Personality is not a uniquely human characteristic and it has been documented in a wide range of organisms, from mammals to birds, reptiles, fish, and invertebrates. However, personality is still poorly understood in Cervids. Therefore, our study aimed to fill this gap by i) investigating personality and ii) exploring its links to dominance hierarchy, assessed by behavioral observations in 11 captive and tame male red deer (Cervus elaphus). Using questionnaires to assess personality, three trained volunteers rated these animals in 15 behaviorally composed adjectives with detailed descriptions, based on their overall impression at the end of the observation period. Behavioral data from animals were collected across three different situations, namely “feeding” (i.e., high competition for a scarce resource), “normal” (i.e., no external stimuli) in a group setting, and “handling” (i.e., stressful situation due to human manipulation) in an individual setting. We estimated dominance hierarchies between the individuals based on situations of average and high competition (i.e., “normal” and “feeding”) via the Clutton-Brock Index (CBI). Using Fleiss’ Kappa for inter-rater reliability, only five of our 15 behavioral adjectives showed acceptable reliability. Using principal component analysis, four of these adjectives formed one personality component labelled “Confidence/Aggressiveness”. We found that although “Confidence/Aggressiveness” did not correlate with CBI, ratings of two adjectives loading onto this component, namely “Confident” and “Submissive”, significantly correlated with the CBI, indicating that the questionnaire ratings reflect real behavioral variation in red deer males. Our study provides the first assessment of personality in male red deer and adds to the growing literature on Cervid personality, offering the basis for future personality research in ungulates.

人格并不是人类独有的特征，从哺乳动物到鸟类，爬行动物，鱼类和无脊椎动物，各种各样的生物都记录了人格。但是，在Cervids中人格仍然知之甚少。因此，我们的研究旨在通过以下方式填补这一空白：i）研究人格，ii）探索其与优势等级的联系，通过对11只圈养和驯服的雄性马鹿（鹿）的行为观察进行评估）。使用问卷调查来评估人格，三名训练有素的志愿者根据观察期结束时的总体印象，在15种行为组成的形容词中对这些动物进行了评分，并对其进行了详细描述。来自动物的行为数据是在三种情况下收集的，即“喂食”（即对稀缺资源的激烈竞争），“正常”（即无外部刺激）在小组环境中以及“处理”（即紧张的情况）由于人为操作）。我们通过Clutton-Brock指数（CBI）根据平均竞争和激烈竞争（即“正常”和“进食”）的情况估计了个人之间的优势等级。使用Fleiss的Kappa评估者之间的可靠性，我们15个行为形容词中只有五个表现出可接受的可靠性。使用主成分分析，这些形容词中的四个形容词形成了一个人格成分，标记为“信心/攻击性”。我们发现，尽管“信心/攻击性”与CBI不相关，但加载到该组件上的两个形容词的评分（“自信”和“服从”）与CBI显着相关，这表明调查问卷评分反映了红色的真实行为变化。鹿雄。我们的研究对雄性马鹿的人格进行了首次评估，并增加了有关瑟维德人格的文献，为有蹄类动物的未来人格研究提供了基础。加载到该组件上的两个形容词“信心”和“顺从”的评分与CBI显着相关，这表明调查问卷的评分反映了马鹿男性的实际行为差异。我们的研究对雄性马鹿的人格进行了首次评估，并增加了有关瑟维德人格的文献，为有蹄类动物的未来人格研究提供了基础。加载到该组件上的两个形容词“信心”和“顺从”的评分与CBI显着相关，这表明调查问卷的评分反映了马鹿男性的实际行为差异。我们的研究对雄性马鹿的人格进行了首次评估，并增加了有关瑟维德人格的文献，为有蹄类动物的未来人格研究提供了基础。