HOME-RANGE SIZE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT FOR FALLOW DEER IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS, NEW-ZEALAND

Fifty-nine fallow deer Dama dama dama (Linnaeus, 1758) fitted with rad io collars were monitored in the Blue Mountains, Otago, New Zealand, b etween September 1985 and February 1988 to determine home range size a nd patterns of range development. Fallow deer occupy small annual rang es, averaging 66 ha for females and 189 ha for males (90% isopleths ca lculated by the Harmonic Mean method). For resident animals the respec tive values were 50 ha and 127 ha. Bimonthly seasonal range size varie d with sex, age-class and season, with different seasonal patterns for males and females. Only one adult female dispersed, and most females occupied the same core range throughout the period they were monitored . Some subadult females did move into new areas, by a process of range extension rather than a single dispersive range shift. In contrast mo st males monitored for more than 6 months shifted their range, but the distances between successive seasonal range centres never exceeded 2. 6 km and could not be reliably distinguished from adult seasonal movem ents. The range stability and slow dispersal rates of fallow deer shou ld make them easier to control than the other common introduced deer s pecies in New Zealand, and should make it practical to have different management objectives and regimes for adjacent catchments in the Blue Mountains.