PHYSIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MOUSE DEERS AND THEIR REPRODUCTION IN CAPTIVITY



Diah Tri Widayati(1*), Katsuhiro Fukutaz(2)

(1) Faculty of Animal Science, University of Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia,
(2) Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
(*) Corresponding Author

Abstract


Mouse deers (Tragulusjavanicus) used in this experiment were originated from the wild individuals captured in Central Java region. They were bred and maintained in captivity. Observations on behaviour and reproductive performance were carried out for a period of 24 months. The behaviour of mouse deer was unique. Although mouse deer are primitive ruminant, their behaviour was different in many aspects from that of domestic ruminant, and was more similar to that of a dog, cat or rabbit. Morphologically, the rumen, reticulum and abomasums of mouse deer were similar with
those ruminants, except omasum was vestigial. The captured mouse deer reproduced
quite well. Breeding occurred in all the year, estrous cycle was estimated to be 14-16
days. The sexual maturities were 170 days in male and 130 days in female. Estimated
gestation period was 130-136 days with litter size 1. Mortality the young until weaning
was 10%.


Keywords


Mouse deer, Tragulusjavanicus, physiological characteristic, behaviour, reproduction

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