Journal of Threatened
Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 February 2026 | 18(2): 28406–28412
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9576.18.2.28406-28412
#9576 | Received 23 December 2024 | Final received 28 December 2025 |
Finally accepted 07 January 2026
Activity budgets of a zoo-housed
Mishmi Takin Budorcas taxicolor
taxicolor (Mammalia: Artiodactyla:
Bovidae) herd
Nabanita Ghosh 1 ,
Pranita Gupta 2 ,
Joy Dey 3 & Basavaraj S. Holeyachi
4
1–4 Padmaja Naidu Himalayan
Zoological Park, Darjeeling, West Bengal 734101, India.
1 ghosh.nabanita1695@gmail.com
(corresponding author), 2 pranita.gupta.subba@gmail.com, 3 joydarjeeling@yahoo.co.in,
Editor: Tiger Sangay, Ugyen Wangchuck
Institute for Forestry Research and Training, Bumthang,
Bhutan. Date of publication: 26 February
2026 (online & print)
Citation: Ghosh,
N., P. Gupta, J. Dey & B.S. Holeyachi
(2026).
Activity budgets of a zoo-housed Mishmi Takin Budorcas
taxicolor taxicolor
(Mammalia: Artiodactyla: Bovidae)
herd. Journal of Threatened Taxa 18(2): 28406–28412. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9576.18.2.28406-28412
Copyright: © Ghosh et al. 2026. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: The project was funded by West Bengal Zoo Authority. The grant number is 104/WBZA/T-18(j)/21-22 dated 15.06.2021.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Author details: Nabanita Ghosh, project fellow for the project. Affiliated to Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park while working on the project. Pranita Gupta is the current zoo biologist in Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, Darjeeling. She is in charge of writing new projects and supervising them, overlooking animal records and education outreach. Joy Dey is the zoo veterinarian in charge of animal health. Basavaraj S. Holeyachi is the ex-director and one of the supervisors of this project.
Author contributions: NG: methodology, data collection, data analysis, manuscript writing and editing. PG: manuscript editing. JD: partial supervision. BSH: supervision.
Acknowledgements:
I would like to acknowledge Barkha Subba (ex-zoo biologist) for the initial conceptualization of the project, Prishka Pariyar (ex-project fellow) for collecting the ad-libitum data and making the ethogram, zookeepers for their guidance during observations and data collections, Bedan Chettri (ex-assistant librarian) for providing study and reference material from the library and Shiwangi Rai (ex-project fellow) for helping with sampling the study.
Abstract: The Himalayan Caprine Budorcas taxicolor taxicolor, generally known as the Mishmi Takin, is a
globally ‘Vulnerable’ species per IUCN Red List and categorised
under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Information on their behaviour is limited, and this study was undertaken at
Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, Darjeeling, to investigate the
activity budgets of a herd of seven Mishmi Takin in captivity, with emphasis on
reproductive and maternal behaviours. Ethograms
developed based on a literature review and preliminary observations were used
to observe animals for one year. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive
statistics. It was observed that the takins spend the majority of their time
feeding, standing, ruminating, resting or in locomotion. Reproductive behaviours comprised less than 1% of the activity budget.
The study provides preliminary data on the behaviour
of the Mishmi Takin in captivity, and could be utilised by zoo management to strategize animal enrichment
and welfare.
Keywords: Behaviour,
captivity, feeding, Himalayan Caprine, locomotion, observations, Padmaja Naidu
Himalayan Zoological Park, ruminating, seasonality, zoo management.
Introduction
The Mishmi Takin Budorcas taxicolor taxicolor, is a large Himalayan even-toed member of the
Bovidae, with three recognized subspecies: Bhutan
Takin B. t. whitei, Grey or Sichuan Takin B.
t. tibetana, and Golden or Shaanxi Takin B. t.
bedfordi (Neas &
Hoffmann 1987; Sharma et al. 2015). Elongated in structure with lunate horns,
adult males weigh up to 350 kg and females up to 280 kg (Neas
& Hoffman 1987). These generalist herbivores are primarily browsers,
foraging on a wide variety of plants (Schaller et al. 1986). They occur in
mountainous terrain and move in herds that typically migrate to higher
elevations during summer (Schaller et al. 1986; Adkin et al. 2012). Breeding is
observed in July–August, when they often inhabit higher altitudes (Allen 1940;
Schaller et al. 1986; Zeng et al. 2008); the gestation period ranges 7–8 months
(Neas & Hoffmann 1987).
