Spatial structure and activity in groups of Mediterranean mouflon (Ovis gmelini): A comparative study

The spatial structure of groups of Mediterranean mouflon was compared during spring/summer in a small population living on a sandy terrace in eastern Germany and within part of a large. population inhabiting a low mountain in southern France. A similar comparison was also conducted throughout the year in the French population. The aim of the study was to define proximate mechanisms participating in the spatial structure of the groups. We measured the proximities in the group, distances to nearest neighbours and activity of the individuals according to their sex and age. Lambs and females were closer to each other than to the other individuals on average at both sites and throughout the year (closer in 55-57% of the couples). Lambs tended to be central to the groups and females peripheral(19 groups with central lambs vs. eight groups with peripheral lambs in Niederfinow in spring/summer, P = 0.04). Lambs, yearling males and adult males were closer to peers but some variations were found between sites and periods. The distance to the nearest neighbour was not clearly correlated with the frequency of association. The proportion of individuals behaving like their nearest neighbour was higher when the distance between them was short (Niederfinow, spring/summer. N = 8, rho = -0.857; Vialais, autumn/winter: N = 8, rho = -0.976). This was no longer hue when lambs were excluded from the analyses. Nearest neighbours were close when both were engaged in the same activity other than feeding, they kept a medium distance when both were feeding and they were more distant when only one of them was feeding, The differences between the two populations did not affect the spatial behaviour of the individuals in the groups except for a slight tendency of the animals to be closer in the German population. We propose an explanation of the spatial structure of the groups based on the behavioural characteristics of the different sex and age classes and we discuss the concordance of our results with those found in domestic species.