Red deer (Cervus elaphus) is a frequent subject of human interest. It can be managed in the wild, can be intensively bred in game preserves, can be the subject of game farming or bred as a pet, subspecies of red deer occur in the zoos. In the management of deer in the wild can not fully eliminate all negative impacts on the welfare, management of deer in the game preserves should follow optimal breeding conditions completely. The aim of this work was to evaluate the extent to which the red deer management in the Czech Republic is to ensure welfare. There is a list of analysis of reports of the red deer management, statements of the environmental analysis of the red deer and livestock conditions in selected game preserves.

Globally, male ungulate species are heavily managed for their sporting and trophy qualities. North American elk (Cervus canadensis) are typically managed using a male-biased harvest regime, placing increased chances of mortality on males in these hunted populations. To manage for trophy quality animals that typically represent older age classes, wildlife managers have implemented many age-biased harvest regulations, including spike-only tags and antler point restrictions. Many of these age-biased harvest regulations have fallen short of their desired goal of producing older bull elk. Consequently, the consensus has evolved to center on an overall reduction in harvest pressure. The state of Kentucky began an elk restoration project in 1997, with 1,553 elk released through 2002. As with other modern elk restoration projects, the male demographic received little research attention in the years immediately post restoration. The difficult logistics surrounding the transport of adult male elk and the reluctance of source states to part with potential trophy animals, led to few adult male elk receiving tracking collars to monitor this demographic. Hunter success rates indicated a growing male component to this population in light of the lack of a radio-marked cohort. With overall population numbers increasing in step with predictive models, so too did hunting tag numbers and hunting pressure. This rise in hunting pressure likely forced elk to become more cryptic, giving rise to the perception of a decline in the elk population, especially older age class male elk. This research represents the first in-depth look at the survival rates and habitat selection of adult male elk in Kentucky. Recent improvements in field methodology have allowed for the more efficient acquisition of a robust sample of adult male elk. I conducted a radio-telemetry study of adult male elk within southeast Kentucky to investigate the following: (1) survival and cause-specific mortality factors, (2) survival during the fall hunting period, (3) changes in survival following the implementation of a limited entry area (LEA) enclosing our study area, and (4) the associations of morphometric characteristics with the survival of adult male elk. Given the lack of information on the habitat use of male elk, a cohort of global positioning system (GPS) equipped elk were captured to investigate: (1) seasonal habitat use of male elk, (2) quantification of availability of male elk in readily viewable habitats, (3) changes to the percent of open land within the fall home range of adult male elk, and (4) the influence of open land on survival rates. To investigate the dispersal of male elk, I compared genetic relatedness to space use. Finally, in an attempt to better understand our existing capture methodologies, I analyzed drug induction and reversal metrics for the immobilization drug Carfentanil citrate. Survival analysis resulted in a 16.9% (CI = 12.2 – 23.7) three-year survival rate for adult male elk. An improvement in survival rate (p = 0.077) was noted after the implementation of an LEA system that limited the number of hunters in the study area. No morphometric characteristics were observed to have an association with survival, indicating that hunters indiscriminately harvest male elk. Predictive, habitat use models for male elk indicated a preference for grass habitats and use of habitats near grass patches. Seasonal variation in habitat use was observed with the greatest daily use of grass habitats occurring in the winter season. Adult male elk selected for open land at greater rates than is available across the study area. Over the course of three hunting seasons, elk were found to reduce their use of open land during daylight hours, and we anecdotally believe this to be a response to hunting pressure. A reduction in survival probability of male elk was directly related to use of open land in the final year of the project. Little home range overlap was observed between related male elk, indicating some level of dispersal and intra-specific competition. Predictive models for Carfentanil immobilization indicated an increase in efficacy of a shoulder injection as opposed to a hindquarter drug injection. Future management of elk in Kentucky should center on promoting the persistence of healthy grassland areas within the elk restoration zone and meeting hunter expectations. Hunter expectations should be gathered and management tailored to meet their desires and the objectives of the management agency. This research indicates that hunters harvest male elk regardless of trophy characteristics, yet we are not sure of the underlying reasons. The interaction of habitat and survival is complex and further complicated by the reclaimed coal mines that Kentucky elk live upon. Habitat management priorities should focus on a heterogeneous, yet healthy habitat that meets the needs of all species residing on these once-exploited lands.

