The aversive effect of wolf's faeces on sika deer (Cervus nippon)
2008
Ninomiya, S.(Tohoku Univ., Osaki, Miyagi (Japan)) | Kaneda, N. | Abe, N. | Sato, S.
We investigated the behavioural and physiological responses of sika deer (Cervus nippon) to wolf's (Canis lupus) dry faeces from the viewpoint for the control of deer feeding on agricultural and forestry products. In experiments 1 and 2, the feeding behaviour of sika deer (n=27) in four troughs provisioned either with bottles containing wolf's faeces (Wf), domestic cats' faeces (Cf) or cattle urine collected immediately after slaughter (Cu), or with an empty bottle as a control, was investigated for 10 min. The troughs, each containing 1 kg fresh weight of hay cube, were randomly allocated. During the first four trials in experiment 1, 60, 40 and 200 g of Wf, Cf and Cu, respectively were used. The mean amounts of hay cube eaten among the four troughs differed significantly from the expected amounts (P0.01, Wf: 20 g, Cf: 240 g, Cu: 95 g, Control: 520 g). Furthermore, only Wf induced frightened behaviour in deer after smelling of the trough or bottle. In the four trials of experiment 2, we investigated whether the suppressive effect of Wf on the feeding behaviour of deer depends on the amount of faeces. During the first two trials, 5, 10 and 60 g of Wf were used. During the last two trials, 1 g of Wf and empty bottles previously containing 10 or 60 g of Wf just before the trials (Empty10 and Empty60, respectively) were used. The mean amounts of hay cube eaten among the four troughs differed significantly from the expected amounts (P0.01, Wf60: 0 g, Wf10: 0 g, Wf5: 0 g, Control: 1000 g; P0.01, Wf1: 30 g, Empty60: 140 g, Empty10: 120 g, Control: 715 g). In experiment 3, we investigated the physiological response of female deer (n
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