| Ranking IUCN Red List EN level, crested ibis Nipponia nippon, Ciconiiformes, Threskiomithidae, belongs to China Class I protected species. Its activity area coincides closely with human activity and there is a growing trend of tourism activities for crested ibis. Therefore, it is important to study the interference of human beings towards crested ibis to protect the wild population.This study was conducted during August2011and February2013in Hanzhong, Shaanxi Crested Ibis National Nature Reserve. This study covered wintering and breeding seasons and studied:the time rhythm of different populations, behavior reaction towards song-playbacks in the wild, intruder behavior and circumstance changes’ influence on vigilance. The main results showed that:(1) Alert frequency of wild adult crested ibis (3.60±0.67times/min) was significantly less than the juvenile (5.08±1.06times/min), and the time-budget of both the wild (1.73±0.45%) and the semi-wild (1.52±0.41%) population were less than the captive (6.76±1.34%).(2) Wild crested ibis reacted similarly towards different ibis-call replay, and no difference showed between the adult and the juvenile. However, the juvenile’s reaction time (1.44±2.01s) was significantly shorter than the adult (9.07±9.52s).(3) Ibis changed their vigilance behavior with a change in approaching distance and dwelling time (df=52,p=0.000, p=0.000). Approaching speed did not influence the results and this might be because that the speed here did not match the speed of a potential predator.(4) Wild crested ibis’vigilance behavior was significantly influenced by age (F1,57=8.166, p=0.007), and the juvenile’s alert distance (56.50±5.76m) was longer than the adult’s (52.59±6.83m). Habitat type largely influenced vigilance strategy (F1,57=6.665, p=0.014), and Ibis had the shortest alert distance in winter paddy (51.88±6.20m). Flight initiation distance was affected by group size (F1,57=2.739,p=0.025).By monitoring human interference, we studied non-lethal effects on crested ibis for vigilance strategy and recommend that80m is the safe distance for crested ibis ecological tourism and bird watching, and fences should be put80m away from important nesting and foraging spots. Tourists should be recommended to stay no longer than1min within this safe distance. Given that different habitat should affect the alert behavior of crested ibis, we also recommend that the nature reserve should start a key protection for winter paddy as an important foraging habitat for crested ibis. |
