Abstract
The influences of stocking density on stereotypic behavior, fecal cortisol and the musk secretion of captive Alpine musk deer (Moschus chrysogaster) were studied in the Xinglongshan Musk Deer Farm (XMDF) of Xinglongshan National Nature Reserve in Gansu Province of Northwest China from the 1st November to the 30th December 2020. The behavior of 26 captive male musk deer was recorded using focal animal sampling and all-occurrence recording, while radioimmunoassay was used to determine fecal cortisol and testosterone levels, and the muscone content was determined by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID). The results showed that the stereotypy behavior of individuals in high stocking density group (HDG) was more frequent (88.89%) and lasted longer (8.4 ± 1.0%) than of individuals in low density group (LDG) (50% and 4.2 ± 1.7%, respectively) (p < 0.05). The fecal cortisol level of HDG individuals (60.19 ± 5.83 ng g− 1) was significantly higher than that of LDG musk deer (36.34 ± 4.77 ng g− 1) (p < 0.05). There was no difference in muscone content, musk secretion and testosterone level between HDG and LDG individuals (p > 0.05). In musk deer farming of XMDF, the stocking density significantly influenced the health of captive Alpine musk deer, but had no significant impact on the musk secretion.
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The information of all data used in the study is available in School of Environment and Natural Resources, Renmin University of China.
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This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32170489, 32211530443, 31672300).
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Lv, Q., Zhou, X., Lu, X. et al. Influence of stocking density on the stereotypic behavior, fecal cortisol and musk secretion of captive male Alpine musk deer (Moschus chrysogaster). Biologia 78, 3135–3142 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11756-023-01428-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11756-023-01428-0