| 1. |
- Bergvall, Ulrika A., et al.
(författare)
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The use of box-traps for wild roe deer : behaviour, injuries and recaptures
- 2017
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Ingår i: European Journal of Wildlife Research. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1612-4642 .- 1439-0574. ; 63:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tracking devices are commonly used to locate and monitor wild animals for studying spatial ecology and survival rates. There is growing interest in capture effects, partially to minimize the impact on the study species, but also for animal welfare reasons. This study aims to examine roe deer behaviour in box-traps, when restrained, when released and during recaptures to quantify injuries and deaths over a period of 41 years. We use data from 2911 captures from 926 individuals between 1973 and 2014. We recorded behaviour inside the box-traps over two seasons. We also recorded behavioural data from 671 catches of 346 individuals during six seasons to study habituation. Additionally, we discuss box-traps in relation to ethological theory and animal welfare. Over a 41-year period, one roe deer suffering from starvation was found dead in a trap (0.035%), which cannot be solely related to capture (N = 926). About 58% of all roe deer were recaptured at least once during their life time. There was a low prevalence of injuries (0.5% of the captures, N = 2911), and they occurred predominately to the nose or antlers in velvet (in males). During the first hour after capture, animals typically stand very tense between eating bouts. Thereafter, the deer tended to move more softly and exhibited resting behaviours (e.g. lying down). Overall, we conclude that this method of capture and handling had very low impact on the welfare or survival of roe deer, which also habituated to recapture over successive events.
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| 2. |
- Debeffe, L., et al.
(författare)
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Short- and long-term repeatability of docility in the roe deer: sex and age matter
- 2015
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Ingår i: Animal Behaviour. - : Elsevier BV. - 0003-3472 .- 1095-8282. ; 109, s. 53-63
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Behavioural consistency is a key assumption when evaluating how between-individual differences in behaviour influence life history tactics. Hence, understanding how and why variation in behavioural repeatability occurs is crucial. While analyses of behavioural repeatability are common, few studies of wild populations have investigated variation in repeatability in relation to individual status (e.g. sex, age, condition) and over different timescales. Here, we aimed to fill this gap by assessing within-population variation in the repeatability of docility, as assessed by the individual’s response to human handling, in a free-ranging population of European roe deer, Capreolus capreolus. Docility was an equally repeatable behaviour at both short- and long-term timescales, suggesting that this behavioural trait is stable across time. Repeatability did not differ markedly between age and sex categories but tended to be higher in juvenile males than in juvenile females. Finally, contrary to expectation, individual variation in the repeatability of docility was not correlated with individual body mass. Further studies are required to assess the life history consequences of the individual variation in docility we report here.
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