Ld. Howery et al., DIFFERENCES IN-HOME RANGE AND HABITAT USE AMONG INDIVIDUALS IN A CATTLE HERD, Applied animal behaviour science, 49(3), 1996, pp. 305-320
Numerous studies suggest some cows use certain areas (e.g. riparian ha
bitats) more than others (e.g. uplands), but the research generally ha
s been based on observations of small numbers of animals or on general
inspections of entire herds, Consequently, it is not known if individ
ual animals differ in home range (HR) and habitat use (HU) or if behav
ioral characteristics are a valid selection tool to decrease cattle us
e of riparian habitats, We conducted field observations of the differe
nces in HR and HU among adult cows on summer range in Idaho. We locate
d 116 cows on 4970 occasions during 1990, and 87 cows on 3995 occasion
s during 1991. Individual cows occupied one of four HR areas, and the
majority (78%) showed high consistency in HR, despite drought, ad hoc
management procedures and occasional herding. Thirty-three percent (n
= 29) of the 87 animals monitored during 1990 and 1991 exhibited total
HR fidelity between years, whereas 45% (n = 39), 18% (n = 16) and 3%
(n = 3) of the animals differed slightly, moderately and substantially
in HR use, All cows tended to shift their activities (i.e., centroid)
to the south, apparently in response to decreasing water availability
between 1990 and 1991. Cows in the four HR groups differed in the deg
ree to which they foraged and rested in riparian and upland habitats,
largely depending on the physical characteristics of the HR area. Give
n the high degree of home range fidelity in our study and those of oth
ers, we submit that selective culling may effectively change cattle di
stribution and decrease the use of riparian areas.