de Boer, H.Y., van Breukelen, L., Hootsmans, M.J.M. & van Wieren, S.E. 2004: Flight distance in roe deer Capreolus capreolus and fallow deer Dama dama as related to hunting and other factors. - Wildl. Biol. 10: 35-41.
Flight distances in roe deer Capreolus capreolus and fallow deer Dama dama with respect to a human observer on foot were measured in four nature reserves in the Netherlands: two dune reserves in the western part (the Amsterdam Water Supply Dunes (AWD) and Kennemerduinen (KD)) and two forested areas in the eastern part of the country (Hoge Veluwe (HV) and Kootwijk (KO)). In the four areas there is a gradient in hunting pressure from almost none in the AWD, via an increase in KD, to KO and HV. Fallow deer occur in both of the dune reserves and are not hunted. Of all the factors studied, hunting regime and habitat structure were most strongly related to flight distance. Although the number of individuals per group and most weather conditions also showed some relation to flight distances, their influence was relatively unimportant compared to that of hunting regime and habitat structure. When walking down wind, deer (both roe and fallow deer) flee at longer distances (64.7 ± 5.8 m) than when walking upwind (41.7 ± 3.3 m) or in calm wind (44.2 ± 1.8 m). In the roe deer population of the AWD, flight distances were the shortest among all the studied areas. In both of the dune areas, the flight distances in dense vegetation structures were shorter than in open field. Fallow deer flight distances did not differ between the dune reserves AWD and KD.
Key words: cover, group size, habituation, human disturbance, weather conditions
Hanneke Y. de Boer*, Vleutenseweg 352, 3532 HV Utrecht, The Netherlands
Leo van Breukelen & Michiel J.M. Hootsmans, Amsterdam Water Supply, Vogelenzangseweg 21, 2114 BA Vogelenzang, The Netherlands - e-mail: l.vbreukelen@wlb.amsterdam.nl
Sipke E. van Wieren, Tropical Nature Conservation and Vertebrate Ecology Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, Bornsesteeg 69, 6708 PD Wageningen, The Netherlands
* Present address: Fransicus Romanusweg 36b, 6221 AH Maastricht, The Netherlands
Corresponding author: Leo van Breukelen
Received 30 August 2001, Accepted 20 February 2003
Associate Editor: John P. Ball