Brucellosis is a bacterial infection that primarily affects livestock and can also be transmitted to humans. In the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), elk (Cervus canadensis) and bison (Bison bison) are habitual carriers of Brucella abortus, which arrived to the region with cattle over a century ago. The disease was eliminated from cattle in the United States through widespread control efforts, but is now periodically transmitted back to cattle on open rangelands where they can come into contact with fetal tissues and fluids from disease-induced abortions that occur among elk during the late winter and spring. In Wyoming, south of Yellowstone National Park, there are 23 supplemental feedgrounds that operate annually and feed the majority of the region’s elk during a portion of the winter. The feedgrounds are controversial because of their association with brucellosis and may be shuttered in the future in part due to the arrival of chronic wasting disease. Using data collected at these feedgrounds, this study investigates the role of winter feedgrounds in the ecology of this host-pathogen relationship: it evaluates the full reproductive costs of the disease to affected elk, how herd demography influences pathogen transmission, and assesses management strategies aimed at reducing pathogen spread among elk. Using blood tests for pregnancy status and brucellosis exposure in female elk, I demonstrated a previously undocumented fertility cost associated with the pathogen which is not due to abortions, but which nearly doubles the estimated fertility cost to affected individuals. I also built mechanistic transmission models using time-series disease and count data from feedgrounds. Within that framework, I assessed various management actions including test-and-slaughter of test-positive elk, which I found to be counterproductive due to rapid recovery times and the protective effects of herd immunity. The overall picture that emerges of winter feedgrounds is one of imperfect practicality driven by social and political consideration, not pathogen control. These results illustrate the underappreciated importance that recruitment and population turnover have on the transmission dynamics of brucellosis in elk, a pathogen which itself flourishes in the reproductive tracts of individual animals and thus impacts vital rates at the population level. Together, this study contributes to the field of disease ecology using a unique long term disease data set of free-ranging wild ungulates.

Understanding the degree of spatial fidelity of individuals within a species increases our ability to manage appropriately. Elk (Cervus elaphus) is a highly managed species in the Intermountain West, but there is little research evaluating summer home range fidelity of individual elk. We evaluated fidelity of 72 adult female elk to individual summer-fall home ranges in the White River study area in northwestern Colorado during two consecutive summers. Based on individual kernel-estimated utilization distributions, we used (1) the Volume of Intersection (VI) statistic and (2) interannual distances between centers of mass to compare summer range overlap and distribution. We also examined the role of landcover in summer habitat selection by elk from three distinct perspectives: landscape, individual, and philopatric. While many previous habitat studies included landscape analysis, few incorporate individual analysis and none contain a philopatric assessment, to our knowledge. We found adult female elk in the White River Study area exhibit fidelity to individual home ranges. VI values indicated that 93% of the elk showed some home range overlap, with a median value of 0.42 (SE = 0.02, n = 72). Between-year center-of-mass distances ranged from 183 m to 34,170 m (x = 3819, SE = 619, n = 72), while within-year maximum distances between location points ranged from 4,320 m to 31,680 m (x = 13,958, SE = 628, n = 72). Our landcover results indicated elk can be characterized as both generalists and specialists. While elk occurred across a very diverse landscape, we found a preference for Aspen-Mixed Conifer, Aspen, and Dry-Mesic Spruce-Fir landcover types, and a general avoidance of Agriculture, Sagebrush Steppe, Subalpine Meadow, and Grassland. We also found a high degree of similarity in landcover composition between years for individual elk. Elk home range fidelity could impact habitat management, specifically with respect to browsing and successful aspen (Populus tremuloides) regeneration. Incorporation of the philopatric perspective into future elk behavior and habitat selection studies could make results more rigorous and expand understanding of landscape-level results.

