Comparative health assessment of urban and non-urban free-ranging mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in southeastern British Columbia, Canada.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The provincial wildlife management agency, British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, performed a translocation to control the urban mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus; uMD) overpopulation and supplement the declining non-urban mule deer (nuMD) population in the Kootenay region, British Columbia, Canada. The objectives of this cross-sectional study were to evaluate the health of the urban and nuMD populations by comparing pathogen exposure, body condition scores (BCS) and pregnancy rates, to characterize the health risks associated with the translocation and to investigate the role of infectious diseases in the decline of the nuMD deer population.

Methods

Two hundred free-ranging mule deer were captured in ur

SUBMITTER: Mathieu A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6015483 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature