Risks of fighting in relation to age and territory holding in fallow deer

Abstract

Detailed analysis of the fighting and sparring behaviour of male fallow deer (Dama dama) shows that the peculiar palms of their antlers play a role in normal fighting and sparring. Analysis of the risks involved in the different fighting techniques (according to the force and torque, and the bending stress produced in the antlers) shows a tendency for the best endowed age-class (the "masters") to bring their large body mass into play in initiating fights involving the most risky technique. The increasing risk of fighting when densities of grazing does are high in the fighting zone indicates the fallow deer males' ability to assess territory quality. Nonterritorial masters trying to intrude into another master's territory are ready to use the most risky fighting technique, whereas the territory holder tries to resolve the conflict by display alone. The structural similarities between fighting using the push technique and sparring indicate that the latter mimics the former, being a means by which the initiator of sparring might convey information about his own fighting ability and perhaps also obtain information about the fighting ability of his prospective opponents.