Submitted by Sandra Pereira (srpereira@ufrrj.br) on 2018-04-11T13:17:41Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2010 - Bruno Leite dos Anjos.pdf: 12893665 bytes, checksum: 99b4dd0f8ecdebb1f227aa0522ac061f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-11T13:17:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2010 - Bruno Leite dos Anjos.pdf: 12893665 bytes, checksum: 99b4dd0f8ecdebb1f227aa0522ac061f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-08-17 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico, CNPq, Brasil. / Cases of diseases induced by toxic plants in domestic herbivores are well reported throughout the world and have been studied also in Brazil. However, not much is known about the epidemiological and pathological aspectos of these conditions in free-living wildlife or bred in captivity. The risk for developing the toxicoses in captivity has been increasing, since natural habitats are destroyed by human action, and more centers of wildlife conservation and zoological comes are created. This study describes the epidemiological, biological and clinicopathological, lectin-histochemical and ultrastructural aspects of an outbreak of lysosomal storage disease of oligosaccharides induced by ingestion of Sida carpinifolia in young Sambar deer (Cervus unicolor) in the Rio-Zoo Foundation in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Nine deer showed neurological signs characterized by motor and proprioceptive deficits. Then neurological signs were mainly depression, incoordination, dysmetria, ataxia, broad-based members, muscle tremors, loss of tongue tone, frequent falls and death. Grossly hematomas were observed secondary to trauma caused by dominant males of the flock, and whitish striations, especially in the renal cortex. Histologic changes included marked swelling/cytoplasmic vacuolization especially in neurons, progressing to neuronal lysis and axonal spheroids, in exocrine pancreas, thyroid follicular cells and renal tubular epithelial cells. In the lectin-histochemical examination the vacuoles were formed by the accumulation of oligosaccharides specially marked by the lectins WGA, WGA and Con-A. Ultrastructurally, the swelling/vacuolation corresponded to intense cytoplasmic distention of lysosomes, formation of residual bodies or dense granular fragments of membranes and mielinoides bodies. The study has shown the susceptibility of Cervus unicolor to swainsonine by ingestion of S. carpinifolia. Possibly poisoning the animals in this study was conducted by food restriction by the hierarchy among males in the group. It might also determine the marked similarity between clinical and pathological aspects in Sambar deer with the one presented by other herbivores. / Casos de doen?as induzidas por plantas t?xicas em herb?voros dom?sticos s?o bastante relatados por todo o mundo e v?m sendo estudados tamb?m no Brasil. Pouco se sabe, contudo, sobre os aspectos epidemiol?gicos e patol?gicos dessas condi??es em animais selvagens de vida livre ou criados em cativeiro. Os riscos de desenvolvimento dessas toxicoses em cativeiros v?m aumentando, conforme os habitats naturais s?o destru?dos pela a??o humana, e mais centros de conserva??o de vida silvestre e zool?gicos s?o criados. Nesse estudo s?o descritos os aspectos epidemiol?gicos, biol?gicos e clinicopatol?gicos, lectinohistoqu?micos e ultraestruturais de um surto de doen?a do armazenamento lisossomal de oligossacar?deos induzido pela ingest?o de Sida carpinifolia em cervos Sambar jovens (Cervus unicolor) no zool?gico da Funda??o Rio-Zoo no Estado do Rio de Janeiro. Nove cervos apresentaram sinais cl?nicos neurol?gicos caracterizados por d?ficits proprioceptivo e motor. Os sinais neurol?gicos inclu?ram principalmente depress?o, incoordena??o, dismetria, ataxia, membros em base ampla, tremores musculares, perda do t?nus lingual, quedas frequentes e morte. Macroscopicamente foram observados hematomas, secund?rios a traumas provocados por machos dominantes do rebanho, e estria??es esbranqui?adas, principalmente no c?rtex renal. As les?es histol?gicas inclu?am acentuada tumefa??o/vacuoliza??o citoplasm?tica especialmente em neur?nios, p?ncreas ex?crino, c?lulas foliculares da tireoides e do epit?lio renal, necrose neuronal com evolu??o para lise e esferoides axonais. Pelo exame lectino-histoqu?mico os vac?olos eram formados por ac?mulo de oligossacar?deos marcado especialmente pelas lectinas S-WGA, WGA e Con-A. Ultraestruturalmente, a tumefa??o/vacuoliza??o citoplasm?tica correspondeu ? intensa distens?o de lisossomos, forma??o de corpos residuais densos ou granulares, fragmentos de membranas e corpos mielinoides. O estudo demonstrou a suscetibilidade de Cervus unicolor ? swainsonina contida na S. carpinifolia. Possivelmente, a intoxica??o nos animais deste estudo ocorreu pela restri??o alimentar sofrida pelos animais mais jovens, decorrente da hierarquia entre machos no grupo. P?de-se determinar ainda a marcada similaridade do quadro cl?nico e patol?gico entre os cervos descritos nesse trabalho e outros herb?voros dom?sticos.

