VOCALIZATIONS IN RED DEER (CERVUS-ELAPHUS), SIKA-DEER (CERVUS-NIPPON), AND RED X SIKA HYBRIDS

Rutting calls of male and alarm calls of female red deer (Cervus elaph us), sika deer (C. nippon), and their hybrids were recorded from wild and captive-bred populations. Vocal variations between these species a nd their hybrids (C. elaphus x C. nippon) were examined using multivar iate analysis to determine whether these groups could be successfully discriminated. There were highly significant differences between the v ocalizations of each group for both sexes (males: Wilks' Lambda = 0.02 33, P<0.0001; females: Wilks' Lambda = 0.1338, P<0.0001). The greatest differences were between analogous calls of red and sika deer. Vocali zations of hybrids from both captive-bred and feral populations were i ntermediate between the two parent species. The differences between th e groups were most highly influenced by the pitch of calls. The result s of this study indicate that the vocalizations of deer, rather than b eing learned or mimicked from similar species in their proximity, are strongly influenced by the genetic background of their parents.