The temporal character of feeding behaviour in captive tammar wallabies (Macropus eugenii Desmarest)
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abstract
Four tammar wallabies, maintained in a fixed 12 : 12 light : dark cycle, were
fed ad libitum, one of three foods, of differing
nutrient density and fibre content, consecutively, each for a period of two
weeks. During the second week, food consumption was assessed daily and the
temporal feeding pattern was monitored by visible and infrared video
recording. Apart from a short rest period around noon, feeding continued
throughout the 24-hour cycle, peaking crepuscularly. Total daily feeding time
corrected to metabolic body weight was significantly longer, but dry-matter
intake corrected to metabolic body weight was significantly lower than that of
larger macropod species, indicating greater investment in chewing. Feed-event
duration, inter-feed-event interval, rate of feeding, and dry matter intake
all increased significantly on pelleted foods of low nutritional density. Rate
of feeding and feed-event duration increased significantly on diced carrot
such that dry-matter intake was not significantly different to that on
high-quality pelleted food. Survivorship curves of inter-feed-event intervals
were predominantly linear. This and the consistently higher positive
correlations between the duration of individual feed events and
inter-feed-event intervals than between meals and inter-meal intervals,
indicated a nibbling rather than a meal-based feeding strategy. Levels of
correlation of feed-event duration with inter-feed-event interval were
generally low but there was a significant increase in positive correlation
when food of lower quality was given. The duration of successive feed events
tended to increase on low-quality and decrease on high-quality food more
consistently than did successive inter-feed-event intervals.
