Activity of Fallow Deer (Dama dama L.) following release into the wild

Abstract

Context: Fallow deer are often stated to be the most human-influenced deer species, especially in terms of their current distribution around the world. In Lithuania, fallow deer are grown in enclosures and released into the wild to successfully supplement the abundance of wildlife. Aims: Investigate released from enclosures fallow deers migrations and occupied territories. Methods: 7 fallow deer (4 males, 3 females) were GPS collar marked and released to the wild. All fallow deer were bred and raised in captivity. GPS collar marked fallow deer were released in three locations: A. 1♂ 2♀ in Kaunas district, B. 1♂ 1♀ in Radviliškis district, C. 2♂ in Anykščiai district. Fallow deers were released in groups of 10 individuals, which also included individuals marked with GPS collars. GPS collars were set to send hourly signals about the animal’s whereabouts. A total of 69987 registration sites with coordinates and time of location of fallow deers were obtained during the study. Each collar lasted an average of 15 months (min – max 9–23 months). Key results: On average, fallow deer walked 0.13 km during 1 hour. Fallow deer travelled an average of 3.1 km per day (sum of distances between 24 animal registration points) (males - 3.1 km, females - 3.0 km). The shortest distance travelled was 0.2 km and the longest was 25.7 km. Cases when the daily road of fallow deer did not exceed 2.7 km accounted for 50%. In July to September, males were more sedentary than females, travelling an average of 2.3 km per day and females 3.4 km. In November, males moved more actively than females. They covered an average of 4.9 km per day, while females covered 3.7 km. The area occupied by fallow deer during the first 12 months after release was on average 656.5 ha (min – max 204.5–903.8 ha): males - 776.4 ha, females - 476.6 ha. On comparison of the area occupied by fallow deer in the first and second year after release, it was found that the area used by males decreased on average 1.6 times, while the area used by females increased on average 3.4 times. Conclusions: When discussing the behaviour of released fallow deer, the diversity of the size of the area they use, it is worth noting each deer as a separate individual. Analysing the data, it became clear that each fallow deer is more or less distinguished from each other and behaves individually