The Observation on Parturition Behavior of Elaphurus davidianusin Dafeng

In this paper, four Elaphurus davidianuses in Dafeng Elaphurus davidianus Natural Reserve were used to study their parturition behavior. The results showed that the interval period between dropping from the herd and beginning of parturition was 32.25 h in average. When Elaphurus davidianus gave birth, they often walked, or lay on the ground, or looked back to their belly, or stood still, or sniffed the ground. Their walking frequency was the highest among the other behaviors, followed with lying on the ground and looking back to their belly. The average time of parturition was 33.75 min. Most of them lay on the ground when gave birth. It was needed average 39 min for baby deer to stand completely, and 60.75 min to be suckled for the first time.