SPACING BEHAVIOR AND HABITAT USE OF AXIS DEER (AXIS-AXIS) IN LOWLAND NEPAL

A total of 17 axis deer (Axis axis) (12 females, 5 males) were radio-i nstrumented in Bardia National Park in lowland Nepal, and 1921 locatio ns of females and 605 locations of males were obtained during the 2-ye ar study period. Both the annual home ranges (135 +/- 33 and 204 +/- 3 8 (SD) ha for females and males, respectively) and the seasonal home r anges were quite small compared with those reported in another study i n Nepal, We present evidence that this difference is due to a more fin e-grained habitat mosaic in Bardia. Males used larger areas than femal es in the monsoon and the hot part of the dry season. The deer were se dentary, with a mean seasonal home range overlap between 49 and 86%, a nd seasonal occupancy centres were all located less than 1300 m apart. Mean seasonal home range size (68 and 110 ha for females and males, r espectively) was smallest in the cool part of the dry season. The rutt ing period did not seem to have any major effect on the ranging behavi our, as neither males nor females increased home range size from the p re-rut to the rutting period. The deer used riverine forest preferenti ally during the cool-dry and hot-dry seasons, whereas sal forest was t he preferred habitat during the monsoon and the cool-dry season. Grass lands were preferentially utilized by females at night during the hot- dry season, presumably because of improved forage quality following cu tting and burning. Males were more associated with riverine and sal fo rest than were females, while females used grassland areas more than m ales did.