Examination of red deer from the Zselic region for body condition, size and parasites during the 2006/07 hunting season

Abstract

The red deer is an important game in Hungary and especially in Somogy county, with its 16 to 17% of stock and bag size and outstanding quality. One of the best stocks of Somogy county is found in the Zselic forest, owned by the SEFAG company. The health status of this stock was examined using 80 non-trophy deer shot during the 2006/07 hunting season. Both the length of mandibula and metacarpus were increasing with age, reaching maximum in the group of the older hinds with 31.16 (±1.13) and 25.23 cm (±0.72) respectively. In contrast, the carcass weight was highest in the younger hinds (74.6±12.6 kg). The kidney-fat-indices (KFI) showed that the young hinds (2.15) were in better body condition than the calves (1.28) and the yearling hinds (1.28). Nasopharyngeal bot-flies (Oestridae) were the most prevalent parasites (62.5%), followed by the large lungworms (Dictyocaulus spp.: 41.25%) and the Elaphostrongylus cervi (28.8%), the latter inside the cranial cavity. All these parasites occurred more frequently in calves than in other age groups. In addition, Setaria cervi was found in the cranial cavity of two deer. The worm-infested calves and most of the worm-free ones showed lesions on the inner side of the dura mater, although neurological symptoms were not reported by the hunters. An egg-shaped abdominal skin papilloma and a walnut-sized pulmonary carcinoma was also found in one-one deer. It is concluded that the body condition and the overall health status of deer in the Zselic forest was very good in this hunting season.