The IUCN Red List categorizes the
Takin as ‘Vulnerable’, and Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, identifies it as a
Schedule I animal (Song et al. 2008; Sharma et al. 2015). In India, it is found
in the remote hills of Mishmi in Arunachal Pradesh, most of which is not
legally protected (Sharma et al 2015). Information about its behaviour is scant in the literature, owing to the
inaccessible, uneven, and rugged terrain takins occupy. Observational studies
in zoo research programs have provided insights into animal habits and behaviour (Mench et al. 1997),
and this study was an attempt to generate baseline behavioural
data for a captive herd of Mishmi Takin at PNHZP. The activity budgets were
specifically prepared based on observations made during the active daylight
period, spanning from early morning to early evening hours for each herd
member. Subsequently, the influence of seasonal variation were
quantitatively evaluated on these activities. Reproductive behaviour
of the group and maternal care of a pregnant female takin were also
investigated as part of the research objective. This study hopes to provide
data that can be utilised by zoo management to
support effective animal welfare and maintain viable captive breeding
populations.
Methods
Observations of captive Mishmi
Takins took place at the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park (PNHZP),
Darjeeling, India (27.050 0N, 88.261 0E) from March 2022
to May 2023. The animals were housed in three enclosures of similar design and
area. All the enclosures were outdoor yards comprising a separate feeding and
drinking area, makeshift wooden platforms and in-built shelters for extreme
weather conditions (Figure 1). Takin feed comprised fodder from the forest and
supplementary feed from the zoo animal feed section. Supplementary feed
provided to the takins, to meet the nutritional requirements, included a
mixture of crushed maize, crushed wheat, gram, barley, pulses, turmeric, salt,
and molasses (during winters) and was fed daily during morning hours (0900 h)
by the zookeepers. The takins were fed fodder twice a day, typically around
0930 h in the morning and 1500 h in the afternoon. It comprised of a variety of
plants like Cyathea chinensis
Copel., Artemisia vulgaris L., Rhaphidophora glauca
(Wall.) Schott, Selaginella pennata (D.Don),
Tradescantia fluminensis
Vell, Saurauia napaulensis DC., Hedychium
gardnerianum, Piper suipigua
Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don, Pouzolzia sanguinea (Blume) Merr., Acer laevigatum
Wall., Maesa chisia
D.Don, and Leucosceptrum
canum Sm.
Initially, Male 1, Male 3, Female
1, and Female 3 were housed together. Male 2 was housed alone. Female 2 and
Female 4 were housed together. After three months, Male 1 was housed with
Female 2 and Female 4. Male 3, Female 1 and Female 3 were shifted to Male 2’s
enclosure. Female 3 and Female 4 were transferred to a different zoo six months
after the initiation of the observation period (Table 1). The decision to shift
the takins and reduce the enclosures occupied from three to two was a zoo
management decision pertaining to logistics.
One-hundred-and-eight hours of
preliminary observations were conducted on the captive herd of seven takins in
March–April 2022 (Table 1). The ad libitum data from these observations, along
with data provided in the literature was used to curate an ethogram for behavioural observations (Powell et al. 2012). A total of
37 behaviours were listed under five different
categories, namely active, inactive, social affiliative, social aggression, and
reproductive (Table 2).
To assess activity budgets, daily
behavioural observations were collected on members of
the captive herd using the instantaneous scan sampling method (Altman 1974).
Hourly observations at 10-minute intervals were done by the observer from an
elevated position. Observations were made 5–6 days per week, for 2–3 hours each
day between 0700–1700 h. For the first three months, observations of the third
enclosure were performed by a zookeeper after conducting an observer
reliability test (Crockett 1996).
The activity budgets of five
takins (three males and two females) ranging 1–7 years old have been reported
in this study. Female 2 got pregnant during the observation period and gave
birth at the end of the observation period. Two female sub-adult takins
(Females 3 & 4) were transferred to another zoo in the sixth month of the
study period; hence, they couldn’t be assessed further.
