PertaikaJ. Trop. Agric. Sci. 23(): 55-59 (2000) ISSN: 5-370 Uiversiti Putra Malaysia Press Some Physical Characteristics of Sambar Deer (Cervus uicolar) ISMAIL IDRIS, SAIDI MOIN 2, SAMTO SULAH 3 ad DAWEND JIWAN 4 departmet of Aimal Sciece, Uiversiti Putra Malaysia 43400 UPM Serdag, Selagor, Malaysia 2 Departmet of Geetics, Uiversiti Kebagsaa Malaysia 43600 UKM Bagi, Selagor, Malaysia ^Livestock Breedig Statio, Departmet of Veteriary Services Sebragy 89000 Keigau, Sabah, Malaysia 4 Sabal Agroforestry Cetre, Sarawak Forestry Departmet 93660, Kuchig, Sarawak, Malaysia Keywords: sambar deer, body weight, body measuremet, growth ABSTRAK Berat bada da ukura bada bagi 5 rusa sambar (Cervus uicolorj daripada tiga egeri di Malaysia telah diaalisis. Rusa-rusa tersebut mempuyai umur di atara tiga miggu da tujuh tahu. Teraka ii dibahagi kepada beberapa kumpula da dibiarka meragut di dalam petak-petak raguta dipagar. Rusa-rusa yag dipelihara dalam persekitara sama seperti kawasa semula jadi mereka mempuyai berat bada yag tertiggi (00.8 kg). Terdapat kesa lokasi, tiggi bada, pajag bada da lilita dada ke atas berat bada yag sagat bererti (p<.00). Koefisie regresi bagi tiggi bada, pajag bada da lilita dada ialah 0.9, 0.84 da LOO. ABSTRACT Weights ad body measuremets of 5 sambar deer (Cervus uicolorj from three states of Malaysia were aalysed. The deer rage i age from three weeks to seve years old. They were divided ito groups ad allowed to graze the feced up paddocks. The deer which were raised i a eviromet similar to their atural habitat had the heaviest body weight (00.8 kg). The effects of locatio ad partial regressio of body height, body legth ad heart girth, had highly sigificat (p<.00) effects o body weight The partial regressio coefficiets for body weight, body legth ad heart girth were 0.9, 0.84 ad LOO, respectively. INTRODUCTION There are some 20 species of large herbivores i the world which have bee domesticated for meat productio (Clutto-Brock 98). The cocept of sustaiable use of wildlife has become policy to some world bodies which reassess the true potetial of the wild species as meat producers (Kyle 994). The deer family has bee domesticated i large umbers, pricipally i the developed world. Several Asiatic forms of deer were itroduced ito Britai ad Europe at the ed of the ieteeth cetury ad the begiig of the twetieth cetury (Bawell 993). Recetly, Malaysia importatio of veiso has icreased rapidly, ad with the preset iterest ad awareess for deer meat, deer farmig i the coutry is icreasig i popularity (Vidyadara 993). Rusa deer (Cervus timoresis) accouts for.6% of the total deer populatio i Malaysia. The sambar deer (Cervus uicolor) is idigeous to Malaysia. However, the wildlife ordiace of the coutry prohibits the farmig of this species of deer. Thus this species of deer is cofied to the wildlife sactuaries, zoos ad parks. The most extesive studies coducted to date with tropical species have bee with rusa deer (Cervus timoresis) ad chital deer (Axis axis). There is a lack of biological data o sambar deer (Cervus uicolor)(semiadi et al. 994). The objective of this study was to compare some of the physical characteristics of the sambar deer i three differet locatios of Malaysia.
