Nocturnal chats of farmed animals: non-rutting vocalisations of male Iberian red deer, Cervus elaphus hispanicus

Context. Captive environment may inhibit the emission of some call types by non-domesticated farm and zoo animals; so, their complete vocal repertoires remain unknown. Automated acoustic recording might help fill this gap of knowledge. Aim. The aim of this study was to describe vocalisations of farmed Iberian red deer, Cervus elaphus hispanicus, stags out of the autumnal rutting period (in summer and in winter) applying the manual and automated acoustic recording. Methods. In this pilot study, automated audio recording of undisturbed animals followed with spectrographic analysis showed hidden parts of social acoustic communication in farmed male Iberian red deer in non-breeding period. Key results. We detected three call types (roars, contact calls and bellows). Stag contact calls and bellows were described in the first time in red deer. Non-rutting roars were acoustically similar with rutting roars reported for wild-living Iberian red deer stags but of lower-frequency than were stag rutting roars recorded on the same farm in previous studies. Stag contact calls were reminiscent of hind contact calls recorded on the same farm in previous studies, but lower in frequency and shorter. Stag bellows were acoustically similar with bellows of male domestic cattle. Conclusion. This study reveals previously unknown parts of male red deer vocal repertoire. Implications. The lack of certain components of behavioural and vocal repertoire may indicate potential welfare problems in farmed and zoo animals.

Automated summary

This study used automated acoustic recording and spectrographic analysis to describe vocalizations of non-breeding farmed Iberian red deer stags, and identified three call types (roars, contact calls, and bellows). The study found that these vocalizations were similar to those of wild red deer stags, but with lower frequencies. This discovery has implications for the potential welfare issues related to the behavioral and vocal repertoire of farmed and zoo animals.