A total of 400 hours of behavioural data were collected in June 2022–May 2023, and
subsequently categorised according to individual
takins and seasons. Descriptive statistics were utilised
to prepare activity budgets, which were represented graphically. The time that
the members were out of sight has been excluded while calculating the time
budgets, as the activities during that duration were not visible to the
observer. The normality of the data was tested using the Shapiro-Wilk test. To
examine potential differences between pregnant and non-pregnant females, the
activity patterns of two adult females were compared using the Wilcoxon
rank-sum test. For males, the Kruskal-Wallis test was applied to investigate
potential age-related differences, with post-hoc comparisons conducted by
Bonferroni’s method. Additionally, seasonal variations in activity patterns
were assessed for the herd across four seasons: monsoon (June, July, August),
autumn (September, October), winter (November, December, January), and
summer-spring (March, April, May) using the Kruskal-Wallis test. February was
excluded from the analysis to accommodate hormonal analysis conducted as part
of the same study. Preliminary maternal care observations were made using ad
libitum notes following Female 2’s parturition in the last week of May 2023.
Data compilation, sorting, and statistical analyses were done in MS Excel and
R.
Results
The overall activity budgets
(Figure 2) of the zoo-housed Mishmi Takins showed that they spent 54.6% of
their time in active behaviour, 42.2% in inactive behaviour, 2.4% in social affiliation, and 0.3% being
socially aggressive and 0.3% of reproductive acts. Active behaviours
entailed feeding (79.8%), locomotion (14%), maintenance (3.6%), and foraging
(2.6%). Inactive behaviours included standing
(43.14%), ruminating (31.2%), resting in sternal position (21.67%), resting in
lateral position (1.52%), bipedal stands (0.96%), and alert (0.74%). In social
aggression, there were 10 instances of head butt, six instances of chasing, one
act of dominance and three acts of submission. Social affiliative behaviours included eight instances of social play, six
instances of contact with conspecific, 18 instances of maternal care and two
instances of female nursing. Vocalisations that were
also included in social affiliation included 145 bellows and four snorts by the
individuals. Reproductive behaviour included five
instances of scent sampling, two instances of mounting and 15 instances of
following.
Since feeding, resting,
ruminating, and locomotion occupied the majority of the behaviours
displayed, they were assessed further to examine whether these activities were
affected by changing weather conditions (Figures 3 & 4). In the overall
activity budget for the herd, feeding (χ² = 17.85, df
= 3, p < 0.01) and resting (χ² = 9.9, df = 3, p =
0.01) showed a statistically significant difference across the four seasons. On
assessing the time budgets of the members, comparatively, monsoons saw the
highest percentage of time spent in feeding (females: 49% & males: 55%),
followed by winters (females: 46.64% & males: 47.95%). This trend took a
dip in autumn (females: 44% & males: 37%) and was the lowest in
spring-summer (females: 40.97% & males: 39.42%). Herd members rested the
highest percentage of time in spring-summer (females: 32.5% & males: 36%),
followed by autumn (females: 30% & males: 31.7%). Monsoon saw a dip in
resting (females: 26% & males: 31.4%), as did winters (females: 26% &
males: 26.7%).
Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were
conducted to compare the activity patterns (in percentage) between Female 1 and
Female 2. Significant differences were observed in resting (W = 0, p = 0.029)
and locomotion (W = 16, p = 0.029), indicating that the two females differed in
the percentage of time spent on these activities. On examining their activity patterns,
it was found that time utilised in resting was higher
in Female 2 (33%) compared to Female 1 (24%), and time spent in locomotion was
higher in Female 1 (14%) compared to Female 2 (6.6%). However, no significant
differences were found for feeding (W = 15, p = 0.057) or ruminating (W = 6, p
= 0.68).
For males, there were no
significant differences among the three individuals except for locomotion
patterns. The Kruskal-Wallis test revealed a statistically significant
difference in locomotion percentages among the three males (χ² = 6.5, df = 2, p = 0.03). However, post-hoc pairwise comparisons
using Dunn’s test with Bonferroni adjustment found no statistically significant
differences between any pairs of males (all adjusted p-values > 0.05). These
results suggest that, while there maybe trends in locomotion activity in males,
no specific pairwise differences were statistically robust after correcting for
multiple comparisons.
Female 2 gave birth in the last
week of May. After birthing, the mother immediately started licking the infant
and kept guard. It sniffed the newborn takin from time to time. The infant
stood up after almost 45 min and started suckling. It would spend time either
sleeping or suckling. The mother was always in close vicinity of the newborn.
These behaviours were prominent for 3–4 days after
the takin’s birth and began declining after a week.
