Feeds and Feeding of Zoo Animals Dept. of Animal Nutrition, Co. V. Sc. & AH Jabalpur (M.P.) Spotted Deer • Order : Artiodactyla • Family : Cervidae • Genus : Axis • Species : A. axis • Common name : Cheetal • Spotted deer (Axis axis) is the most common deer species of wooded forests, in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh. • Breeding can occur throughout the year. • Sexual maturity attained at 12-14 months of age. • Gestation length is 210-225 days after which a single fawn is born. • Life span is 8-14 years. • Spotted deer are known to feed on more than 160 species of plants. • They are primarily grazers. • Their grazing behavior is also influenced by season and food availability. • In a day, peak feeding times are observed during dawn and dusk. • Chital usually drink water once a day, and more frequently in Summer. Feeding in Captivity • Only limited information regarding the nutrition of this species in captivity is available. • Nutrient requirement is calculated on the basis of requirements of goat. • Dry matter intake (DMI) in spotted deer fed sorghum based diet was 50+1.2 g/ kg BW0.75. • Combination of leguminous and cereal fodder was better source of roughages for spotted deer. • DMI ranged from 2.28-2.41% of BW in spotted deer fed mixed rations. • Irrespective of the diet, digestibility of DM in spotted deer was higher than other cervids and antelopes. Suggested guidelines for feeding • Basal diet of spotted deer should be comprised of good quality green fodder. • Best combination would be a leguminous fodder and a cereal fodder fed in equal proportion. • Six kg of good quality green fodder (25% DM) would be adequate for an adult spotted deer weighing 70 kg. • Amount of concentrate (16% CP, 3940 kcal/GE): should be restricted to 500 g/ animal /day. • Concentrate mixture should be supplemented with a balanced mineral mixture @2%. • Fruits and vegetables are not recommended. • To avoid overfeeding/underfeeding. Swamp Deer • Order : Artiodactyla • Family : Cervidae • Genus : Cervus • Species : C. duvauceic • Common Name : Barasingha • Swamp deer is endemic to Dudhwa National Park in Uttar Pradesh and Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh. • Full grown antler could grow upto 1 meter. • Mating season longs from September to April and fawning take place after a gestation period of 240- 250 days. • Usually a single fawn is born. • In captivity, lifespan could be upto 23 years. • Barashingha is primarily a grazer. • Mostly preferred vegetations. • Most of the feeding takes place during early morning and late evening. • Swamp deer diet consisted of 75% grasses and 12% woody plants. Suggested Guidelines for feeding • Swamp deer are grazer; hence there is no need to add any leguminous fodder in their diet. • Good quality green fodder could be offered 20% in excess of actual consumption. • As a thumb rule, 10 and 12 kg of green fodder (having 25% DM content) would be sufficient for an animal weighing 150 and 180 kg, respectively. • Concentrate should be fed in restricted amount (not more than 30% of the total diet dry matter). • The amount of concentrates should be 1000 and 1250 g for an animal weighing 150 and 180 kg, respectively. • Sub-adult animal weighing ~100kg would require only 750 g of concentrates to fulfill requirement. • NRC (2007) recommends 10% CP for pre- breeding, breeding, and gestating cervids. • A balanced concentrate mixture supplemented with 2% of mineral mixture. • Fruits and vegetables are also not required. Sambar • Order : Artiodactyla • Family : Cervidae • Genus : Cervus • Species: C. unicolor • Sambar is one of the largest species of deer found in India. • Antlers shed during summer, velvet appear during monsoon and during rest of the time they are in hard antlers. • Most of the rutting activities take place during October-December. • Gestation length is 8 months, after which usually one or (rarely) 2 fawns are delivered. • The age at puberty is around 18 months. • In captivity, lifespan is 15-18 years. • In free range, they will seldom survive more than 12 years. • Samber can survive on wide variety of habitat ranging from desert to ever green forest. • They can either graze or browse. • Their natural diet consists of wide variety of grasses, fruits, aquatic plants and algae. • Their food preference is reported to be influenced by the season. • During monsoon when the grasses are abundant and nutritious, they prefer grazing to browsing. • In winter season, they, however, prefer browsing to grazing. Suggested guidelines for feeding • The amount of concentrates should not be more than 30% of the diet on dry matter basis. • Good quality green fodder should be fed @ 11 kg/animal/day. • If available, tree fodder should be included in the diet @ 2 kg/animal/day. • If tree fodder is included in the diet, then 9 kg of good quality green fodder (25% DM) would be sufficient for a sambar weighing 150 kg. • The concentrates should be supplemented with a mineral mixture @ 2% of