**2.1.3 Pheasants under study**

408 Modern Telemetry

(imprinting phase, during the so called warm phase), has been poorly evaluated, especially

The purpose of this study was therefore to measure the effects related to the use of brooding hens after the hatch for the growing of pheasants, compared to the artificial rearing of the growing pheasants under gas heater after hatch (during the warm phase). The real effect of the proposed new technology must be consequently evaluated measuring the comparative survival rates in nature, as well as the habitat use and the characteristics of the home range

At the end of March 2008, 32 wild pheasants were transferred to the State Forestry Corps breeding division of Bieri (Province of Lucca) from various PA of the Florence HTD. To capture the pheasants, "falling baskets" (cages) were placed at random throughout the entire PA territories: the birds were attracted by grain nearby and below the baskets. When the birds went to peck at the feed, they triggered the release mechanism, making the basket fall. The captured pheasants, 7 males and 25 females, were used to produce eggs for artificial hatching.

The pheasant reproducers caught in the PA were placed in an aviary (5x8 x h 3 meters). It had an almost full outer wooden screen to disturb the birds as little as possible. Inside, there was a plastic net (h 1.5 meter) below the roof to protect the birds from injuring themselves in a potential attempt to escape through the roof. Wooden screens were also provided to guarantee pheasant to hide when workers entered to collect the laid eggs. In the first few days, 2 males and 1 female died for trauma, bringing the total number of birds down to 6 males and 24 females. The collected eggs were incubated in accordance with standard methods. Near to the aviary for the captured pheasants, another aviary was constructed for hens to be forced into brooding (Game Conservancy 1994). The pheasants chicks hatchd in the incubator were then

The experiment was conducted in two small PA where reared pheasants can be released ("Zone di Rispetto Venatorio" - ZRV) in the Province of Florence. The first, "Leccio Poneta" in Strada in Chianti, had an area of 176 hectares; the second, "Le Bartaline," in Panzano in

for the production of pheasants for the restocking of wild populations.

forcedly adopted by the hens and raised for 60 days, 6-15 pheasants/hen.

Fig. 1. Land uses in the ZRV "Le Bartaline" and "Leccio Poneta".

of the pheasants after their release into the wild.

**2.1.1 Experimental pheasant production** 

Chianti, had an area of 184 hectares (Figure n. 2).

**2.1 Materials and methods** 

**2.1.2 Release zones** 

A total of 117 pheasants were evaluated for about 100 days, regarding their survival and behavior in nature: 57 of which were traditionally bred (29 males and 28 females) **Control**, and the remaining 60 were adopted and raised by hens (30 males and 30 females), **Hen**. Before being placed in the acclimatization aviaries in either ZRV, the following parameters were measured in the pheasants :


Radiotracking of Pheasants (*Phasianus colchicus* L.): To Test Captive Rearing Technologies 411

localization. The data were then transferred on a geo-referencing program (ArcGIS ®-ESRI), which had been previously loaded with the maps of the ZRV through a specific software (GPS-Utility ltd. 1998-2006). The geographical coordinates of points on the earth's surface obtained by satellites orbiting the earth (Betti et al., 2001), in our study were saved as Northeast Cartesian coordinates (Gauss-Boaga), referring to the reference system ROMA 1940 (Galetto & Spalla, 1995). when the pheasants was not clear to the observer (did not succeed in direct observation of the pheasant) a triangulation obtained with a single worker was used to obtain the fix. The observer, made the first detection, quickly moved to a second point of listening in order to minimize the possible pheasant movement, and then to calculate the pheasant triangulation as precise as possible (Hessler et al. 1970; Warner & Etter, 1983). The two identified directions were manually reported on the regional technical maps (1:10,000) using a still rule and a pencil. If an animal was not seen or triangulated more than twice in the same place, direct sighting was always used the next time, to verify the conditions of the subject (death or not). All locations were analyzed for survival, dispersion, home range and land use. The locations obtained through triangulation were manually entered into the geo-referencing program, in the same file where the direct locations were automatically transferred. Cards were also used, together with the GPS devices to complete the daily data collection; frequency of tag or poncho number, time, habitat where the pheasant was observed, weather conditions and other features were

The two groups, **Hen** and **Control**, were studied in many ways over time from late September to early April. Data on biometrics measurement (live weight, tarsus length, diameters, spur length, and remiges length), recorded before release, were submitted to variance analysis in relation to the two groups and different sex (SAS 2002). Survival rates were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method, which allows to follow the survival pattern over time and probabilistically classify the missing animals in relation to tag, group, sex and within the different ZRV of release (Efron 1988, Lee 1980, Petrini 1995, Pollock et al. 1989a, Pollock et al. 1989b, SAS 2002). In particular, when the animal was checked alive or changed its position in two consecutive sightings, it was coded as alive, whereas if the poncho or the radiotag was found, with the remains or not, the birds was coded as dead. Animals sighted up to a certain period and then no longer detected, were consequently considered "missing" (probabilistically live/dead), and considered alive only up until the last time they were seen. The causes of death of the animals were only recorded and not submitted to statistical analysis, due to the little number of necroscopies. The maximum distances reached from the point of release calculated on GIS (ArcGIS ®- ESRI) were submitted to variance analysis in relation to tag, group and sex within the different release ZRV (nested model; SAS, 2002). The home range of each subject was determined using the Hawth's Tool GIS (ArcGIS ®- ESRI), evaluating the Minimum Convex Polygon or maximum area (MCP) obtained by joining the outermost points where each subject had been detected. The MCP was determined only for pheasants with a radio collar that had been observed at least 5 different times. The MCP areas were then subjected, as in the previous cases, to variance analysis (SAS 2002). The land use maps, in digitized format, were produced by a preliminary process of photo-interpretation, then verified by a location scout view into the field to identify the crops that were not identifiable through aerial photos or were changed, and to correctly define the polygon vectors. The ten environmental types summarized and categorized were: woods, shrub area, uncultivated

recorded for each pheasant in the cards.

**2.1.5 Data processing** 


Radio collars (TW3 Biotrack + ½AA cell) were supplied to 40 pheasants (20 from the Hen group and 20 from the Control group) while the remaining 77 (40 from the Hen group and 37 from the Control group) were provided with numbered and differently colored ponchos (Figure 2). The frequencies of all tags ranged between 151,045 and 151,975 MHz. (crystal modulation radios, maximum instability ±4.2 MHz).

Fig. 2. Pheasants with mounted radio collar (left) and poncho + radio collar (right).

The radiotags did not affect the animals' survival as the weight of the radio (with cell, antenna and collar) was well below 3% of the animals' own weight (Perez et al., 2004). The radio was always attached to the neck (Bardi et al., 1983), eliminating the potential risk of diseases and/or injury caused by the other types of fixing. Once all the measurements had been taken and the radio transmitters had been fixed on all the pheasants, they were placed in the acclimatization aviary: a tunnel-shaped, 30\*3 m, entirely constructed of soft plastic square mesh netting to prevent head injuries during attempts to escape. The pheasants remained in the aviaries for 24 hours in order to test the proper working of their tags, and to ensure that the attached collar did not create problems for the pheasants. Only 114 pheasants were released due to damage occurred during handling for collar supplying or measuring.
