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

• Published in: PeerJ (San Francisco, CA) Vol. 6; p. e4968
• Main Authors: Mathieu, Amélie, Flint, Mark, Stent, Patrick M, Schwantje, Helen M, Wittum, Thomas E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States PeerJ, Inc 20.06.2018; PeerJ Inc
• Subjects: Adenoviruses; Animal populations; Antibodies; Bluetongue; Cattle; Cervidae; Conservation Biology; Deer; Diarrhea; Disease; Forests; Health care; Health risk assessment; Hemorrhage; Hemorrhagic disease; Infections; Infectious Diseases; Medical screening; Mule deer; Neospora caninum; Odocoileus; Odocoileus hemionus; Parainfluenza; Pathogens; Pregnancy; Preventive medicine; Respiratory syncytial virus; Risk assessment; Rural development; Translocation; Urban areas; Urban environments; Urban populations; Veterinary Medicine; Viruses; Wildlife management; Wildlife translocation; Working groups; Zoology; British Columbia Canada; Canada; California; United Kingdom > UK; United States > US; Switzerland; Wildlife translocation; Cervidae; Odocoileus hemionus; Health risk assessment; Wildlife management; Mule deer
• ISSN: 2167-8359; 2167-8359
• DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4968

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 ( ; 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. Two hundred free-ranging mule deer were captured in urban and non-urban environments in the Kootenay region from 2014 to 2017. BCS and morphometric examinations were performed for each deer. Blood samples collected from each deer were tested for exposure to selected pathogens and pregnancy status. Body condition scores averaged 3.4 on a five-point scale, was greater in nuMD, and significantly differed between years. Antibodies were detected for adenovirus hemorrhagic disease virus (38.4% (uMD 43.7%, nuMD 33.3%)), bluetongue virus (0.6% (uMD 1.2%, nuMD 0%)), bovine respiratory syncytial virus (8.4% (uMD 4.6%, nuMD 12.1%)), bovine viral diarrhea virus (1.1% (uMD 0%, nuMD 2.2%)), bovine parainfluenza-3 virus (27.0% (uMD 27.6%, nuMD 26.4%)), (22.1% (uMD 24.4%, nuMD 19.7%)) and (8.2% (uMD 12.3%, nuMD 3.9%)). No antibodies against epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus were detected. Pregnancy rates did not differ between the two deer populations (90.7% (uMD 90.6%, nuMD 90.9%)). Exposure to was associated with a reduced probability of being pregnant. uMD were more likely to be exposed to than nuMD. Comparison of BCS, pregnancy rates and pathogen exposure of uMD and nuMD showed that the health of the two populations did not significantly differ, suggesting uMD translocations do not pose a severe risk of pathogen transmission between mule deer populations and that these selected pathogens do not factor in the decline of the nuMD population. However, inclusion of additional health indicators and creation of a robust predictive disease model are warranted to further characterize the health of mule deer and the health risks associated with uMD translocations. These results should be considered as part of a formal risk assessment for future uMD translocations in southeastern British Columbia.