concentrate on DM basis. • Feeding of fruits and vegetables are discouraged. Blackbuck • Order : Artiodactyla • Family : Bovidae • Genus : Antilope • Species : A. cervicapra • Common name : Indian blackbuck • The blackbuck is an endangered species of antelope. • Regarded as near threatened species by IUCN Red Data Book (2011). • They are mainly found in open plains of India and parts of Pakistan and Nepal. • They can run very fast and outrun most of the predators over long distance. • They are distributed in various types of habitats ranging from semi arid grassland, scrub to open forest; however, their most preferred habitat is open grassland. • Unlike females, males bear distinctive long and diverging ringed horns with 1 to 4 spiral turns. • Gestation length is 5 months. • Even though they can breed round the year, 2 main rutting seasons take place during March- April and August-October. • Their maximum life span recorded is 16 years with an average of 12 years. • Blackbucks are primarily grazers but do occasionally browse. • Grass is the preferred forage and they selectively prefer shorter grass to taller grass. • Blackbucks prefer open grass lands and wasteland and avoid thick covers. • The areas they inhabit are characterized by low to highly variable rainfall with marked seasonal variability. Suggested guidelines for feeding • DMI intake ranged from 2.29 to 2.39%. • Dry matter digestibility ranged from 65 to 75%. • About 2.5-3.0 kg of good quality green fodder should be fed. • The amount of concentrates should be restricted to 30% of total diet on dry matter basis. • A balanced concentrate @ 250 g/animal/ day would be adequate if good quality green fodder is fed. • Concentrate mixture may be supplemented with a balanced mineral mixture @ 2%. Chinkara • Order : Artiodactyla • Family : Bovidae • Genus : Gazella • Specics : Gazella bennettii • Common name : Chinkara • Presently distributed in the plains and low hills of western and central India. • There is a distinctive white streak on both side of the face. • Both male and female bear horns. • Chinkara can mate throughout the year . • Gestation period lasts for 5-6 months. • Females give birth to one or two young ones. • Life span is about 12-15 years. • Chinkara prefers grasslands, desert areas, woodlands and shrub lands. • Chinkara is a browser. • It selectively consumes leaves, soft stems, flowers, barks and stems. • Most of the natural diets of Chinkara contain 7-12% crude protein. • Food consumption in chinkara is comparatively higher than blackbuck. • They can also utilize fiber quite as efficiently as other ruminants. Suggested Guidelines for feeding • Feeding of 200 g of concentrates and 2-2.5 kg of green fodder (20-25% DM) is suggested. • Concentrates should be used as a supplementing minerals and vitamin, not as a source of energy. • In no case proportion of concentrates should exceed 30% of the total diet on dry matter basis. • Include high moisture feeds during summer. • If deficiency symptoms of trace elements (especially Zinc e.g., poor coat, hair fall, parakeratosis etc.) are observed, a trace mineral mixture may be supplemented. Four-horned Antelope • Order : Artiodactyla • Family : Bovidae • Genus : Tetraceros • Species : T. quadricornis • Common name: Chowshingha • Four-horned antelope is the smallest antelope of India. • The most distinctive feature of the species is presence of two pairs of horns, usually one pair between the ears and another pair further forward. • Their horns are distinctive of having no rings. • Only males bear horns, but not all males bear horns. • The mating season is May-July. • Gestation length is 8 months, after which one (sometimes 2) kid is born. • Sexual maturity is attained at 2 years of age. • Life span is about 10 years. • They are inhabitant of dry deciduous forest and prefer forested areas to open grassland. • They are endemically distributed from Gangetic plains of Uttar Pradesh in the north to Tamil Nadu in the south and from Orissa in the east to Gujarat in the west. • The four- horned antelope is considered vulnerable by IUCN. • Four horned antelopes are smaller in size; hence they are believed to be concentrate feeder. • As four-horned antelopes are smaller in size, it would be predicted that they pass digesta quickly and could not utilize fiber as efficiently as the larger ruminants. • Hence, they would require a diet containing higher energy concentration and they have to derive substantial amount of energy from sources other than microbial fermentation of fibre. • A typical diet should comprise of 200 g connctrates and 2-2.5 kg green fodder (having 20- 25% DM). • Diet should be divided into several meals instead of one singular meal. Gaur • Order : Artiodactyla • Family: Bovidae • Genus : Bos • Species : B. gaurus • Commonname : Indian bison • Gaur is the largest of Bovids found in India. • They can survive on different type of habitat ranging from dry deciduous, moist deciduous and tropical evergreen forests.