Discussion
The activity budgets of the
captive herd of Mishmi Takin were assessed in this study at PNHZP. The study
covers active daylight time observations. The individuals spent most of their
time feeding, ruminating, resting and in locomotion. The effect of different
seasons was also assessed and it was seen that feeding
peaked during monsoons in both female and male members and females spent more
time feeding as compared to males. This is in accordance with the findings of
its wild counterpart, the Golden Takin, that spent 60–80% of their time
feeding, resting and walking (Zeng & Song 2001) as well as its family group
member, Bison Bison bison,
in which lying, standing and feeding dominated 87.9% of the time budgets
(Robitaille & Prescott 1993). Seasonal variations in feeding patterns can
be attributed to availability of quality forage at different altitudes. Powell
et al. (2013) reported that the captive takin herd in The Wilds in Cumberland,
Ohio, spent 35% of their time feeding with females, comparatively spending more
time than males in winter. Studies on activity budgets of the Bovidae family member, the Common Bushbuck Tragelaphus scriptus decula, revealed that they spent most of their time
feeding, which was comparatively higher during the wet seasons as compared to
the dry seasons (Bayih & Yihune
2018). Previous research on seasonal feeding patterns of another bovid family
member, Bison Bison bison,
has reported that diet quality and preferences peak from June to September in
colder or wetter regions due to high abundance of quality forage (Craine 2021). In females, it was observed that the pregnant
female (Female 2) spent comparatively more time resting than the non-pregnant
female (Female 1). This could be attributed to a prepartum
behavioural change, including increased transition
from lying to standing or vice versa, among other tendencies such as seeking
isolation, which facilitates a calm parturition and creates an optimal
environment for birthing (Rørvang et al. 2018; Nervard et al. 2022).
Reproductive behaviour
displayed by the takin herd in PNHZP constituted 0.3% of the annual activity
budget, reflecting the limited temporal occurrence of reproductive activities
outside the breeding season. Takins are seasonal breeders (Yoshida et al.
2024). The lack of display of reproductive behaviours
could be attributed to the fact that these acts are only prominent during the
breeding season. During the study period, 22 instances of such behaviours were recorded, reflecting findings by Adkin et
al. (2012), who observed that reproductive behaviours
accounted for 0.01% to 1.1% of the time budget during a 2.5-year study of
Sichuan Takin at Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago. Flehmen is a common behaviour observed in bovids, such as Bison, characterised by lip curling while sniffing the vulva or
urine of a female. Mounting in bovids, including Bison, is often the initial
step of the copulatory sequence, typically followed by soft panting. However,
this sequence is rarely completed as females often step away when the act
begins (Estes 1974). In the observations conducted at PNHZP, these behaviours were exclusively performed by Male 1 and
occasionally by Male 2. None of the females exhibited such behaviours
during the study period.
Social aggression in the herd
accounted for a small portion of the activity budget (0.3%), with only 20
instances recorded over a one-year period between Male 1 and adult female
(Female 1) or juvenile male (Male 3). The low counts of aggression could be
attributed to the captive conditions that are exceedingly different from wild
conditions. Additionally, the placement of the two adult males into different
enclosures could also lead to less aggressive counts. Aggressive behaviours are typically observed in bulls or bison during
periods of male-male competition, often as part of dominance establishment.
Serious fights are highly frequent, with passive avoidance frequently
substituting physical confrontations, particularly during the rut (Estes 1974).
In the current study, social affiliation, including vocalisations,
made up 2.4% of the takins’ activity budget. Similarly, in the study of the
captive takin herd at The Wilds, social behaviours
were observed to constitute a very small percentage of the activity budget
(<6%) (Powell et al. 2013).
This study at PNHZP had several
limitations. Observations of the study sample were limited to behaviour in captive conditions. The sample size decreased
from seven to five midway through the observation period due to the transfer of
two sub-adult females. Additionally, the members were housed in separate
enclosures, which prevented the exploration of collective herd behaviour, such as social hierarchical dynamics. The
lactating and non-lactating females were also kept in separate enclosures,
resulting in comparisons being divided by space and time. Furthermore, the
maternal behaviour described in this study was based
on ad libitum observation, limiting the depth of behavioural
analysis. Future studies could focus on a more systematic investigation of
mother-infant interactions to better understand this aspect of takin behaviour. The results of this study provide a preliminary
understanding of the activity budgets of takins in captivity. Future research
could further explore aspects such as diet preferences, enclosure utilisation, and social dynamics to create a more
comprehensive framework for enrichment and welfare planning.
Table 1. Mishmi
Takin individuals housed at the
Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park.
|
|
Animal |
House name |
Sex |
Date of birth |
Age as of 2023 (in years) |
Stage |
Dam |
Sire |
Date of acquisition |
|
1. |
Male 1 |
Danny |
Male |
19.iii.2016 |
7 |
Adult |
|
|
20.i.2019 |
|
2. |
Male 2 |
Rock |
Male |
11.ii.2016 |
7 |
Adult |
|
|
20.i.2019 |
|
3. |
Female 1 |
Claire |
Female |
18.iii.2016 |
7 |
Adult |
|
|
20.i.2019 |
|
4. |
Female 2 |
Ramona |
Female |
16.iii.2017 |
6 |
Adult |
|
|
20.i.2019 |
|
5. |
Female 3 |
Lucky |
Female |
29.iii.2020 |
3 |
Sub-adult |
Claire |
Danny |
|
|
6. |
Female 4 |
Diana |
Female |
07.ii.2021 |
2 |
Calf |
Ramona |
Rock |
|
|
7. |
Male 3 |
Canny |
Male |
25.i.2022 |
1 |
Calf |
Claire |
Danny |
|
|
8. |
Female 5 |
Donna |
Female |
25.v.2023 |
0.5 |
Calf |
Ramona |
Danny |
|
Table 2. Ethogram
for behaviour observation of Mishmi Takin.
|
Behavior |
Description |
|
Inactive |
|
|
Ruminating |
Movement of the mouth similar
to chewing |
|
Standing rest |
Standing with its head lowered,
facing the ground, or positioned straight |
|
Sternal rest |
Lying on the stomach, with head
lowered or near ground level |
|
Lateral rest |
Completely resting on one side
of its body, with head resting on the ground or on its back |
|
Alert position |
Being attentive with eyes open
and fixated on the source |
|
Bipedal stand |
Standing on its hind limbs with
forelimbs resting on the enclosure wall |
|
Active |
|
|
Locomotion |
Movement for a minimum of two
steps |
|
Foraging |
Searching and sniffing foliage
in the enclosure |
|
Feeding |
Actual consumption of food
items and drinking water |
|
Maintenance |
Scratching
the body with the hoof, licking the fur, rubbing the body against an erect
object in the enclosure, shaking the head or entire body, self-nibbling,
slowly rubbing the horns on an object without any force |
|
Object manipulation |
Investigates and moves around
an object in the enclosure |
|
Social aggression |
|
|
Head down |
Displaying a lower head while
drawing their rear legs forward, and arching their back |
|
Head bud |
Intertwining horns with force |
|
Object horning |
Thrashing vegetation, gouging
large tree trunks with horns, and aggressively horning and manipulating
inanimate objects inside the enclosures |
|
Head shake |
Shaking its head in the
direction of another individual aggressively |
|
Dominance posture |
Standing rest position |
|
Chasing |
Pursuing another individual at
a rapid pace |
|
Submissive |
Moving away from a charging
individual |
|
Social affiliation |
|
|
Social play |
Juveniles running, jumping and
head-butting each other |
|
Contact with conspecifics |
Face sniffing, nuzzling,
licking and nudging |
|
Snorting |
Expelling air through the nose
when threatened |
|
Bellow |
Sound coming from an open mouth
as the call is produced deep in the throat |
|
Maternal care |
Suckling and protecting the
calf |
|
Facilitate nursing |
Giving a call to the calf for
nursing and allowing it to suckle |
|
Allo-parenting |
Non-maternal infant care, such
as licking, protecting, nuzzling, and guiding by other members of the herd |
|
Reproductive |
|
|
Flehmen |
Sniffing the anogenital area,
or urine, with head upright and nostrils flared |
|
Mounting |
Males attempting to mount
females by throwing their forelegs onto the back of the females |
|
Copulating |
Occurs while mounting and is
identified by agitated movements of the hind region |
|
Following conspecific |
Following the conspecific,
especially after scent sampling |
|
Others |
Yawning, sneezing, defecating,
and urinating |
|
Out of sight |
An animal cannot be observed
from the data collector’s location |
For figures - - click here for
full PDF
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