Km. Dunham, Use of artificial water supplies by captive-born mountain gazelles (Gazella gazella) released in central Arabia, J ZOOL, 246, 1998, pp. 449-454
Tagged, captive-bred mountain gazelles were released into Hawtah Reserve, S
audi Arabia. More than 1 year after they were freed, their drinking behavio
ur at two water troughs was recorded for 2.5 months during late summer/autu
mn, using automatic cameras and monitors triggered when an infra-red beam w
as broken. Only 30% of gazelles (n = 40) were recorded drinking and only in
dividuals which lived close to troughs drank. No gazelles visited the one n
atural water point. Among gazelles which lived close to the troughs, older
individuals were more likely to drink than younger animals. The noise of th
e cameras as they took a photograph frightened some gazelles and may have i
nfluenced their frequency of drinking after they were photographed for the
first time.