The objective of the study was to assess the mortality risk of David’s deer associated with climatic conditions by the use of hazard function within clustered populations and according to place of birth. Additionally, the inbreeding level was examined within each cluster. Records were considered of 1192 individuals born in 56 zoological gardens in the years 1947-2000. Censored data (animals which were alive on December 31, 2000) were also included in the analysis. Average lifetime and percentage of dead individuals per zoo were used to determine two-dimensional Euclidean distances.The hazard rates were estimated within derived clusters of zoological gardens. The analysis was performed within sex groups for the following two data sets: all individuals (1), and animals dead In the first year of life (2). In the case of the latter, only three clusters were included. In general, the sizes of clusters appeared different (from two to eighteen zoos). From a geographical perspective these groups are heterogeneous. Generally, the shapes of hazard curves are similar with a clear increasing trend. The differences between groups reflect mainly an inconsistence of time points. The first peak of mortality appears at an early stage of life. The results clearly show the differences in mortality between males and females in all groups (for both sets − 1 and 2). Geographical region showed no significant effect on the survival of David’s deer. It is concluded that life span is determined more by the inbreeding level and zoo management conditions than by the climatic zone.
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