engleski

Rutting behavior of male Balkan chamois

The Northern chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) is a weakly polygynous species widely distributed in the mountain regions of Europe and the Near East. The Balkan chamois (R. r. balcanica) occurs in the mountain regions of southeastern Europe, and its ecology and behavior during the rut are largely unknown, making it one of the most understudied subspecies of chamois. Despite the scarce body mass dimorphism, males display a developed behavioral polymorphism that affects the mating success and possibly survival. Here, we provide the first quantitative analysis of the behavioral repertoire and activity budget of rutting male Balkan chamois and compare frequencies of different behavioral categories (i.e., courtship and direct and indirect aggression) with those observed in Alpine (R. r. rupicapra) and Tatra (R. r. tatrica) chamois. Male Balkan chamois have a rich behavioral repertoire (24 different behavioral patterns) with a prevalence of courtship behaviors and a higher frequency of indirect than direct forms of aggression. Compared with Alpine and Tatra chamois, no significant difference in the frequency of different behavioral categories was detected. The activity budget showed that when not rutting, males spent ~ 41% of their time foraging and ~ 59% lying down. Time spent rutting was negatively correlated with time spent foraging and time spent lying down, suggesting that time spent for mating activities increased at the expense of foraging and resting. In dominant males, the frequency of courtship behavior was higher than the frequency of aggressive behaviors, whereas in subordinate males, no differences were detected among behavioral patterns. Furthermore, no significant differences in activity budgets were detected between male types. This is the first report of Balkan chamois rutting behavior and provides important insights into the ecology of a poorly known subspecies.

Aggressive behavior ; Courtship ; Foraging behavior ; Mating behavior ; Rupicapra rupicapra balcanica ; Time budget

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