Comparison of behavioural patterns in captive Javan Rusa or Sunda Sambar (rusa temorensis) and chital Deer (Axis Axis) At Campus Bachok, University Malaysia Kelantan

Captive farming of deer (Cervus timorensis and Axis axis) in University Malaysia Kelantan (UMK) Bachok campus has been used for recreation since the 2012. It is located in the Bachok district, near the tourist area of the Tok Bali beach, Kelantan. With this short history, management practices and captive breeding have been low due to lack of behavioral and ecological information about this vulnerable species in UMK. Understanding behavioral patterns plays a vital part in determining appropriate management systems. Hence the aim of this study was to determine the behavioral patterns of Javan rusa or Cervus Timorensis and Chital deer or Axis axis with to differentiate them by comparing their behavior as well as for determining a suitable management system relating to the deer behaviour. From July 2014 to September 2014, the behavioral patterns of 21 Javan and 17 Chital deer were observed and recorded at University Malaysia Kelantan (UMK) Bachok campus deer farm. The farm is located nearby the UMK entrance. Scan sampling was used to observe the frequencies of 8 behavior categories. The behavioral patterns of Javan and Chital were found to be similar proved by a chi-square (x²) test. They had been observed to spend most of their time resting in a group under the tree (C. timorensis - 25%, A. axis - 24%). While the least behavior showed by both species is drinking in diet behavior category (C. timorensis — 3%, A. axis — 2%). However, both deer species showed a low performance in activeness and human interaction due to several factors. C. timorensis and A. axis are tropical species. Due to hot weather (mean daily maximum temperature - 34.5°C), deer barely show any active behavior especially running (C. timorensis - 2.0%, A. axis - 2.5%). They would only run away when they feel threatened and to avoid such as when human approaching or been chase out from the herd. UMK Bachok infrastructures intend to have deer farm as the recreation site, so they can choose either to have wild deer or tamed deer for it. This is because the guidelines on the management of wild deer and captive deer are different. These results suggest that captivity has had improvement on farm condition and management suitable with purpose of deer farming. Therefore, further investigation into the effectiveness of deer farming for the purpose of recreation should be undertaken.