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- Title
Development of Stereotypical Behaviour in Captive Fawns of Alpine Musk Deer Moschus chrysogaster Hodgson, 1839 (Artiodactyla: Moschidae).
- Authors
Liquan Shen; Mengyang Wang; Qize Zheng; Yinjiu Zhu; Yong Li; Mi Zhou; Yan Sheng; Fangang Zeng; Xiuxiang Meng
- Abstract
Alpine musk deer is critically endangered and valuable animal. Adult male Alpine musk deer secrete musk, which can be used in traditional Chinese medicine and perfume industry. Alpine musk deer has been farmed for ex-situ conservation and sustainable musk provision. As Alpine musk deer is timid and solitary species, it is likely to develop stereotypical behaviour in captive environment. Stereotypical behaviour is unnatural and harmful behaviour performed by captive animals due to many factors, such as appetite and environmental constraint. In this study, the development of stereotypical behaviour was explored in captive Alpine musk deer fawns, which were all in lactation period (1-5 months of age). The stereotypical behaviours of fawns were observed and recorded by focal sampling and all-occurrence recording. The specific value of stereotypical behaviour time and sampling time of each fawn was used to show the change in each month of age and the results showed that, the fawns of 5 months old exhibited higher stereotypical behaviour than fawns that of 1 and 2 months old (P <0.01). Fawns displayed oral stereotypical behaviour (OSB, e.g., stereotypical licking) earlier than moving stereotypical behaviour (MSB, e.g., to-fro-walking), while the MSB was higher (0.080 ± 0.028, N = 19) than OSB (0.034 ± 0.012, N = 28) (P = 0.059). In conclusion, stereotypical behaviour displayed in each month of age in captive Alpine musk deer fawns and this might be attributed to lactation, changes in feeding composition and environmental spatial constraints. This suggested that the lactation period was key for fawns to develop behaviour and necessary measures should be put in the conversation of musk deer fawns.
- Subjects
MUSK deer; CHINESE medicine; PERFUME manufacturing; DEER ecology; ANIMAL classification
- Publication
Acta Zoologica Bulgarica, 2021, Vol 73, Issue 4, p613
- ISSN
0324-0770
- Publication type
Article