ACTA THERIOLOGICA SINICA ›› 2017, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (1): 53-58.DOI: 10.16829/j.slxb.201701003

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Do social rank and food supplementation affect grooming behavior? A test in Père David’s deer

SHI Xiaolong, LI Zhongqiu   

  1. School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University
  • Online:2017-02-15 Published:2017-02-17
  • Contact: LI Zhongqiu E-mail: lizq0314@gmail.com

社会等级和食物供给会影响搔痒行为?麋鹿中的验证

石晓龙 李忠秋   

  1. 南京大学生命科学学院
  • 通讯作者: 李忠秋 E-mail: lizq0314@gmail.com

Abstract: Previous studies have shown that several factors including sex, age, tick density, and season affect oral grooming behavior of reintroduced Père David’s deer in Dafeng Nature Reserve, China, and reintroduction of wild animals should consider if they retain regular grooming patterns thus to control ectoparasites, especially the ticks. In this study we further examined two more factors, social rank and food availability, which might influence grooming behavior of Père David’s deer. Harem masters, who usually have a higher level of testosterone, are predicted to groom less than bachelors during the rutting season. However, we did not find any differences in rate of grooming behavior between the harem master and bachelors probably due to the late rutting season when the testosterone levels have fallen off. Food supplementation might affect grooming behavior since released foraging pressure would provide much more time for other behaviors such as grooming. However, we did not find an effect of food availability, probably due to an increase of vigilance instead of grooming in the pavilion population. Our results suggest that more explorations are needed such as changing observation time and excluding the interference of visitors.

Key words: Dafeng, Food availability, Programmed grooming, Social rank, Tick

摘要: 先前的研究表明,性别、年龄、蜱虫密度、季节等因素会影响大丰自然保护区中重引入麋鹿的口部搔痒行为,因此野生动物重引入需要考虑该种群是否仍保留瘙痒行为以便有效抵御皮外寄生虫尤其是蜱虫的侵扰。在本次研究中,我们进一步探讨了两个可能会影响麋鹿搔痒行为的因素:社会等级和食物供给。在发情季节,麋鹿群主通常具有较高水平的睾酮水平,进而抑制搔痒行为,所以我们预测群主的搔痒频率应该会低于单身汉。但是群主和单身汉的搔痒频率并没有差别,这可能是因为观察期处于发情末期,睾酮水平已经下降。食物供给也可能会影响搔痒行为,因为其可以减轻采食压力,从而释放了其他行为如搔痒的时间。然而我们也没有发现食物供给的影响,这可能是因为围栏小种群的游客较多,使得警戒行为占据了采食压力释放后的行为时间。我们建议未来改变行为观察时间,并排除游客干扰,从而进一步探讨这两个因素对麋鹿搔痒行为的影响。

关键词: 大丰, 食物供给, 程序性搔痒, 社会等级, 蜱虫