Deer carcass breakdown monitoring

This research project monitored 1080 residue breakdown in muscle, skin, bone and stomach samples for two sika deer (Cervus nippon) carcasses during the period October 2010 to May 2011. These deer were located immediately following a possum control operation undertaken on the 23/10/2010 using aerially-delivered 1080 bait

Biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Frome catchment, Purbeck district, United Kingdom

A map for valuing ecosystem services in the 480 km2 Frome catchment, to investigate scenarios of change in land use, was internet crowd-sourced. Scouts mapped deer habitats in 15% of the 30 km2 Arne Parish, while 143 residents volunteered data on deer sightings in the 5-year community survey

No preference in female sika deer for conspecific over heterospecific male sexual calls in a mate choice context

Mating signals can be used both in contexts of species recognition and mate quality assessment. This study examines species recognition abilities in oestrous females presented with male mating calls from both conspecifics and closely related allopatric heterospecifics. Red deer and sika deer are naturally allopatric polygynous species capable of hybridization during sympatry. Male mating calls are sexually selected and differ greatly between species. Previous work indicated that most but not all oestrous red deer hinds prefer male mating calls from conspecifics over heterospecific sika deer. Using two-speaker playback experiments, we extend this examination by measuring the preference responses of oestrous sika deer hinds to these stimuli. We predicted that oestrous sika deer hinds will show little flexibility in behavioural responses and prefer conspecific calls over heterospecific calls, similar to those of red deer hinds. In contrast, sika deer hinds showed high levels of flexibility and no difference in overall preference behaviours, suggesting that vocal behaviour does not provide a solid barrier to hybridization in this species. The asymmetry in heterospecific preference responses between these species is discussed in relation to possible causation and hybridization patterns observed in free-ranging populations

Histomorphological species identification of tiny bone fragments from a Paleolithic site in the Northern Japanese Archipelago

AbstractBone histomorphology is an effective method for species identification of fragmentary osseous remains. The 1997–1998 excavations of the Kashiwadai 1 Upper Paleolithic site (ca. 22–20.5 kyBP) in Hokkaido (the northern island of the Japanese Archipelago) yielded tiny bone fragments, which had been burned to white and broken into pieces less than 1 cm in size, making their species identification by gross morphology alone impossible. For the purpose of species identification, histomorphological analyses were performed on thin sections of the Kashiwadai 1 bone fragments. Compact bone cross sections taken from medium- to large-sized land mammals in the Pleistocene and Holocene Hokkaido were prepared for comparison. The structures of the Kashiwadai 1 samples consisted of secondary osteons and plexiform bone. Consideration of the presence versus absence of plexiform bone and quantitative assessments of osteon sizes and bone cortical thickness allows for distinction between medium-sized deer, large-sized artiodactyls, small- to medium-sized carnivores, large-sized carnivores, elephants, and humans. The histomorphological characteristics of the Kashiwadai 1 samples were quite similar to those of both sika deer and ancient sika deer. A probable conclusion is that medium-sized deer was the primary game hunted by Paleolithic people at the Kashiwadai 1 site. Interestingly, the samples did not include elephant or large-sized artiodactyls, which were the predominant species in other Paleolithic sites of the Japanese Archipelago. This is the first evidence of human hunting medium-sized animals in the Upper Paleolithic period of the Japanese Archipelago based on faunal remains

An initial record of a long-distance dispersal route of a male sika deer in central Japan

Mammalia. 84(1), 63-68 (2019)journal articl

ANÁLISIS FECALES EN EL ESTUDIO DE LA REPRODUCCIÓN EN CÉRVIDOS Y SU PAPEL EN LA CONSERVACIÓN

El uso de las técnicas no invasivas por medio de heces fecales, son una alternativa para el estudio de la reproducción en cérvidos, con la más mínima manipulación de los individuos de estudio. El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo dar a conocer el uso de estas técnicas,que han sido utilizadas en la determinación de hormonas presentes en heces fecales, mediante una revisión bibliográfica sistemática. La búsqueda consistió en el uso de bases de datos como: BioOne, Science Direct, Redalyc, PubMed y JSTOR. Los artículos sobre el tema de interés estuvieron comprendidos en el periodo de 1990 al 2011. En los cuales, se obtuvieron un total de 14 revistas diferentes y 26 artículos. De acuerdo a los diferentes autores, los resultados mostraron que el uso de las técnicas no invasivas por medio de heces fecales de las diferentes especies de Cérvidos, son una buena herramienta para el estudio reproductivo con fines de conservación de las poblaciones

Introgression of exotic <i>Cervus</i> (<i>nippon</i> and <i>canadensis</i>) into red deer (<i>Cervus elaphus</i>) populations in Scotland and the English Lake District

Since the mid-19th century, multiple introductions of Japanese sika deer (Cervus nippon nippon) and North American wapiti (C. canadensis) have taken place in the British Isles. While wapiti have generally been unsuccessful, sika have been very successful, especially in Scotland where they now overlap at least 40% of the range of native red deer (C. elaphus). Hybridization between these two species and red deer has been demonstrated in captivity and in the wild. Using a panel of 22 microsatellite loci that are highly diagnostic between red deer and sika, and moderately diagnostic between red deer and wapiti, we investigated the extent of introgression between these species in 2,943 deer sampled from around Scotland and from the English Lake District using the Bayesian clustering software STRUCTURE. We also used a diagnostic mitochondrial marker for red deer and sika. Our survey extends previous studies indicating little introgression of wapiti nuclear alleles into red deer, in particular in Northern Scotland, Kintyre, and the Lake District. We found a new area of extensive sika introgression in South Kintyre. In the North Highlands, we show for the first time geographically scattered evidence of past hybridization followed by extensive backcrossing, including one red-like individual with sika introgression, two sika-like individuals with red deer introgression, and six individuals that were apparently pure sika at the nuclear markers assessed but which carried red deer mitochondria. However, there has not been a collapse of assortative mating in this region. Similarly, in the English Lake District red deer, we found only traces of past sika introgression. No sika alleles were detected in the Central Highlands or the Hebridean red deer refugia. We make suggestions for management to prevent further spread of sika alleles into red deer and vice versa.Peer Reviewe