Diurnal activity budget and aggressive behaviour during feeding in captive Javan deer (Cervus timorensis)

Abstract

Javan deer (Cervus timorensis) is an Indonesia’s native species which has been introduced to Malaysia and kept in captivity for various purposes such as deer farming, education and tourist attraction. Despite being farmed in Malaysia since early 1990s, very limited studies have been conducted to investigate the behaviour of captive Javan deer which is important as monitoring tool for their overall well-being. Therefore, in this study the diurnal activity of captive Javan deer and their aggressive behaviour during feeding were investigated. The activity budget was determine using instantaneous scan sampling while continuous observation was used to observe aggressive behaviour during feeding. From the results, adult deer showed significantly higher proportion in displaying alert and feeding behaviour compared to the juvenile. They also displayed significantly higher alert and feeding behaviour in the morning compared to the afternoon session. Juvenile on the other hand were observed to be more inactive compared to adult. During concentrate feeding, adult displayed significantly higher aggressive behaviour compared to the juvenile. As the study on activity budget can give insight on behavioural alteration due to environmental changes, further behavioural studies on Javan deer in different captivity should be conducted to enhance their welfare and general well-being.