engleski

Identification of illegally introduced deer and their source populations: a European perspective

Red deer (Cervus elaphus) have been subjected to anthropogenic interference for many centuries. Most populations are manages according to hunting schedules, some are kept long-term in enclosures and other extinct, or nearly extinct, populations have been restocked with foreign deer. Moreover, it has been shown previously that farmed red deer have been released illegally in some areas, probably for hunting purposes. Here, we used microsatellites to genotype red deer from 32 different localities across Europe, as well as from one deer farm from northwestern France. Using a geographically explicit genetic assignment method, we show that the farmed deer originated from Scotland, as well as from Eastern Europe. Deer previously excluded from a population in Belgium-Germany-Luxemburg were also assigned to the UK, confirming that it was very likely that they originated from a deer farm. Furthermore, we found evidence of releases of farmed deer in other European populations. We have generated a tool that should allow identification of illegally releases of farmed deer in any European population.

Cervus elaphus; population stricture; illegall translocation

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