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Six Ungulates Partitioned Elevation, Forest Types and Daily Activity in Giant Panda National Park

Female sambar in forest habitat in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand
Research · Ecology

A camera-trap study in the Anzihe Nature Reserve of Giant Panda National Park found clear differences in where and when six sympatric ungulates were recorded. The community included wild boar (Sus scrofa) and sambar (Rusa unicolor) alongside tufted deer, Chinese goral, Chinese serow and blue sheep, with the six species differing in combinations of elevation, terrain, vegetation and daily activity.

Researchers operated cameras at 60 sites for nearly 3,000 camera-trap days. Sambar was the most frequently detected species, while blue sheep and Chinese goral were the least frequently detected. The spatial patterns differed clearly among the six ungulates. Tufted deer and wild boar were associated mainly with low-to-mid elevation broadleaf forests. Sambar frequently used mixed conifer–broadleaf forest, Chinese goral was most active higher on the gradient around 2,500–3,000 m, and Chinese serow peaked higher still around 3,000–3,500 m and often used steep terrain. Blue sheep were concentrated above 3,000 m.

Relative activity indices of six ungulates across elevation, slope, aspect and vegetation types
Habitat use across elevation, slope, aspect and vegetation type. Figure 3 from Dong et al. (2026), Diversity, CC BY 4.0.

Species also partitioned time of day

The species also differed in daily timing. Tufted deer, sambar and Chinese goral showed two main activity periods, in the morning and again from late afternoon into the evening. Blue sheep, wild boar and Chinese serow each showed one main peak: around midday for blue sheep, late afternoon for wild boar and early evening for Chinese serow. Sambar and tufted deer had the most similar daily activity patterns, while tufted deer and blue sheep overlapped least.

Daily activity curves and temporal overlap among six ungulate species
Daily activity curves and temporal overlap among the six ungulates. Figure 4 from Dong et al. (2026), Diversity, CC BY 4.0.

The researchers interpret the combined spatial and temporal differences as evidence that the six sympatric ungulates reduce ecological overlap by using different combinations of elevation, terrain, vegetation and time of day. Some species still overlapped strongly along one dimension, such as the daily activity of sambar and tufted deer, but differed in other parts of their habitat use. The coexistence pattern therefore emerged from several ecological dimensions acting together rather than from complete separation in either space or time.

Sources and image credit

  1. Dong, B., Li, S., Fan, X., & Han, J. (2026). Spatial and temporal activity patterns of six ungulate species in the Anzihe Nature Reserve, Giant Panda National Park, China: A camera-trap study. Diversity, 18(3), 186. https://doi.org/10.3390/d18030186Primary open-access research article published 19 March 2026 under CC BY 4.0. Sixty camera sites operated for 2,946 trap-days. Wild boar had 232 independent detections and were most frequent at 1,500–2,000 m, with a single activity peak around 16:00. Sambar had 1,318 detections, were concentrated at 2,000–2,500 m and showed a bimodal daily activity pattern.

Image: Mark Bolnik — female sambar (Rusa unicolor) in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand; iNaturalist / Wikimedia Commons; representative species image, not from the camera-trap study · CC BY 4.0 · Source

About this content: This story was produced with AI assistance within an editorial workflow developed by Wildlife Vagabond. Editorial responsibility remains with Wildlife Vagabond.How AI is used

Ecology

SPECIES IN THIS STORY

Species in this story

Wild Boar Sus scrofa Explore species Sambar Rusa unicolor Explore species

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