Die vorliegende Arbeit stellt die Fortführung eines Projektes dar, in dem kausale Zusammenhänge zwischen Umweltfaktoren und dem Auftreten von Winterneuschälschäden an Fichte durch Rotwild im Harz und im Solling untersucht werden sollten. Ergänzt um die Analyse und detaillierte Darstellung der Datengrundlage der beiden Untersuchungsgebiete bedient sich diese Arbeit zunächst einfacher statistischer Tests zur Quantifizierung der während drei Inventurjahren mittels Klumpenstichprobe ermittelten Schälschäden. Hierbei werden die Werte mit Jagdstrecken- und Forsteinrichtungsdaten sowie Geländeparametern univariat assoziiert und die jeweiligen Chancenverhältnisse der Parameterklassen ausgewiesen. Im Anschluss werden die potentiellen Einflussfaktoren dann mittels binärer logistischer Regressionen sowie durch generalisierte lineare Modelle auf ihren Effektwert als erklärende Variable in multivariaten Modellen hin untersucht. Für die Durchführung dieser Untersuchung werden zu Beginn entsprechende Arbeitshypothesen aufgestellt. Die Berechnung der Chancenverhältnisse zeigt einen starken Zusammenhang zwischen vorangegangener Schäle und dem Auftreten neuer Winterschäle am Stichprobenpunkt. Ebenso lassen sich erhöhte Jagdstreckenergebnisse mit vermehrter Neuschäle assoziieren. Während junge Bestände häufiger Schälschäden aufweisen als ältere Bestände, lassen sich in Bezug auf die untersuchten Geländeausprägungen kaum eindeutige Aussagen treffen. Die Ergebnisse der Regressionsmodelle variieren in ihrem Niveau der Modellanpassung und des Erklärungspotentials und bleiben hinsichtlich ihrer Aussagekraft im Solling gegenüber dem Harz zurück. Je nach Inventurjahr und Gebiet werden unterschiedliche Variablen als Effektparameter ausgewiesenen. Zudem widersprechen sie einander zum Teil in ihrer Effektrichtung. Auch das Vorhandensein von Altschälvorkommen wird nicht in allen Modellen als erklärende Variable hinzugezogen. Die generalisierten linearen Modelle im Harz weisen für die reliefbasierten Parameter wiederkehrende Effekte. Ungeachtet der variierenden Effektstärke bleibt deren Ausprägung über die gesamte Untersuchungsreihe hinweg gleich. So lassen sich mit zunehmender Hangneigung eine Erhöhung und in Abhängigkeit von der Hangrichtung zumindest Unterschiede des Schälrisikos feststellen. Während das Schälrisiko mit zunehmender Exponiertheit des Stichprobenpunktes im Gelände sinkt, weisen Standorte mit einem höheren Strahlungspotential im Januar auch höhere Schälschädigungsraten auf. Die in dieser Arbeit erlangten Ergebnisse korrespondieren zum Teil mit den Erfahrungen anderer Autoren, zeigen jedoch auch Unterschiede zu deren Ergebnissen. Die widersprüchlichen Effektwerte der eigenen Untersuchungen lassen dabei grundsätzliche Zweifel an der Zuverlässigkeit der durch multivariate Modelle ausgewiesenen kausalen Zusammenhänge aufkommen. Neben einem geeigneten Stichprobendesign werden insbesondere auch eine zielgerichtete Parameterauswahl und -erhebung als entscheidende Faktoren für die spätere statistische Analyse hervorgehoben. Als Voraussetzung für die Schaffung eindeutig interpretierbarer Ergebnisse wird nachfolgenden Arbeiten von der Verschneidung ursprünglich nicht für die Untersuchung bestimmter Daten abgeraten und stattdessen eine studienabhängige Erhebung empfohlen.

