Development of feeding selectivity and consistency in food choice over5 years in fallow deer

• In order to better understand the development and maintenance of feeding selectivity, several feedingexperimentswere performed with fallowdeer (Damadama L.). In experiments performed when the fawnswere between tenand 27 days old, itwas found that all fawnsshowedpreferences for sucrose but aversionstowards tannic acid and ascorbic acid.However, differences in selectivity towards tannic acidwere presentalready before the fawns became functional ruminants and these individual differences lasted 5 years.Moreover, individuals that ingested overall less tannic acid, searched more thoroughly between foodsources. When the foraging behaviour was compared with age (11–41 days old and 65–97 days old), itwas found that the time a fawn spent eating, increased with age, and the time spent on exploration,smelling and tasting plants decreased with age. Furthermore, the fawns increased their intake of grassand herbs, while the intake of soil and dead plant material decreased with age.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Zoologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Zoology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Fallow deer

Feeding selectivity

Foraging

Tannic acid

Animal physiology

Zoofysiologi

etologi

Ethology

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)