DENSITY DEPENDENCE EFFECTS ON DEMOGRAPHIC PARAMETERS-A CASE STUDY OF PERE DAVID'S DEER (ELAPHURUS DAVIDIANUS) IN CAPTIVE AND WILD HABITATS

Thirty-nine Pere David's deer that were reintroduced into China in 1986 were monitored for 30 years to record population demographic parameters. There were 3,223 individual Pere David's deer in 2016, with 325 living in the wild and 2,898 living in an enclosure. The captive and wild deer population density was 3.319/hm(2) and 0.325/hm(2), respectively. As previous research reported the maximum density of Pere David's deer is 0.375/hm(2), so the captive population exceeded the theoretical maximum sustainable density. The birth and mortality rates varied significantly between the captive and wild deer. The relationship between captive Pere David's deer population density and birth rate was significant and negative. There was no relationship between wild Pere David's deer population density and birth rate, but there was a significant positive association between mortality and density.Thus, density dependence does not seem to operate on the birth rate of wild populations of Pere David's deer. Traffic was the main source of mortality in wild population. Results suggest that ex situ reintroduction is a reasonable strategy to gradually expand distribution of Pere David's deer in regions that remain suitable for wild deer to survive and reproduce.