Cortisol but not testosterone is repeatable and varies with reproductive effort in wild red deer stags

During the nineteenth century, scientific literature and official reports recorded the occurrence of a population of red deer, Cervus elaphus, on the island of Lampedusa (Pelagian Archipelago, Italy). Osteological specimens collected by the zoologist Enrico Hillier Giglioli towards the end of the century confirmed these references. Since cervids are not found among the fossil fauna of the island, the red deer must have been introduced by man although we do not yet know precisely when. The former existence of the species on Lampedusa is discussed by comparison of literary material and bone evidence. The population's probable origins and its taxonomic relationships with other Mediterranean red deer populations are also analysed.

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Role of ovarian failure in reproductive senescence in aged red deer (Cervus elaphus) hinds

Reproduction ◽

10.1530/jrf.0.1200211 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 120 (2) ◽

pp. 211-216 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

M. Fisher ◽

B. McLeod ◽

D. Heath ◽

S Lun ◽

P. Hurst

Keyword(s):

Cervus Elaphus ◽

Red Deer ◽

Ovarian Failure ◽

Reproductive Senescence

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Production of interferon by red deer (Cervus elaphus) conceptuses and the effects of roIFN-tau on the timing of luteolysis and the success of asynchronous embryo transfer

Reproduction ◽

10.1530/reprod/118.2.387 ◽

2000 ◽

pp. 387-395 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

KJ Demmers ◽

HN Jabbour ◽

DW Deakin ◽

AP Flint

Keyword(s):

Embryo Transfer ◽

Early Pregnancy ◽

Cervus Elaphus ◽

Pregnancy Loss ◽

Red Deer ◽

Interferon Tau ◽

Recombinant Interferon ◽

Uterine Flushing ◽

Calving Rate

The role of interferon in early pregnancy in red deer was investigated by (a) measuring production of interferon by the conceptus, (b) testing the anti-luteolytic effect of recombinant interferon-tau in non-pregnant hinds, and (c) treatment of hinds with interferon after asynchronous embryo transfer. Blastocysts were collected from 34 hinds by uterine flushing 14 (n = 2), 16 (n = 2), 18 (n = 8), 20 (n = 13) or 22 (n = 9) days after synchronization of oestrus with progesterone withdrawal. Interferon anti-viral activity was detectable in uterine flushings from day 16 to day 22, and increased with duration of gestation (P < 0.01) and developmental stage (P < 0.01). When interferon-tau was administered daily between day 14 and day 20 to non-pregnant hinds to mimic natural blastocyst production, luteolysis was delayed by a dose of 0.2 mg day(-1) (27.3 +/- 1.3 days after synchronization, n = 4 versus 21 +/- 0 days in control hinds, n = 3; P < 0.05). Interferon-tau was administered to hinds after asynchronous embryo transfer to determine whether it protects the conceptus against early pregnancy loss. Embryos (n = 24) collected on day 6 from naturally mated, superovulated donors (n = 15) were transferred into synchronized recipients on day 10 or day 11. Interferon-tau treatment (0.2 mg daily from day 14 to 20) increased calving rate from 0 to 64% in all recipients (0/11 versus 7/11, P < 0.005), and from 0 to 67% in day 10 recipients (0/8 versus 6/9, P < 0.01). The increased success rate of asynchronous embryo transfer after interferon-tau treatment in cervids may be of benefit where mismatched embryo-maternal signalling leads to failure in the establishment of pregnancy.

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Long-term population dynamics of the red deer and European roe deer at the protected and not-protected areas in Mountain Crimea

Ukrainian Journal of Ecology ◽

10.15421/2017_88 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 7 (4) ◽

pp. 65-72

Author(s):

V. N. Shmagol' ◽

V. L. Yarysh ◽

S. P. Ivanov ◽

V. I. Maltsev

Keyword(s):

Population Dynamics ◽

Protected Areas ◽

Red Deer ◽

Nature Reserve ◽

Roe Deer ◽

Precipitation Amount ◽

Annual Precipitation ◽

Population Number ◽

The Impact

The long-term population dynamics of the red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) and European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus L.) at the mountain and forest zone of Crimea during 1980-2017 is presented. Fluctuations in numbers of both species are cyclical and partly synchronous. Period of oscillations in the population of red deer is about 25 years, the average duration of the oscillation period of number of roe deer is 12.3 years. During the fluctuations in the number the increasing and fall in population number of the red deer had been as 26-47 %, and roe deer – as 22-34 %. Basing on the dada obtained we have assumed that together with large-scale cycles of fluctuations in population number of both red deer and roe deer the short cycles of fluctuations in the number of these species with period from 3.5 to 7.5 years take place. Significant differences of the parameters of cyclical fluctuations in the number of roe deer at some sites of the Mountainous Crimea: breaches of synchronicity, as well as significant differences in the duration of cycles are revealed. The greatest deviations from the average values of parameters of long-term dynamics of the number of roe deer in Crimea are noted for groups of this species at two protected areas. At the Crimean Nature Reserve the cycle time of fluctuations of the numbers of roe deer was 18 years. At the Karadag Nature Reserve since 1976 we can see an exponential growth in number of roe deer that is continued up to the present time. By 2016 the number of roe deer reached 750 individuals at a density of 437 animals per 1 thousand ha. Peculiarity of dynamics of number of roe deer at some sites proves the existence in the mountain forest of Crimea several relatively isolated groups of deer. We assumed that "island" location of the Crimean populations of red deer and European roe deer, their relatively little number and influence of permanent extreme factors of both natural and anthropogenic origination have contributed to a mechanism of survival of these populations. The elements of such a mechanism include the following features of long-term dynamics of the population: the reduction in the period of cyclic population fluctuations, while maintaining their amplitude and the appearance of additional small cycles, providing more flexible response of the population to the impact of both negative and positive environmental factors. From the totality of the weather conditions for the Crimean population of roe deer the recurring periods of increases and downs in the annual precipitation amount may have relevance. There was a trend of increase in the roe deer population during periods of increasing annual precipitation.

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Predisposition assessment of mountainous forests to bark peeling by red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) as a strategy in preventive forest habitat management

Wildlife Biology in Practice ◽

10.2461/wbp.2011.7.7 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Ursula Nopp-Mayr ◽

Friedrich Reimoser ◽

Friedrich Voelk

Keyword(s):

Cervus Elaphus ◽

Habitat Management ◽

Red Deer ◽

Forest Habitat ◽

Bark Peeling

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The population of Red Deer (Cervus elaphus L., 1758) in Tulcea county (Romania)

Travaux du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle “Grigore Antipa” ◽

10.2478/v10191-010-0026-3 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 53 (1) ◽

pp. 351-356

Author(s):

Sorin Geacu

Keyword(s):

Cervus Elaphus ◽

Red Deer ◽

Forest Land ◽

The West ◽

Spreading Area ◽

Deer Population ◽

The North ◽

Natural Expansion ◽

North Western

The population of Red Deer (Cervus elaphus L., 1758) in Tulcea county (Romania) The presence of the Red Deer in the North-western parts of Tulcea County is an example of the natural expansion of a species spreading area. In North Dobrogea, this mammal first occurred only forty years ago. The first specimens were spotted on Cocoşul Hill (on the territory of Niculiţel area) in 1970. Peak numbers (68 individuals) were registered in the spring of 1987. The deer population (67 specimens in 2007) of this county extended along 10 km from West to East and 20 km from North to South over a total of 23,000 ha (55% of which was forest land) in the East of the Măcin Mountains and in the West of the Niculiţel Plateau.

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