Abstract
Survival and cause-specific mortality rates of female sika deer (Cervus nippon) were studied using radio telemetry in eastern Hokkaido, Japan. We captured and radio-collared 18 female deer, and monitored their survival from April 1993 to May 1996. Estimated annual survival rate for adult females was 0.779 (95% confidence interval was 0.609–0.997). The harvest mortality rate of adult females was higher than the natural mortality rate. Experimental female hunting during 1994–1996 contributed to an increase in the mortality rate for females and was useful in the control of the sika deer population.
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Acknowledgments
We are very grateful to H. Mizuno, M. Yokoyama, students of Hokkaido University (Brown Bear Research Group) and Tokyo University of Agriculture for assisting with collection of data; and the staff of Bihoro Museum, Abashiri and Kushiro Sub-prefecture, Hokkaido Government, and Maeda Ippoen Foundation for supporting our work. We are also great thankful to T. Saito and anonymous referees for critically reading and help to improve our manuscript. This study was partly supported by a grant from Bihoro town and Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
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Uno, H., Kaji, K. Survival and cause-specific mortality rates of female sika deer in eastern Hokkaido, Japan. Ecol Res 21, 215–220 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-005-0111-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-005-0111-4