Hepatic minerals of white-tailed and mule deer in the southern Black Hills, South Dakota.

Because there is a paucity of information on the mineral requirements of free-ranging deer, data are needed from clinically healthy deer to provide a basis for the diagnosis of mineral deficiencies. To our knowledge, no reports are available on baseline hepatic mineral concentrations from sympatric white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) using different habitats in the Northern Great Plains. We assessed variation in hepatic minerals of female white-tailed deer (n = 42) and mule deer (n = 41). Deer were collected in February and August 2002 and 2003 from study areas in Custer and Pennington Counties, South Dakota, in and adjacent to a wildfire burn. Hepatic samples were tested for levels (parts per million; ppm) of aluminum (Al), antimony (Sb), arsenic (As), barium (Ba), boron (B), cadmium (Cd), calcium (Ca), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), mercury (Hg), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), selenium (Se), sodium (Na), sulfur (S), thalium (Tl), and zinc (Zn). We predicted that variability in element concentrations would occur between burned and unburned habitat due to changes in plant communities and thereby forage availability. We determined that Zn, Cu, and Ba values differed (P

Congenital hypotrichosis in a white-tailed deer fawn from South Dakota.

On 1 October 2001, a 4-mo-old male white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fawn was collected in Day County, South Dakota (USA), by South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks personnel. The fawn had sparse hair development on the ventral thorax, the lateral caudal and caudal aspects of the rear legs, the muzzle, around the eyes, and inside the ears. Remaining skin surfaces were devoid of hair. Histologic examination revealed normal hair follicle density although follicles were empty or contained keratin debris and fragments of hair shaft. The epidermis of the fawn was mildly thickened and melanin pigment was prominent within deep layers of the epidermis. Based on histologic examination, the deer was diagnosed with congenital hypotrichosis. Although this condition has been reported in domestic species and humans, this specimen represents the first documented case of congenital hypotrichosis in a cervid.