la concentration redevient est à peu près la même dès que les fèces sont arrosés par un étalon. La concentration des composés ne varie pas sensiblement chez la jument. L'existence d'une forte concentration de crésols dans l'urine des étalons lors de la période de l'accouplement donne à penser que le marquage des fèces a notamment pour but de masquer l'odeur des excréments laissés par la femelle.Mots clés: Odeurs (volatiles), excréments, marquage, masquage, chevaux (retournés à l'état sauvage), libération de phéromones Observation of the excrement sniffing, flehmen responses and scent-marking behavior displayed by feral and domestic horses, Mongolian wild horses as well as wild zebras and asses has indicated that Equus species derive useful olfactory information from excrement (Klingel

The social organization of three populations of 2 species of zebras in Kenya and its relationship to their communication behaviour were studied. Grant's zebras (Equus burchelli bohmi) (GTZ) inhabiting a dry savanna area had a harem-type social organization. Grevy's zebras (Equus grevyi) inhabiting a dry savanna area with many bushes, formed a territorial society (GYZ-1). Grevy's zebras (GYZ-2) inhabiting the same area as GTZ, created groups of a few to 20 males and females, bachelor groups and solitary males in the rainy season, and formed large groups of over 100 males and females in the dry season. The GTZ displayed three types of scentmarking, but GYZ-1 showed seven types, and GYZ-2 four types. In the GTZ the frequency of scent-marking with the urine of males on the urine of females (FUU) in the rainy season, and in the GYZ-1 the frequency of scent-marking with the faeces of males on his own faeces (MFF) during both seasons, were each significantly higher than other types of scent-marking in the respective groups. In the GYZ-2 male/female mixed groups, the frequency of FUU was

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