Effect of weather conditions on the activity of captive eland in outdoor enclosures

B.Sc. Muhammad Said, BA (Hons)

Master's thesis

Abstract:

AbstractAnimals are often dependent upon weather condition for their well-being and nutrient requirement. Eland is significantly well adapted to harsh environment with much potentials economic value as domesticated livestock. However, there is a very limited information about the husbandry aspect of eland. The aim of this study was to determine the preferred weather condition for daily budget of this species to help the farmers to increase their production by optimizing the feeding and husbandry schedule. Fifty-two (52) animals were used which involve adult males and females, juveniles and calves. Animals were observed through a defined sampling technique (scan sampling technique) and identified by natural (horns, size) and artificial (coloured numbered ear tags) markings. Canon 10X30 IS Binoculars was used to identified distance animals. The weather condition was recorded by Kestrel 4500 device. The stored data was also uploaded to the PC, for analysis/storage with the optional Kestrel Interface and Communicator software. The behaviours of the studied animals which were recorded include: resting (RS), rumination(RM), eating outside the ban (EOB), eating inside the ban (EIB), nursing (NS), suckling (SK), mating (MT), fighting (FT), playing-fight(PFT), urination(UR), defecation (DF), and drinking water (DW). At beginning we waited for at least 15mins for habituation and then the animals were observed for 20mins and the activities observed were also recorded in the record sheet. Hence, in every hour, there was 20mins for the scanned of whole group of species which make a total of 40 mins for the observation and 20mins for resting before the subsequent circle of scan. A total of 204 observation session were recorded. The result shows that weather elements had positive effect on eating outside barn (EOB) and resting (RT), and negative effect on eating inside barn (EIB). In most cases, the effects were highly significant. In conclusion, relative humidity, temperature, wind chill and wind speed have been showed to pose adverse effects on captive Eland welfare, affecting the feeding activities which can result to poor growth and development.

Keywords

Observed behaviour, Eland, weather elements

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 27. 8. 2018

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: doc. Francisco Ceacero Herrador, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Master programme / field:
Tropical Agriculture / Animal and Food Sciences in Tropics and Subtropics