Genetic variability in introduced red deer in Patagonia, Argentina

FLUCK, WT; TATE, ML; SMITH-FLUECK, JM

San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina

Jornada; 1era Jornada Argentino-Chilena de Genética; 1995

Sociedad Argentina de Genetica

A small group of red deer (Cervus elaphus) was introduced to the foothills of the Andes inPatagonia around the year 1920. This species adapted very well to the habitat and climaticconditions in the area and presently may number as many as 100,000 animals. Several indicescommonly used to evaluate the fitness of a species in its environment indicate that red deerthrive under very favorable conditions in Patagonia. For instance, body size, antler development,reproductive rates, herd health, and longevity are near the maximum described for the species.Furthermore, some local populations occur at densities much higher than encountered in theirnative ranges. The introduction was based on few deer and raises the question how the geneticbackground relates to the apparent success of the population. The objective was to examineseveral biological systems to test for variance in protein polymorphism in comparison to otherwell known populations of red deer in other parts of the world.Blood was collected in heparinized tubes through cardiocentesis from adult females immediatelyafter being neck shot. Plasma was separated and erythrocytes washed twice in physiologicalsaline. All samples were kept frozen until processed in the laboratory. The protein systemsexamined in plasma include: post-transferrin, transferrin, vitamin D binding protein,plasminogen, and complement component; and in erythrocytes: hemoglobin, superoxidedismutase, glucose phosphate isomerase, and diaphorase I.Variation in plasminogen was lower than is typical for red deer, and glucose phosphateisomerase showed absolutely no variation. Furthermore, some occurrence of alleles typical forwapitoid species indicate that the introduced deer originated from English or European deerparks which have had a history of introductions of wapitoid species in the past.The low variations are likely the result of the introduction based on few individuals. However,the outstanding performance of the present population contradicts the existence of any overtimpact from this founder effect. The observed large body sizes may not only be due to goodenvironmental conditions, but also due to previous hybridization with wapitoid species. Severalspecimens were heterozygous and 1 specimen was homozygous for wapitoid hemoglobin.