Demography of Feral Burros in the Mohave Desert
Johnson RA, Carothers SW, McGill TJ. 1987. Demography of Feral Burros in the Mohave Desert. The Journal of Wildlife Management. 51(4):916-920
Age, sex, and body and reproductive condition of 631 burros (Equus asinus), and sex of 79 burro fetuses were determined from the Mohave Desert, California. The age distribution was skewed to young age classes in both sexes. Twelve individuals lived >10.5 years, and males lived longer than females. The postnatal sex ratio (61 M: 100 F) was skewed, whereas the prenatal sex ratio (68.1:100) did not differ significantly (P > 0.05) from parity. Males had better body condition than females. Poor female body condition was associated with costs of pregnancy and/or lactation. Females of reproductive age (≥1.5 years) had a 61.9% pregnancy rate and a 35.2% lactation rate. Sixty percent of lactating females were also pregnant, which indicated that burros can give birth in consecutive years.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Johnson, Robert; Carothers, Steven; McGill, Thomas
- Units
- DEVA
- Keywords
- Absence (Biodiversity), Abundance (Biodiversity), Age Distribution, Animal Studies, Distribution (Biodiversity), Equidae (Horses), Equus asinus (Burro), Mammalia (Mammals), Mojave Desert, Observations, Perissodactyla (Uneven-Toed Ungulates), Presence (Biodiversity), Resource Management, Sex Ratio, Taxa Links To Datasets, Taxa Links To References