Flight initiation distance- what can tell us about deer farms

Jan Viktora

Bachelor's thesis

Abstract:

Flight initiation distance (FID) is a measurable metric that can describe the general tolerance of animals to disturbance and can be used as a tool to evaluate welfare and tameness of the animals. In this thesis I reviewed and evaluated some of the factors that influence the flight initiation distance (FID) in animals, namely the members of Cervidae family – deer, and how the factors may influence deer farms. I tried to focus on three species of deer, sika deer (Cervus nippon), red deer (Cervus elaphus) and fallow deer (Dama dama). The little amounts of scientific research on some of the species regarding FID that would be usable has led to me to also include some other ungulates. I found evidence across all studies that FID is highly dependant on many present factors. This could be seen the most in relation to group size and how does it influence FID. Group composition and sex of the animals showed to affect behaviour. Human disturbance is represented with hunting and non-lethal disturbance. Hunting was proven to be negatively affecting FID at least for some time after hunting season. Non-lethal disturbance also had an effect and animal habituation to this type of disturbance is also discussed.

Keywords

deer, flight behaviour, flight distance

Jazyk práce: English

Datum vytvoření / odevzdání či podání práce: 5. 9. 2019

Obhajoba závěrečné práce

• Vedúci: Ing. Radim Kotrba, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Bachelor programme / odbor:
Agricultural Specialization / Agriculture in Tropics and Subtropics