SIZE AND COMPOSITION OF WHITE-TAILED DEER GROUPS IN A TROPICAL DRY FOREST IN MEXICO

The tropical dry forest of ''Chamela'' in the state of Jalisco, Mexico , is distinguished by highly seasonal food and water availability, yea r-round dense cover understory, and constant presence of predators spe cies of the white-tailed deer. Therefore, frequent small groups and so litary individuals should be expected. To test this hypothesis, the si ze and composition of white-tailed deer groups was estimated between J uly 1989 and June 1993. A total of 508 deer was counted in diurnal wal ks along 756 km. The mean size of the groups was 1.5 individuals (rang e = 1.0 to 1.9), with a mode of one for the whole study period. Solita ry individuals were frequent throughout the year. Females with young c omprised the most frequent social group. No groups of males were found . Group size was related with the life cycle, habitat and predation, a nd was smaller than has been found in other studies.