ISMAIL IDRIS, SAIDI MOIN 2, SAMTO SULAH* ad DAWEND JIWAN 4 MATERIALS AND METHODS This study was coducted o deer i three states of Malaysia, amely Perak i Peisular Malaysia, ad Sabah ad Sarawak i East Malaysia. I Perak, the study was carried out i the Natioal Park ad Wildlife Departmet deer farm i Sugkai. I Sabah it was doe i the Livestock Breedig Statio, Departmet of Veteriary Services ad Aimal Idustry, Sebrag, Keigau, while i Sarawak it was carried out at the Sabal Agroforestry Cetre of the Sarawak Forestry Departmet. A total of 5 aimals were utilized i the three locatios, with Cervus uicolor equius i Perak, while aimals i Sabah ad 46 aimals i Sarawak were of the Cervus uicolor brookei. The aimals raged i age from three weeks to about seve years old. The aimals were divided ito groups ad put ito differet paddocks. Data gatherig was carried out i 997 ad 998. Sugkai Deer Farm, Perak The deer were divided radomly ito four groups ad put ito differet paddocks of varyig sizes, ragig from two to six hectares. Each group comprised differet umbers of stags, hids ad faws, i accordace to the size of the paddocks they were put i. The stags withi each group were at differet atler developmet stage, thus idicatig that they were at differet sexual domiace level. The paddocks were geerally feced up jugle areas with some cleared parts cultivated with improved grasses, such as guiea (Paicum maximum) ad setaria (Setaria kazugula). A flowig stream meaders through the paddocks providig fresh water for the aimals to drik. The aimals were allowed to graze the grass ad shrubs freely. Cut leaves of some jugle trees (Trema spp. ad Sapium spp.) were provided daily. Supplemetary feedig of cattle pellets at the rate of.0 kg per head per day was give. Mieral blocks were give free choice. Sebrag Livestock Breedig Statio, Sabah The deer were allowed to graze i feced up grass paddocks which comprised maily guiea grass. Very few shade trees were available to the aimals durig the hot days. However, i almost every paddock there were puddles of water where the aimals wallow ad cool themselves durig the day. Supplemetal feedig of cattle pellets was give at the rate of.0 kg per head per day. Mieral blocks were give free choice. The drought from February to Jue 998 had affected the growth of grass very severely. Almost the etire pasture areas were devoid of grass durig that time. This has led to all the deer losig their weights ad body coditios. Sabal Agroforestry Cetre, Sarawak The deer were kept i semi-extesive system similar to their atural habitat, that is, withi the secodary forest. The aimals browsed o a wide rage of feedig stuff, as forest shrubs ad udergrowth. However, due to the deer's itese grazig habit, the paddocks withi the feced up areas were depleted of udergrowth. Freshly cut gree herbage were give to the deer at the rate of 6-7 kg per head per day, besides the supplemetatio of.0 kg per head per day of catde cocetrate. Data Collectio The measuremets take were body weight, height at withers, heart girth ad body legth. The body weights were take either immediately after immobilizatio i the case of the Perak farm, or whe they pass through the chute ad the weighig scale, for the Sabah ad Sarawak farms. Body height was take as the vertical measuremet from the groud to the shoulder. The heart girth was measured immediately behid the shoulder (Rabiowitz 993 ad Sharpies ad Domelow 990), while the body legth was measured horizotally, from the tip of the ose to the dock of the tail. These activities were doe i the morigs i order to avoid the aimals from beig exhausted uder the heat of the su. Yerex (987) idicated that to get the best results out of the deer, it was importat that they were ot subjected to stress. The deer were very temperametal ad easily excitable (Semiadi et al. 994). Thus, at the Sugkai farm, measuremets of the physical characteristics of the deer were take after they were immobilized by usig chemical restraits, with the aid of high velocity dart gus, admiistered by traied persoel from the Natioal Park ad Wildlife Departmet. A successful immobilizatio depeded upo the right techique (Keep 984). The target area for the dart was geerally aroud the upper area of the hid leg, or over the shoulder ad i the eck, as recommeded by 56 PERTANIKAJ. TROP. AGRIC. SCI. VOL. 23 NO., 2000
PH\SICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SAMBAR DEER Eglish (984). Excessive stress may result i the death of the deer. Oce the deer was immobilized, its body weight was immediately take, usig a mobile platform mechaical weighig scale that was moved as close as possible to the place where the deer fell. The aimal height, was measured by usig a cattle measurig tape. Subsequetly the body legth, ad the heart girth, were also measured. After all the measuremets were take, the deer was give the atidote ad it was stadig agai withi a few miutes. The atidote was geerally admiistered itraveously. At the Sebrag Livestock Statio ad the Sabal Agroforestry Cetre, the deer were herded through holdig yards ito the dark house where the measuremets of the physical characteristics were take while the aimals were stadig. This was possible due to the availability of chutes ad squeezes which were used to restrai the aimals. The body weights were take usig the mechaical or electroic weighig scale located withi the holdig yard. Although the deer i these two locatios were cosidered docile, there were istaces whe they jumped ad ra away oce they were excited. Heart girth measuremet was ot recorded for the deer i Sarawak. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The body weights ad body dimesios were aalysed usig the Geeral Liear Model procedure (SAS, 994). The data were aalysed across locatios ad withi locatio, to determie the effects of various factors o live weight of the deer. Table shows the mea squares for body weight of deer adjusted for sex ad locatio. There was o sigificat effect of sex o body weight although the males were slightly heavier tha the females (86.59 kg vs. 8.83 kg). Locatios had a very highly sigificat (p<.00) effect o body weight. The highly sigificat effect of locatio o weight could be due to differet maagemet systems of the deer. The deer at the Perak farm, with a mea height of 00.8 ±.64 cm ad a mea weight of 97.39 ± 4.58 kg, had the largest body size compared to the deer from Sabah ad Sarawak. The deer from Sabah had a mea height of 87.00 ±.75 cm ad a mea weight of 79.08 ± 5.7 kg, while the deer from Sarawak had a mea height of 82.33 ± 2.04 cm ad a mea weight of 70.5 ± 5.29 kg. I the Perak farm, the paddocks had more atural shade, thus givig a eviromet similar to their atural forest habitat. I Sabah, the paddocks were more ope ad had very little shade for the deer. The presece of shrubs ad udergrowth for browsig for the deer i Perak may be the cause of better body growth ad weight gai, ad this was supported by the report by Semiadi et al. (995). The weight to height ratios of the deer i the three locatios also suggested that the aimals i Perak had the heaviest weight per uit height. The partial regressio of body height ad body legth had very highly sigificat (p<.00) effects o body weight of the deer i the three locatios (Table ). The partial regressio coefficiets for body height o body weight was 0.9 TABLE squares from the aalysis of covariace for body weight of deer from three locatios Source df MS Sex Locatio P P Residual *** p<.00 2 0 39.8889 269.2934*** 4664.2357*** 4528.340*** 2.3393 ad for body legth o body weight was 0.84. The mea ad stadard error for various characteristics of the deer is preseted i Table 2. The deer had a overall mea weight of 82.98 ± 3.4 kg, with a maximum weight of 64.0 kg. This mea value fell withi the weight rage for adult Australia Fallow deer (Eglish 984), eve though they were much lighte tha the weight of full grow wild Australia Sambar stag or hid (Slee 984). Although the deer i Sabah were exposed to severe drought ad lack of forage, they were able to maitai their body coditios (weight loss ± 0 kg). With the availability of good feed ad coducive eviromet for the deer i Perak, they exhibited the heaviest mea weight, followed by the deer i Sabah, while the lightest were the deer i Sarawak. Uder ormal coditios, deer of similar age from Sabah ad Sarawak will be slightly smaller tha those from Peisular Malaysia (Whitehead 972). This was probably due to the subspecies differece that existed betwee them. PERTANIKAJ. TROP. AGRIC. SCI. VOL. 23 NO., 2000 57
ISMAIL IDRIS, SAIDI MOIN 2, SAMTO SULAH S ad DAWEND JIWAN 4 Table 2 ad Stadard Errors for various characteristics of the deer Height (cm) Weight (kg) Legth (cm) H. girth (cm) Overall 5 90.7.33 2 82.98 3.4 0 33.40 2.57 68 08.65 2.05 Perak 00.8.64 97.39 4.58 53.28 3.4 3.45 2.6 Sabah 87.00.75 79.08 5.7 30.68 3.0 24 99.83 2.46 Sarawak 46 82.33 2.04 43 70.5 5.29 46 8.02 3.79 - _ The overall mea height for the deer was 90.7 ±.33 cm, with 00.8 ±.64 cm beig the mea height for the deer i Perak. The tallest deer which came from the Perak herd had a height of 2.0 cm. This height was betwee that for the full grow wild sambar stag ad hid (Slee 984). The deer had a overall mea body legth of 33.40 ± 2.57 cm, with those i Perak havig the mea of 53.28 ± 3.4 cm. The larger size of the deer i Perak is attributed to the larger umber of mature aimals. The mea heart girth of the overall deer was 08.65 ± 2.05 cm. This measuremet is idicative of the body coditio of the deer. The deer i all locatios, although were fed free choice, have quite limited atural resources. This, i part, was due to the limited areas available which ecouraged the grazig patter of the sambar deer to modify the forage utritive value of the area, as was idicated by Semiadi et al. (993). This was demostrated by the rate of prehedig bitig of the sambar deer which was 35% faster tha that of other species of deer. The mea squares for body weight of deer from Perak ad Sabah, adjusted for sex ad locatio, is preseted i Table 3. A separate aalysis of covariace for the aimals i these two locatios was performed i order to iclude the effect of heart girth. Sex ad aimal height did ot cotribute sigificatly to the differece i body weight. Locatio had a sigificat (p<.05) effect o body weight of deer with those from Perak beig 8.3 kg heavier tha those from Sabah. Body legth had a sigificat (p<.05) effect o body weight, with a regressio coefficiet of 0.43. This idicated that for the deer i the two locatios, for every oe cm icrease i body legth there was a icrease of 0.43 kg of body weight. Heart girth had a very highly sigificat (p<.00) effect o body weight, with a regressio coefficiet of.00. This showed that for every oe cm icrease i heart girth there was a icrease of.0 kg of body weight. This situatio was very evidet i the aimals. The deer with a small frame would weigh very light as compared to those which were well built ad had a large frame. TABLE 3 squares from the aalysis of covariace for body weight of deer from two locatios Source df MS Sex Locatio g K O * r itt-! \x\r IKol I fall Ml Residual * *** 57 pco5 p<.00 REFERENCES 235.7274 935.2422* 422.26 989.96* 384.238*** 75.9373 BANWELL, B. D. 993. A historical review of the ifluece of Chiese Cervidso Europea ad New Zealad Red ad Sika deer. I Deer of Chia: Biology ad Maagemet, p. 85-9. 58 PERTANIKAJ. TROP. AGRIC. SCI. VOL. 23 NO., 2000
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