Inter-individual associations and social structure of a mouflon population (Ovis orientalis musimon).

We analysed individual associations between mouflon (Ovis orientalis musimon) observed during one year in order to find ontogenetic patterns underlying the social structure of the population. A correspondence factorial analysis was performed on Simpson's coefficients to compare association profiles. No strong association was found between adults but some of the young adult females maintained a preferential bond with their mother until the age of three. Yearling males were firstly unstable in their social relations and subsequently developed a strong preference for peers (the preferred companion(s) of young adult males were always young adult males). Animals did not prefer to associate with other individuals of their own family (Wilcoxon test: n = 53; z = 0.463; a < 0.01). Localized abundant food sources caused large regroupings during spring. This was the only case where we noted a series of observations where the same unrelated animals were seen together. With the exception of the mother-offspring relationship, individual social preferences were based on the sex and age of the partner rather than on identity. The existence of social behaviour profiles dependent on sex and age is proposed to explain the above results.

Interactions and associations between age and sex classes in mouflon sheep (Ovis gmelini) during winter.

The fact that sexual segregation can occur in wild ruminants independently of sex-related differences in habitat use suggests that it results at least partly from social mechanisms. One of the simplest mechanisms which can be hypothesised is that individuals avoid the congener classes which frequently try to interact with them (be these interactions 'agonistic' or 'sexual', since courtship behaviour components typically induce withdrawal when performed outside the rut). The aim of the present study was to test, in mouflon sheep (Ovis gmelini), whether the age-sex classes which exchange frequent interactions on meeting occur rarely inside the same groups. Observations were made during winter, on a small population in Germany. Interactions were recorded at an attractive site where all age-sex classes met daily. Foot transects were conducted in parallel over the whole study area in order to determine group composition. As expected, adults of different sexes exchanged frequent interactions at the attractive site and were rarely found in the same groups under free-ranging conditions, while adult females, who interacted little with one another, were quite frequently associated. However, adult males simultaneously exhibited the highest rate of interaction at the attractive site and the highest frequency of association under free-ranging conditions. Unlike female-female and male-female pairs, in which interactions with a clear initiator and a clear recipient predominated, male-male pairs exchanged often spectacular but 'symmetrical' interactions (during which the two individuals behaved in the same way). The hypothesis that sexual segregation results from the avoidance of the congener classes which frequently engage interactions only holds for females. Adult rams interact frequently and seek companions with whom symmetrical interactions can be performed.

[The supply of wild ruminants with major and trace elements. 1. The cadmium content of winter grazing and the cadmium status of red deer, fallow deer, roes and moulons]. / Die Mengen- und Spurenelementversorgung der Wildwiederkäuer. 1. Mitteilung: Der Kadmiumgehalt der Winteräsung und der Kadmiumstatus des Rot-, Dam-, Reh- und Muffelwildes.

The Cd-determination of 10 different winter grazings for wild ruminants in seven different biotopes showed significant differences of the habitats resulting from the previous Cd-emission of metallurgy smelting non-ferrous metals. The winter grazing of the Tharandt Forest and the Harz mountains contained significantly more Cd than that of the Lower Flaming hills, the western Erzgebirge and the northern agrarian areas. The bark and the tips of conifer twigs, twigs of oak and mountain ash, bilberry and heather plants, i. e. perennial plants resp. parts of plants proved to be particularly rich in Cd. On an average, wild ruminants consume more Cd than domesticated ruminants, which do not consume parts of perennial plants. The rumen contents of all wild ruminants contained, with 0.20 to 0.25 mg/kg dry matter more Cd than could be expected from the content of the grazing. In the Cd-contaminated areas the amount of Cd in the rumen contents too showed the Cd-load. The kidneys, livers and the covering hair of a total of 172 head red deer, roes and mouflons reflected the Cd-load and the dependence of the Cd-level on the age. The Cd-concentration ascertained in the organs of the wild ruminants was compared with that of sheep and cattle. The, on an average, higher Cd-load of the wild ruminants was confirmed. The kidneys of wild ruminants older than five years should, as a general principle, not be eaten and neither should the livers of animals from Cd-contaminated biotopes. The limb defects of mouflons from Cd-contaminated areas are discussed in connection with Cd-induced secondary Cu-deficiency resp. Mn- and Zn-deficiency. A reference is made to further works.