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Object-horning as advertising and marking behaviour in male bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus)?

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Abstract

A free-ranging bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus) population was observed over a period of 3 years, thereby enabling long-term observations on object-horning behaviour (“horn-rubbing”, “ground-horning” and “horn-thrashing”) in male bushbuck. The primary aim of this study was to determine whether object-horning in male bushbuck serves as demarcation of a territory. Of the three male age classes investigated (territorial males, young-adult bachelors, sub-adult males) adult, territorial males tended to perform object-horning significantly more often than the members of the other two age classes. An analysis of whether territorial males performed object-horning more often in the presence of another individual, which would suggest that object-horning acts as a visual display, revealed that object-horning was predominantly performed when males were solitary. These results suggest that scent-marking and/or leaving visible traces on the vegetation or on the ground plays an important role in territory demarcation. No correlation was detected between food plant preferences and the frequency at which plant species were used for marking.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Research Division of the Uganda Wildlife Authority, and the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology for the permission to conduct this research in Queen Elizabeth National Park. This study was generously supported by a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). We are greatly indebted to Hans Klingel, University of Braunschweig, Germany, to Harald Schliemann and Jakob Parzefall, both of the University of Hamburg, Germany and to Jonathan Baranga, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda for their continuous support to our project. Ludwig Siefert, Makerere University, Uganda kindly assisted with technical and veterinary support in the field. Solomon Kyabulima and the late Marcello Onen helped with food plant identification and the collection of a considerable amount of data. Kathreen Ruckstuhl and an anonymous reviewer provided very helpful comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biozentrum Grindel und Zoologisches Museum, Universität Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King Platz 3, 20146, Hamburg, Germany

    Torsten Wronski

  2. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Physiological Sciences, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda

    John D. Kabasa & Ann Apio

  3. Institut für Biochemie/Biologie, Abteilung für Evolutionsbiologie/Spezielle Zoologie, Universität Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht Str. 24–25, 14476, Potsdam, Germany

    Martin Plath & Ann Apio

  4. Department of Zoology, University of Oklahoma, 730 Van Vleet Oval, Norman, OK, 73019, USA

    Martin Plath

Authors
  1. Torsten Wronski
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  2. John D. Kabasa
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  3. Martin Plath
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  4. Ann Apio
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Correspondence to Torsten Wronski.

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Wronski, T., Kabasa, J.D., Plath, M. et al. Object-horning as advertising and marking behaviour in male bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus)?. J Ethol 26, 165–173 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-007-0048-x

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