Ungulate populations such as deer and wild boars have been expanding in range and increasing in number throughout many areas of the world. Regulation of these overabundant populations is urgently needed. For an effective culling program addressing these overabundant populations, it is essential to have information on the activity pattern of animals. To determine the factors affecting seasonality of daily activity pattern in sika deer, we studied deer activity through camera traps on Nakanoshima Island, Lake Toya in Hokkaido, Japan, where human disturbance is low. We estimated activity pattern during four time periods (dawn, dusk, day, and night), and evaluated the effects of weather conditions on activity pattern (camera trap rate) for each period. Deer activity at dawn, dusk and night showed clear seasonal patterns, with peaks in September, while the activity pattern during the day was constant in all seasons. The activity at dawn and dusk tended to be higher than that at day during July–October and July–November, respectively. Although the activity of sika deer may be influenced by weather condition, there was no seasonal consistency. Our study reveals that human disturbance might decrease diurnal activity and increase nocturnal activity.

Day-roost usage, nocturnal activity, foraging area, and social structure of the painted wooly bat, Kerivoula picta, were investigated at the village of Khon Kaen in northwest part of Thailand. The bats mainly preferred dead banana leaves as day-roosts, while leaves of sugar cane or broad-leaved trees were occasionally used. They frequently switched their day-roosts every one to four days. Families numbering three bats (adult female, adult male, and young) were found in February, June, September and October. However, such families were not found in November and December when pairs constituted 64% of the total number of captured bats. Most of the pairs roosted together in day-roosts, and did not change their partners during the survey period each year. Foraging areas between contiguous pairs did not overlap each other. Foraging areas averaged 6.1 ha for males and 5.6 ha for females. Kerivoula picta fed chiefly on relatively small-sized web-building spiders. Most of the pairs changed partner every year. The recapture rates of newly banded bats after one year averaged 20%, and the oldest ages recorded were five years for females and four years for males.

Field surveys of species in the family Muridae and their food resources were conducted in Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam in March 2011 and March and September 2012. Species were identified by DNA barcoding using polymorphic mitochondrial DNA sequences (COI, Cyt b, and D-loop) and external morphology. A total of four species, Maxomys surifer, Niviventer fulvescens, N. bukit, and Rattus sp. were identified. In order to identify which food resources were utilized by these species in the study area, total DNA was extracted from the gastric contents of the collected individuals. Sequence fragments of the chloroplast rbcL and the mitochondrial COI genes were amplified by PCR from the gastric contents and used to identify plant and animal food resources, respectively. We detected 34 plant families and seven animal orders by the homology search using the BLAST algorithm.

We examined the population genetic structure of the Asian black bear (Ursus thibetanus) in a large continuous habitat in northern Japan. To determine how population subdivision relates to management units (MUs) proposed by the Ministry of the Environment, genetic variation in the mitochondrial DNA control region (mtDNA-CR) and seven autosomal microsatellite loci was assessed in bears captured in southern Tohoku. Geographical distribution of the subpopulations was assessed using landscape analyses to find the best-fit model based on maximum entropy (MaxEnt) prediction and cost of movement. Genetic differentiation analyses revealed unique mtDNA-CR haplotypes in the study population. Bayesian population assignment of autosomal loci inferred four genetically distinct subpopulations in the study area (pop 1–4). The main distribution areas of pop1 and pop4 were separated by a high-cost zone for bear movement as a result of land use. Another high-cost zone was identified between pop2 and pop4, while the distribution of pop4 overlapped that of pop3. These results indicate that genetically distinct subpopulations are localized to areas that correspond roughly to MUs. The presence of subpopulations within an MU suggests that each MU is not always a single demographic unit.

To investigate the morphological variation in an island population of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), we measured 25 cranial and 24 dental characters for 225 specimens (137 males and 88 females) from Hokkaido Island, Japan. A Bayesian principal component analysis found only small differences among three groups identified genetically in previous studies. Concretely, analyses of variance and post-hoc tests detected clear differences in two functionally important measurements: postorbital constriction and upper fourth premolar length. In the postorbital constriction, relating to size of the temporal muscle, a difference with a gradient of increase from west to east on Hokkaido Island was found in both sexes. In the upper fourth premolar length, relating to body size, a difference between the Southern and Central groups was found in both sexes. Additionally, in differences in four measurements of skull width, skull height, mastoid width, and occipital condyle width, relating to braincase, were detected in only male. Subsequently, a correlation analysis showed that the postorbital constriction might be related to climatic conditions (e.g., minimum mean monthly temperature and snowfall). Endemic climate conditions and food habits appeared to contribute to the observed geographical variation in skull morphology.