Seasonal activity pattern of Swamp deer (Rucervus duvaucelii duvaucelii) in Dudhwa National Park, Uttar Pradesh, India
Article Main
Abstract
The data on activity pattern and time budget of Swamp deer (Rucervus duvauceli duvauceli) were collected through instantaneous scan sampling from Dudhwa National Park, Uttar Pradesh, India Diurnal activity pattern of Swamp deer showed marked reduction in resting in winter as compared to summer. In winter resting in adult males showed polymodal pattern with peaks occurring at different hours of the day and continued throughout the day without any break. Feeding of adult females in winter and summer seasons showed a polymodal pattern with peaks occurring at different hours of the day without break. In yearling males feeding and resting was observed to occur throughout the day during winter season with peaks occurring between 11:00 to 12:00 hours. Yearling females showed continuous feeding throughout the day with peaks in different times in both the seasons. The seasonal distribution of activity patterns of the fawns showed that feeding was slightly more in summer as compared to winter. In time budget, of the expenditure on different activities, resting accounted for 63.77% and feeding 24.70%. In both the seasons resting was the major portion of their activity. Analysis showed that in all age and sex categories of Swamp deer in the Dudhwa NP, resting dominated on all other activities. The observation on endangered Swamp deer indicates synchronization in activity only in the feeding in the morning and evening hours and resting throughout the day.
Article Details
Article Details
Activity pattern, Swamp deer, Dudhwa, Seasonal, Time budget, Terai
Ahmed, K. (2007). Ecology and conservation of barasingha (Cervus duvauceli duvauceli) in terai grassland of Uttar Pradesh, India. M.Phil Dissertation. Department of Wildlife Sciences, AMU, Aligarh, pp. 99.
Ahmed, K. (2010). A study on faunal diversity of Dabka and Khulgarh watershed areas of Kumoan Himalayas, Uttarakhand, India. Ph.D. Thesis. Department of Wildlife Sciences, AMU, Aligarh, pp.276.
Altman, J. (1974). Observational study of behaviour: Sampling methods. Behaviour, 49: 227-267.
Beier, P. and McCullough, D.R. (1990). Factors influencing white-tailed deer activity patterns and habitat use. Wildlife Monograph pp,109: 51.
Bray, G.A. (1974). Endocrine factors in the control of food intake. Federation Proceedings, 33: 1140-1145.
Caraco, T. (1979). Time budgeting and group size. A theory. Ecology, 60: 611-617.
Crawley, M.J. (1983). Herbivory. The dynamics of animalplant interactions. Blackwell Scientific Publication, Oxford. pp. 437.
Easa, P.S. (1998). Habitat utilization of animals in Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary with special reference to gaur. Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi, Kerala, India. Final Report 155, pp.238.
Kumar, H., Mathur, P.K., Lehmkuhl, J.F., Khati, D.V.S., Rupak, D. and Longwah, W. (2001). Management of forests in India for biological diversity and forests productivity, A New Perspective-Volume VI: Terai Conservation Area (TCA). WII-USDA Forest Service Collaborative Project Report, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. pp. 158.
Leuthold, B.M and Leuthold, W. (1978). Daytime activity patterns of generuk and giraffe in Tsavo National Park, Kenya. East African Wildlife Journal, 16: 231-243.
Martin, C. (1977). Status and ecology of barasingha (Cervus duvauceli branderi) in Kanha National Park (India). Journal of Bombay Natural History Society, 74(1):60-132.
Mitchell, A.W. (1977). Preliminary observation on the day time activity patterns of Lesser Kudu in Tsava National Park, Kenya. East African Wildlife Journal, 15:199-206.
Pankspepp, J. (1974). Hypothalamic regulation of energy balance and feeding behaviour. Federation Proceedings, 33: 1150-1165.
Rozin, P. (1976). The selection of food by rats, humans and others animals. Adv. in the Study of Behavior,6: 21-76.
Sankaran, R. (1990). Status of the swamp deer in Dudhwa National Park. Journal of Bombay Natural History Society, 87: 250-259.
Schaller, G.B. (1967). The Deer and the Tiger. A Study of Wildlife in India. The University of Chicago Press, pp. 370.
Shult, M.J. (1972). American bison behavior patterns at Wind Cave National Park. Ph.D. Thesis, Iowa State University, pp. 178.
This work is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) © Author (s)
