Abstract
To prevent bark damage, beet pulp blocks have been fed to deer on the shore of Lake Akan in Akan-cho, Kushiro City, Hokkaido since 1999, and the amount made available has been increasing yearly. The effect of providing only intermittent feeding in order to decrease the amount of feed on bark damage and the number of deer coming to the area where feeding has been discontinued and the adjacent feeding area was examined. Feeding was discontinued twice in 2004 and 2005 at one of 17 feeding areas. The movement of deer from the area where was feeding discontinued to the adjacent areas was examined using a feed marker. A limited amount of bark damage was observed 3 days after the discontinuation of feeding in 2004. In 2005, a limited amount of bark damage was also observed 4 days later around the area where feeding was discontinued, while the area around the adjacent feeding areas showed moderate bark damage. In both survey years, the number of deer coming to the area where feeding was discontinued decreased, while that to the adjacent feeding area increased. After the restart of feeding, the number of deer returning to the area where feeding had previously been discontinued return to the number before discontinuing feedings. The movement of deer to the adjacent feeding areas during the discontinuation period was confirmed by the feed marker. These findings indicate that the discontinuation of feeding could be performed for up to 3 days, although the degree of bark damage varied with the period of the year and feeding area, bark damage was detected.
