Diurnal time budgets and activity rhythm of the Asiatic wild ass Equus hemionus in Xinjiang,Western China

Studies on time budgets have shown that four factors may influence the daily activity budgets of the asiatic wild ass: a) seasonal change of forage biomass and quality; b) diurnal and seasonal temperature variations; c) livestock movements and human activity; d) circadian period. in order to test these factors,the diurnal time budgets of the asiatic wild ass was studied using the focal sampling method in xinjiang province (china) during 2007. according to our results,all four factors influenced the diurnal time budgets of asiatic wild ass,which spent more than 45% (up to 66.77%) of their daytime feeding on pastures,and about one third resting (26.21%-38.06%) across all seasons. moving,vigilance and other activities only made up less than 9% of the activity budgets in the most daytime of a year. asiatic wild ass showed bimodal feeding activity in most seasons,but with longer daytime resting periods during hot months. in summer,especially during the rut,asiatic wild ass devoted more significant time to other activities (suckling,moving,courting and agonistic behavior). however,the percentage of time for these activities was still notably lower than feeding and resting. copyright 2013 zoological society of pakistan.