POST-COPULATIVE GUARDING - MATING-BEHAVIOR OF NONTERRITORIAL MALE SIKA-DEER (CERVUS-NIPPON) IN AN ENCLOSURE

The mating behavior of captive male sika deer (Cervus nippon), which h old no territory or no harem, was studied on Nozaki Island, in October 1990. During the study period two females came into estrus and a domi nant male monopolized the copulation with these females. We observed t wo characteristic behaviors, which had never been observed in harem-ma king or territorial males. First, the dominant male usually tolerated the presence of other males. However, he was seen to drive away other males, defending the one receptive female on her day of estrus. The fr equency of aggressive interactions, e.g., aggressive approach and chas ing, increased on the day of estrus (aggressive approach: U = 2, z = - 1.835, p = 0.06; chasing: U = 0, z = -2.820, p < 0.01). Second, the do minant male remained within a radius of 5 m of the served female follo wing copulation for more than 10 h, and chased away any males approach ing the female. This behavior, therefore, was considered post-copulati ve guarding. Multiple copulation by females was observed in the wild p opulation on Nozaki Island. High tolerance to subordinate males and po st-copulative guarding of females are mating tactics of the dominant m ale associated with captivity. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.