Institut de Mathématiques de Toulouse (Pierre Degond, David Sanchez, Jean-Pierre Raymond)
Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Toulouse (Richard Bon, Jacques Gautrais, Guy Theraulaz): coordinator
Service de Physique de l'Etat Condensé, CEA-Saclay (Hugues Chaté)
UMR Elevage des ruminants en région chaude, INRA Montpellier (Paul Lapeyronie)
Funding: Agence Nationale de la Recherche
Period: 2007-2010
This project is dedicated to analyse quantitatively the collective movement of sheep, using an ethological experimental approach, non linear physics, developing new tools in particular to conceive a new paradigm to study collective movements, using these tools together with the quantification of collective behaviour in a management perspective.
The project aims at
(1) investigating experimentally the movements of merino sheep during feeding periods, using trained animals controlled remotely, playing an nincidental leadership,
(2) modelling the group movements using a set of data collected during experiments already performed with groups of small size, then collecting new data with larger groups,
(3) perform experiments controlling the movements of flocks in a scope of stockbreeding management.