The objective of the present study was to determine gender-related and month-related behavioral differences in captive alpine musk deer. The study was conducted at Xinglongshan Musk Deer Farm (XMDF) of Xinglongshan National Nature Reserve in Gansu Province of western China. The integrated method of focal sampling and all occurrence recording was utilized to quantify the behavioural patterns of 45 captive alpine musk deer (Moschus sifanicus) during non-mating season (from August 1 st to October 25 th ), and the behavioural durations of 12 behavioural patterns such as standing-gazing were recorded. The behavioural modes were compared to explore the potential differences between females and males, and the monthly behavioural modes for males and females were analyzed. Our results showed that the captive female deer in XMDF could compensate the energy lost in pregnancy, parturition and lactation through improving its ingestive efficiency. In order to be more sensitive to the changing environment, females expressed more standing-
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.