Observations on the behaviour and ecology of a threatened and poorly known dwarf antelope: the beira (Dorcatragus megalotis) |
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Authors: | Nina Giotto Alain Laurent Nabil Mohamed Nicolas Prevot Jean-François Gerard |
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Affiliation: | (1) Comportement et Ecologie de la Faune Sauvage, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, BP 52627, 31326 Castanet-Tolosan Cedex, France;(2) BEIRA.CFP, 49 rue Raymond IV, 31000 Toulouse, France;(3) Institut des Sciences de la Vie, Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches de Djibouti, BP 486 Djibouti, Republic of Djibouti;(4) Association de Développement Durable Local d’Aser-Jog, BP 10198 Djibouti, Republic of Djibouti |
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Abstract: | Observations on the behaviour and ecology of the beira (Dorcatragus megalotis) were made during spring 2004 in a wild population discovered in 1993 in a low mountain range in the South of the Republic of Djibouti. Spring was found to be both a birthing and a mating season. Beiras fed in the first and last daylight hours, mainly on dicotyledons and in patches supporting trees and/or bushes. They spent the warmest hours of the day in the shade of trees, or in rock shelters when the temperature became too hot. Observed groups (n = 56) ranged in size from one to five individuals (mean ± SD = 2.70 ± 1.49). Most of these groups included a single adult male (62.5%) or no adult male at all (33.9%). The only encounter observed between two adult males resulted in the chasing of one by the other. Furthermore, the mixed-sex groups including a single adult male seemed rather stable, and their members used collective urination–defecation sites. From a behavioural point of view, the beira thus appears not very far from the dik-diks (Madoqua spp.), but differs from them by a greater sociability between adult females and its type of habitat. |
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Keywords: | Neotragini Djibouti Habitat use Grouping pattern Collective dunging ceremony |
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