Siberian Federal University

Issue

Journal of Siberian Federal University. Biology. 2024 17 (1)

Authors

Sitnikova, Olga N.; Zaitsev, Vitaliy A.; Sirotina, Marina V.

Contact information

Ситникова, О. Н. : Костромской государственный университет Российская Федерация, Кострома; Костромской научно-исследовательский институт сельского хозяйства Российская Федерация, село Минское; Государственный природный заповедник «Кологривский лес» им. М. Г. Синицына Российская Федерация, Кологрив; Зайцев, В. А. : Институт проблем экологии и эволюции им. А. Н. Северцова Российская Федерация, Москва; Сиротина, М. В. : Костромской государственный университет Российская Федерация, Кострома; Государственный природный заповедник «Кологривский лес» им. М. Г. Синицына Российская Федерация, Кологрив; Sitnikova, Оlga N.: Kostroma State University Kostroma, Russian Federation; Kostroma Scientific Research Institute of Agriculture Minskoye village, Russian Federation; M.G. Sinitsyn State Natural Reserve “Kologrivsky Les” Kologriv, Russian Federation; ; ORCID: 0000-0002-4861-6141; Zaitsev, Vitaliy А. : A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution Problems of the Russian Academy of Science Moscow, Russian Federation; ORCID: 0000-0003-0953-7309; Sirotina, Мarina V.: Kostroma State University Kostroma, Russian Federation; M.G. Sinitsyn State Natural Reserve “Kologrivsky Les” Kologriv, Russian Federation; ORCID: 0000-0002-7840-8861

Keywords

moose calves (Alces alces); Kostroma Moose Farm; ontogeny of behavior; behavior types; patterns; social behavior; social hierarchy; group formation; wild moose population

Abstract

The study of the moose behavior ontogeny under semi-free-range conditions makes it possible to fill in the missing information on the issues of interest for researchers and moose breeders and to estimate the possibility of managing the grouping of moose in farms. The purpose of the present study was to characterize the development of behaviors – feeding, defensive, and social ones – in moose calves up to two years of age, kept without mothers, in the Kostroma Moose Farm. In addition, the behavior of farm moose was compared with the behavior of the moose in the wild. The methods included visual observations with photo and video recording, timing of moose actions, and data processing in Statistica, NextQGIS, and MapInfo programs. All behaviors of moose calves developed together with the coordination of movements, initially in the form of innate imitative reactions with further substitution, expansion of functions, and arrangement into patterns. The main pattern of feeding behavior – “rumination” – developed in parallel with the sucking and was fully formed in moose calves by the age of two months. The formation of other behavioral patterns (social, sexual behaviors) lasted from 2–2.5 months to two or more years. The ratio of defensive behavioral patterns changed with age. Social integration based on instincts and imprinting of conspecifics and the moose breeder started from the first hours of life. Moose calves from different mothers were kept in a common large group. Animals showed affection to each other based on kindred, friendship, and individual preferences. The most stable subgroups were those of blood relatives, which were similar to groups of moose calves with mothers in the wild. The play hierarchy developed from the first months of life and led to a stable ranking in the general group, which gradually disintegrated by the age of 1.5 years. Moose, however, maintained distant associations with synchronous behavior. By the age of two years, the properties of the social organization of the moose in the farm had approached those of a wild population

Pages

95–114

EDN

KSFNKQ

Paper at repository of SibFU

https://elib.sfu-kras.ru/handle/2311/152811

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).