The Relationship Between The Behavior And The Social Status Of Blue Sheep(Pesudois Nayaur) In Helan Mountains

The blue sheep(Pesudois nayaur)is classified into Pesudois,Bovidae,Artiodactyla.It is a typical alpine animal,which habitats the alpine valleys bare rock,alpine meadows and valley meadows at an altitude of 2 500-5 500 m,The blue sheep is one of China ' s second-class protected animal species.Helan Mountains is one of the most concentrated distribution areas of blue sheep.From November 2016 to January 2017,Transect lines were set up in the area where blue sheep are regularly active in the Helankou of Ningxia Helan Mountain National Nature Reserve.Behavior sampling method and full event recording method were used along the line every day from 6:00 to 18:00 daily,we conducted follow-up investigations on the relationship between the estrus behavior and social status of blue sheep in Helan Mountains and conducted statistical analysis.The results are as follows:During the estrus period,there was an extremely strict hierarchical system within the blue sheep community in Helan Mountains,and as a basis for obtaining mating rights,Males competed for mating rights through scraping,fighting,and other ways.The call could be divided into warning calls,female sheep calling for companion,larvae calling mothers,and mother responding to larval.The alert call consisted of two syllables,single syllable of 68 to 95ms,the frequency ranged of 2315?9041 Hz.The calls of female sheep calling for companion were 892 to 1209 ms,the frequency ranged of 1672?10253 Hz.The calls of larvae calling mothers were 649 to 912 ms,the frequency ranged of 2205?15545 Hz.The calls of mothers responsing to larvae were 544 to 660 ms,the frequency ranged of 2426?9923Hz.Data were summarized by every seven days.Total of 893 males were recorded and 769 times of rutting behaviors of males were recorded.The maximum number of rutting behaviors(178 times)was observed during 7 days between 6 and 12 of December.However,over 75%of total rutting behaviors were accumulatively occurred within 21 days from November 25 to December 15.Solitary males were accumulatively as many as 17.08%during the whole estrus period,however,74.82%of them occurred in the duration of November 22 to December 19.The peak of solitary males percentage(47.67%)presented between 6 and 12 of December.The proportion of solitary males was significantly related to the rutting behavior.This relationship might indicate that male initiatives to be solitary and move between breeding groups to seek more mating opportunities in breeding season.Our data does not support the opinion that solitary male is the loser in mating contests.