Health status of free-ranging ring-necked pheasant chicks (Phasianus colchicus) in North-Western Germany.

ABSTRACT: Being a typical ground-breeding bird of the agricultural landscape in Germany, the pheasant has experienced a strong and persistent population decline with a hitherto unexplained cause. Contributing factors to the ongoing negative trend, such as the effects of pesticides, diseases, predation, increase in traffic and reduced fallow periods, are currently being controversially discussed. In the present study, 62 free-ranging pheasant chicks were caught within a two-year period in three federal states of Germany; Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein. The pheasant chicks were divided into three age groups to detect differences in their development and physical constitution. In addition, pathomorphological, parasitological, virological, bacteriological and toxicological i

SUBMITTER: Liebing J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7297342 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature