Health status of red deer and roe deer in Gorski kotar, Croatia

• Main Authors: Josip Kusak, Silvio Špičić, Vedran Slijepčević, Sanja Bosnić, Ranka Rajković Janje, Sanja Duvnjak, Magda Sindičić, Dario Majnarić, Željko Cvetnić, Đuro Huber
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Draga; Canis lupus; Lynx; Lynx lynx lynx
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.375.4883; http://www.vef.unizg.hr/vetarhiv/papers/2012-82-1-6.pdf

To determine the general health status of the main prey species of wolf (Canis lupus) and lynx (Lynx lynx), we examined 66 cervids (41 red deer- Cervus elaphus and 25 roe deer- Capreolus capreolus), shot in two hunting areas of Gorski kotar during the hunting season in 2007. We collected a total of 687 organ samples of shot deer, where 472 samples belonged to red deer and 215 samples to roe deer. Analyses were performed for various parasite invasions, non-specific bacterial infections and for three specific bacteria. In five (12.2%) samples of red deer and seven (17.1%) roe deer, we determined the presence of Streptococcus sp. Specific tests for Mycobacterium sp., Brucella sp. and Leptospira sp. were all negative. The prevalence of Dictyocaulus spp., Ostertagia spp. and Elaphostrongylus cervi in red deer was 29.3%, 17.1 % and 14.6%, respectively. The prevalence of Chabertia ovina, Ostertagia spp. and Trichostrongylus spp. in roe deer was 36.0%, 24.0 % and 20.0%, respectively. The estimated number of red deer and roe deer in the hunting areas Smrekova Draga (182 km2) and Bjelolasica (303 km2) in the management year 2007-2008 were 430 and 290 respectively, with densities of 236 and 148 individuals per 100 km2. The low prevalence of parasite invasions and the absence of serious bacterial infections were the consequences of low ungulate densities, and the presence of large