Deer Flashcards
What are the native deer species in UK?
- Red
- Fallow
- Roe
What invasive species?
- Sika
- Muntjac
- Chinese Water Deer
Domesticated Species?
- Reindeer
- ‘Red’
Red Deer?
Cervus elaphus
Largest UK species
Only widely farmed species
Wild, park, farm
Normal and ‘white’ reds (leukistic)
What kind of breeder are red deer?
Seasonal breeders
Fallow Deer name?
Dama Dama
Describe Fallow Deer?
- very few farms
- Common in deer parks
- Commo,n in the wild
Fallow deer what breeders?
seasonal breeders
What kind of animals in fallow deer?
- Palmated antlers
- FOur colouts - common, menil, leukistic, melanistic
Temperament fallow deer?
Fractious, nervous, herd species
Roe deer - name?
Capreolus capreolus
Describe Roe deer ?
- WIld deer only
- None specifically in deer parks
- Smaller deer species
Reprod/ bhvr roe deer?
- Seasonal breeders (long day)
- Solitary bery small groups
- 11 mth gestation - delayed implantation
Sika deer name?
Cervus nippon
Describe sika deer?
- Peesent in parks and some areas wild
- Similar genetics to red deer
- Smaller stature
- Variety subsp
- Hybrid between reds and sika
Name of Muntjac deer?
Muntiacus reevesii
Muntjac?
- Small
- All year round breeders
- INVASIVE
- Illegal to release
- Small antlers
Chinese Water Deer name?
Hydropotes inermis
Chinese Water Deer describe
- Small - Slowly increasing range - No antlers, fangs
- Invasive species
Reindeer name?
Rangifer tarandus
Describe Reindeer?
- Domesticated in UK
- exhibition & pet groups most common
- Caringorm herd
- Males commonly catsrated
- Females and males grow antlers
Deer bhvr in general?
- PRey species
- Very new to domestication
- Heavily seasonal aggression
- Will fight if pushed
- Un like any other species to read
- Bullying
Describe Deer Antlers?
- Testosterone. androgen dependant
- Annual growth
- Velvet and pedicle growth planes
- CLeaning
- Casting
- Damage & injuries
Deer farms?
- Almost exclusively red deer
- Only venison production in EU
- NZ velvet industry
- Regularly handled
- Must go through abbatoir
Describe Deer Farm Facilities.
- Handling facilities to accommodate for danger
- Stags and hinds both risky to handle
- Designed around animal behaviour and safety
- Boards, doors and crush
- Hydraulic squeeze crush
- Manual squeeze crush
- Drop floor crush
Describe deer farm management?
- Animals routinely tagged
- De-antlering of stags
- Weaning
- Weighing
- Vaccination
- Scanning
- Trace element supplementation
- Medication and treatments
what common conditions in deer farms?
- PGE
- Lungworm
- Copper deficiency
- Bovine TB
- Pasteurella
- Yersinoisis
- Cryptosporidium
What are deer parks?
- Enclosure containing managed deer that are not routinely handled
- Deer within bounds are “wild”
- No set legal definition
- Venison only through Approved Game Handling Establishments
- Management by rifle
Deer Park facilities?
- Wide variety
- Game larders
- Feeding arrangements
- Some have handling facilities
- Deer leaps
Deer Park Management?
- Hands off
- Culling
- Deer counts
- Cull plans
- Calving/fawning
- Generally no routine antler removal
- “Au Natural”
- Sometimes supplementary feeding
- No medication
Der park common conditions?
- Often related to stocking density
- Lungworm
- Cryptosporidium
- Clostridial disease
- Toxicities
- Dystocia
- Tangling/snaring injuries
Wild deer - likely exposure?
- Injury
- Road traffic accidents
- Orphaned deer
- Euthanasia
- Be aware of legislation and law
- Consider stress of animal
- Consider risk to staff members and facilities
Orphaned deer ?
Species specific
* Releasing criteria
* Rehabilitation centres
* Castration or euthanasia of males
* Behaviour during the rut
* Ewes’ milk or goats’ milk
* Consider colostrum status
* Co-morbidities
* Difficult
Zoo collections?
- Reprod assistance/ contraception
- Injury
-Routine health checks - wOrking with larger team
Reindeer main points?
- Often kept as pets
- Domesticated
- Tend to be gentle
-Import currently banned from EU - Expensive
- Winter/ Christmas showing
Reindeer management?
- Managed as “exotic” farm species
- Vaccinations
- Castration
- Foot trimming
- De-antlering
- Careful with feeding and husbandry
Describe antler cycle?
Antler problems -catsration?
- Require annual de-antlering
- Perruques
- Antler warts
- Broken antlers
- Pedicle infections
- Hormone therapy
Common Reindeer Conditions?
- PGE
- Nutritional scouring
- MCF (ovine / caprine herpesvirus)
- Trace element deficiencies
- Lameness/ foot problems
- Illthrift
- Clostridial disease
- Pasteurellosis
What is all the legislation surrounding reindeers?
- Vet surgeons act 196
- Deer act 1991
- Animal welfare 2006
- The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (England) Order 2006
- The Tuberculosis in Animals (England) Order 2021
- Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 – Alces or Rangifer
describe reindeer under vet surgeons act?
- The following are acts of veterinary surgery:
- “the removal (otherwise than in an emergency for the purpose of saving life or relieving pain
or suffering) of any part of the antlers of a deer before the velvet of the antlers is frayed and
the greater part of it has been shed” - Intramuscular injections of non-farmed deer (Schedule 3)
Describe Deer Act 1991?
Governs permissions and offences of wild deer (and park deer)
Describe Immobilisation & darting of reindeers?
- Heavily controlled under firearms regulations – section 5 firearm
- Difficult skill –
- Legal rQs
- Team job
Darting legislation?
- Non vets may not legally dart ‘wild’ deer
- Must be under veterinary surgeon’s care
- ‘Stupefying drugs’ cannot be used to capture ‘wild’ deer without
licence from Natural England - Long turnaround
- Medicines used often have no MRL
- EU 2010/63
Protocols for darting?
- Species dependent
- Purpose dependent
- Anxiety levels dependent
- Time of year dependent
- Environment dependent
- Operator experience dependent
- Food producing animal status dependent
Bovine tuberculosis
- Deer can contract bTB
- Deer can spread bTB
- APHA spillover host
- Deer establishments can be subject to statutory surveillanc
TB testing?
- Skin testing
- Blood testing
- Post mortem identification
- Development of new protocols
What notifiable reindeer ridseases?
- Bovine tuberculosis (bTB)
- Foot and Mouth Disease
- Bluetongue
- Epizootic haemorrhagic virus
- (Chronic Wasting Disease)
Describe Chronic Wasting Disease?
- TSE found in North American and Scandinavia
- Highly contagious – all secretions + tissue
- Fatal
- Non zoonotic
- Reason for import ban of Cervidae and strict controls on import of
products of animal original from Scandinavia - Not currently identified in the UK
