Moon influence on the occurrence
The moon has an influence on the water deer mainly in Summer.
Water deer shows a preference for bright or dark night that differ seasonally, reflecting theirs change in needs for better survival:
- Dark night in summer to avoid predator during the maternal care period
- Bright night in winter to increase foraging efficiency or higher chance to detect
Moon influence on the behaviours
No significant difference in behaviours between each moon phases. It could imply that the moon doesn’t affect the activity budgets of water deer.
Others variables influence on the occurrence
Environment type: Water deer prefer area with immediate proximity to field, forest and wetlands.
•Environmental variable: Only significant factor for occurrence are rainfall and sunlight. More important rainfalls and day with less than 7 hours sunlight induced the occurrence of the water deer.
•Human disturbance: Significant impact on the occurrence of the water deer.
Future studies
Further studies on the water deer are needed to better define their habitat use, behaviour and the environmental factors that influence them (Jung et al., 2016; Singh et al., 2022). One technique that hasn’t been exploited on water deer yet is the use of GPS collars to track their movements more precisely on an hourly scale. This technique could also highlight whether water deer is a species that compensate for reduced time of foraging during the bright night by increasing activity levels at other time of the day.
Conclusion
The findings of this study support two hypothesis, suggesting an influence of the moon on the nocturnal activity pattern of the water deer, with a seasonal variation in their relationship dynamic.
Other variables seem to be of importance regarding water deer activity patterns, such as habitat preferences, rainfall, sunlight and human factors.
The moon should be considered as an important environmental factor when creating a species management plan to decrease the wildlife-human conflict