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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 31(6)

Temporal changes in the quality of hot-iron brands on elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) pups

John van den Hoff A C , Michael D. Sumner A , Iain C. Field A , Corey J. A. Bradshaw B , Harry R. Burton A and Clive R. McMahon A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Australian Antarctic Division, 203 Channel Highway, Kingston, Tas. 7050, Australia.

B Antarctic Wildlife Research Unit, School of Zoology, University of Tasmania, GPO Box 252-05, Hobart, Tas. 7001, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: john_van@aad.gov.au

Wildlife Research 31(6) 619-629 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR03101
Submitted: 23 October 2003  Accepted: 1 July 2004   Published: 23 December 2004

Abstract

Hot-iron brands were used to mark permanently 14 000 six-week-old southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina L.) pups at Macquarie Island between 1993 and 2000. We assessed temporal changes in the quality of 4932 brands applied in 1998 and 1999 to determine the duration of the brand wound, and the relationships between brand healing, brand readability and the amount of skin and hair damage peripheral to the brand characters. Most (98%) brand wounds were healed within one year. Brand-mark healing, peripheral skin damage and brand readability were significantly (P < 0.05) correlated. The proportion of healed and readable brands increased in the population during the first annual moult, and thereafter these proportions remained high (>95%) for the marked population. The mean number of brand characters with peripheral skin damage decreased significantly over the same period. The seal’s annual hair and skin moult is the process that contributed most to the healing of brand wounds. We also assessed our branding technique to determine whether any of the features we measured contributed to a poor-quality brand. Excessive pressure used during brand-iron application is the most probable cause of unsightly peripheral skin damage, but this damage is short lived.


Acknowledgments

We thank all the persons, Maria Clippindale in particular, who contributed to data collection. Dr C. Bradshaw was supported by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowships. Dr M. Hindell and J. Harrington provided helpful comments on the manuscript. All the research procedures used in this study were first approved by the Antarctic Animal Care and Ionising Radiation Usage Ethics Committee, Department of the Environment, Commonwealth of Australia and the Tasmanian National Parks and Wildlife Service (Permit numbers FA98171–FA98176).


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