Šio darbo tikslas buvo išstudijuoti elninių žvėrių (briedžių, tauriųjų elnių ir europinių stirnų) gausumą 2009-2010 m. žiemojimo periodu Kuršėnų urėdijos miškuose ir palyginti skirtingų miškų gautus rezultatus. Tyrimai atlikti 18 miškų, naudojant McCain netiesioginę elninių žvėrių apskaitą pagal jų paliekamus ekskrementus bei Aldous medžių pažeidimo metodą. Pagal atliktus tyrimus, vidutinis elninių žvėrių tankumas Kuršėnų urėdijos miškuose 2009-2010 m. žiemojimo periodu buvo 14, 7 individų tūkstančiui hektarų. Briedžių tankumas tirtame regione buvo du kartus didesnis, lyginant su vidutiniu briedžių tankumu visoje Lietuvos teritorijoje, tauriųjų elnių – labai panašus, o stirnų buvo dvigubai mažesnis. Taigi, tirtuose miškuose yra gausu stambiųjų elninių, tačiau jie konkuruoja su stirnomis. Vidutinis briedžių ir tauriųjų elnių tankumas tirtuose miškuose atitinka ekologinį ir ūkiškai leistiną elninių žvėrių gausumą Lietuvos miškams, o stirnų yra du kartus mažesnis, tačiau, atsižvelgiant į mitybinę konkurenciją, taurusis elnias laikomas pagrindine elninių žvėrių rūšimi tirtoje vietovėje, tad pagrindinis dėmesys turėtų būti skiriamas jo populiacijų gausinimui. Elniniai žvėrys pagal mitybos specializaciją renkasi skirtingus biotopus. Didžiausias briedžių gausumas nustatytas krūmynuose, tauriųjų elnių – pievose, o europinių stirnų – dirbamų laukų biotopuose. Vidutinis dendrofloros panaudojimo pašarams intensyvumas Kuršėnų urėdijos miškuose buvo 18,5 %, bet netgi didžiausi pažeidimai... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The aim of this study was to find out the density of cervids during wintering period in Kušėnai forests and to compare gathered data with density in different forest. The research have been conducted in 18 forests, using McCain indirect record by excrement and Aldous trees damage method. Studies have shown that the average density of cervids in surveyed areas is 14.7 individuals per thousand hectares. Moose density in this region is twice higher than average moose density in whole Lithuania, red deer – very similar, roe deer density is half lower. Therefore, explored forests is rich of large ungulate mammals, but they compete with roe deers. The average abundance of red deer and moose satisfies commercially and ecologicaly acceptable ones, also roe deer density is more than two times smaller, bur in aspect of the competition diet, red deer is considered to be the main cervid species in studied forests, so more attention should be paid to increase their population. Cervids by specificity of their species in different forests choose similar biotopes. The highest abundance of moose were in scrubs, red deer – in meadows, roe deer – in cultivated fields. The average of tree damage in stydy areas is 18.5 percent, but even the highest nutrient load does not exceed the recommended rate (30–40 %), so there is no danger to natural forest regeneration.

Hormonal aspects of antler growth regulation Erika Kužmová Abstract Deer antlers are the only mammalian organ that completely regenerates and therefore they became an object of rising interest as a potential model for bone growth and development. In recent years, it has been confirmed that annual regeneration of the antler is initiated from the stem cell niche localised in the pedicle periosteum. Antlers grow to the length at the tip. Only a little is known about endocrine stimulation of antler growth and some discrepancy has arisen between in vivo and in vitro studies over the decades. As the secondary sexual character, the antler cycle timing and growth are linked to seasonal levels of testosterone. Since the levels are at their minimum during the antler growth phase, according to many mainly in vitro studies, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) tends to be accepted as the "antler stimulating hormone". Since the conclusion about the role of IGF-1 was contradictory to previous opinions and also in contrast with our own experience, we aimed to verify the role of IGF-1 in vitro. Our ex- periments were based on existing in vivo studies demonstrating the importance of testosterone, even in its low levels, and on the hypothesis that testosterone should be the "antler stimulating hormone". We performed in vitro...

Information about large mammals in Turkey usually does not go further than species lists or annual counts of particular species such as the wild goat. Camera trapping is a very useful technique to overcome this deficiency by gathering information about species presence, numbers, habitat use and behavior. Hence, a one year long camera trap study was conducted to demonstrate the diversity, activity, distribution patterns, habitat preferences and interspecific interactions of medium and large mammals in a 148 km2 large pine woodland near Ankara. Brown bear (Ursus arctos), wolf (Canis lupus), Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), golden jackal (Canis aureus), jungle cat (Felis chaus), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), Eurasian badger (Meles meles), stone marten (Martes foina), red deer (Cervus elaphus), wild boar (Sus scrofa), brown hare (Lepus europaeus), Caucasian squirrel (Sciurus anomalus) and southern white-breasted hedgehog (Erinaceus concolor) were the 13 mammal species captured during the study. Spatial segregation was observed among canid species indicating intraguild competition and competitive exclusion. Prey-predator interactions were documented at both spatial and temporal scales between wolves, deer and wild boars. Red deer showed seasonal and sex differences in activity patterns that appeared to be influenced by wolf predation risk. The presence of two felids unknown to the local people were revealed by camera trapping, showing the utility of this technique for such secretive and rare species. However, the low encounter rates for particular species such as lynx, brown bear and jungle cat indicated the importance of the length of study. Based on various evidence, resident adult population sizes were estimated for wolf (2-5), Eurasian lynx (2-4), brown bear (0-2) and jungle cat (2-3). The study showed that lynx can exist in high densities in a relatively small area when prey species are abundant. This study area hosted a rich mammal fauna in spite of human activities such as livestock grazing, logging and hunting. A relatively intact ecosystem, high altitudinal and habitat diversity, and a positive attitude of local people are believed to be the reasons of this observed high diversity.

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