Diurnal time budgets and behavioral rhythms of white-lipped deer Cervus albirostris in the Qilian Mountains of Qinghai,China

White-lipped deer (cervus albirostris) is very important in the natural ecosystem of the qinghai-tibet plateau,china. however,data on the diurnal time budgets of these vulnerable animals' in the wild are still limited. here,we used a focal sampling method to investigate the diurnal time budgets of the white-lipped deer in qinghai,china during a one year period from june 2012 to april 2013. results revealed that both males and females spend the majority of their time either feeding or resting throughout the year. the duration of both feeding (z= 3.128,p= 0.002) and resting (z= -2.426,p= 0.015) over the seasons were significantly different for females,while the duration of resting (z= -2.062,p= 0.039) and vigilance (z= 2.897,p= 0.002) were significant for males. moreover,white-lipped deer showed a trimodal distribution of feeding activity during the warm season and a bimodal distribution in the cold season. moreover,during the cold season gestating females devoted much more time to feeding,likely due to the increased energy demands of pregnancy and the reduced nutritional value of their forage. this data will help with future range-management of white-lipped deer on the qinghai-tibet plateau and its seasonal-dependent cohabitation with local livestock. copyright 2014 zoological society of pakistan.