甘肃兴隆山保护区圈养雄性马麝繁殖性能的行为判别

2000年6月至2001年2月,采用焦点取样连续记录方法,对甘肃兴隆山自然保护区马麝(Moschus sifanicus)繁育中心的雄性马麝进行了行为取样。按马麝爬胯结果,将样本动物区分为爬胯成功雄麝和爬胯失败雄麝,并对两类群雄麝在非交配季节(6—10月)和交配季节(11月—翌年1月)的行为格局分别进行了比较分析。结果表明,在单位取样时间(5min)内,爬胯成功雄麝在非交配季节的摄食行为持续时间显著少于爬胯失败雄麝,而静卧和蹭尾行为的持续时间显著多于爬胯失败雄麝。爬胯成功雄麝在交配季节的静卧时间显著少于爬胯失败雄麝,而攻击行为、蹭尾及粪尿标记的持续时间显著多于爬胯失败雄麝。根据以上结果,在麝类迁地保护和驯养实践中,雄性马麝的静卧和蹭尾行为(尤其是蹭尾)可以作为其爬胯成功度及繁殖性能的行为判别指标。这为马麝驯养实践,尤其是在提高配种雄麝选取的直观性及可操作性方面提供了量化行为参数。

The Behaviours Differentiating the Reproductive Capacity of Male Captive Alpine Musk Deer

From June 2000 to February 2001, focal sampling and occurrence recording were used to quantify the behavioural patterns of captive male alpine musk deer (Moschus sifanicus) at Xinglongshan Musk Deer Farm in Gansu Province, northwest China. The behavioural patterns of unsuccessfully mounting males (UM) and successfully mounting males (SM) were compared to identify behavioural differences. The results showed that, in the non-mating season (Aug. to Oct.), SM foraged significantly less than UM, and bedding and tail rubbing behaviour of the former were significantly more frequent than those of the latter. In the mating season (Nov. to Jan.), the bedding behaviour of SM was less than that of UM. However, conflict behavior, tail rubbing and urinating/defecating of SM were all significantly higher than those of UM. This research showed that bedding behavior and tail rubbing behavior were significantly different between SM and UM during the mating and non-mating seasons. These behaviours, especially tail rubbing, could be used as behavioral indicators to differentiate the reproductive performance of captive male musk deer. Using this method, males with high frequency of tail rubbing could be chosen as the mating males, improving the pregnancy rate of female musk deer, and reducing the cost of the musk deer farming.