<p> Texas white-tailed deer (<i>Odocoileus virginianus</i>) breeding operations frequently release captive-reared deer in anticipation of increasing the genetic quality of their deer herd. There is little understanding of how well captive-reared deer acclimate following release. My goal was to determine survival, distribution, and fawn survival of captive-reared white-tailed deer following spring and fall releases. Thus, 223 deer (120 F, 103 M) were released in spring and fall liberations from fall 2013–spring 2015 into a 2,631-ha high-fenced pasture. Deer were released by age cohorts ranging from 1.5–≥3.5 years of age for does and 1.5–3.5 years of age for bucks. During spring 2014 (<i>n</i> = 18) and 2015 (<i>n</i> = 18) 36 does were fitted with Vaginal Implant Transmitters, which resulted in the capture of 29 fawns. In 2014, fawn survival was estimated 60%, whereas 2015 fawn survival was 21%. Adult survival was measured for 127 (70 F, 57 M) radio-collared deer for 1-year following liberation. Survival of does and bucks across all releases was 90% and 75%, respectively. A selection index was used to determine the preferred distance of 54 (29 F, 25 M) captive-reared white-tailed deer distributed following release. Does stayed close to the corresponding breeding pen (75% of locations ≤ 1 km from pens), while bucks (40% of locations ≤ 1 km from pens) of all age cohorts covered a larger expanse of area compared to does. In conclusion, captive-reared white-tailed deer were capable of surviving liberation from pens, but accommodations such as maintaining a high density of water and supplemental feed will aid in survival. Philopatric nature of does was evident in the lack of distribution following release. High density of does around the breeding pens during fawning may explain the decrease in fawn survival. Distributing release sites across the property could promote a more even distribution of does.</p><p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:13814751 |
| Date | 18 April 2019 |
| Creators | Tidwell, Daniel J. |
| Publisher | Sul Ross State University |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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