101
CHAPTER 11
WHITE-TAILED DEER Odocoileus virginianus
(Zimmermann 1780)
Authors: SONIA GALLINA, SALVADOR MANDUJANO, JOAQUÍN BELLO, HUGO
FERNANDO LÓPEZ ARÉVALO, MANUEL WEBER
Associate Editor: MARIANO GIMENEZ
GENERIC SYNONYMY (Smith 1991)
Genus Odocoileus Rafinesque, 1832,
Cervus Exlreben 1777: 294 not Cervus Linneus 1798
Dama Zimmermann, 1780. Type species Dama
virginiana Zimmermann not Dama Frisch
Mazama Hamilton-Smith, 1827b:314.
Odocoileus Rafinesque, 1832 :109. Type species
Odocoileus speleus Rafinesque by monotypy
Dorcephalus Gogler, 1841:140.
Cariacus Lesson, 1842. Proposed as a group
(subgenus) of Cervus
Oplacerus Haldeman, 1842:188. Replacement name
of Mazama Hamilton-Smith, 1827
Reduncina Wagner, 1844:377.
Macrotis Wagner, 1855:368. Proposed as a subgenus
of Cervus
Eucervus Gray, 1866:338. Type species Cervus
macrotis Say
Coassus Gray, 1874:332
Otelaphus Fitzinger, 1873:356. Replacement anme for
Macrotis Wagner, 1855
Gymnotis Fitzinger, 1879a:343. Type species
Gymnotis wiegmanni Fitzinger by monotypy.
Odocoelus Allen, 1901:449. Unjustified emendation
of Odocoileus Rafinesque
Odontocoelus Sclater, 1902:209. Unjustified
emendation of Odocoileus Rafinesque
Palaeoodocoileus Spillmann 1931:30. Type species
Palaeoodocoileus abeli Spillmann by original designation.
Protomazama Spillmann 1931:41. Type species
Protomazama aequatorialis Spillmann by monotypy.
Aplacerus Hall and Kelson 1959:1003. Incorrect
subsequent spelling of Oplacerus Haldeman, 1842
SPECIES SYNONYMY (Whitehead 1993:483)
Odocoileus virginianus (Zimmermann), 1780. Type
locality Bewohnt in Carolina,USA.
Cervus dama americanus Erxleben,1777
Cervus virginianus Boddaert, 1785. Type locality
Virginia, USA.
Cervus clavatus H. Smith, 1827
Cervus (Mazama) virginianus H. Smith, 1827
Cervus (Mazama) clavatus H. Smith, 1827
DIXON
Odocoileus spelaeus Rafinesque, 1832
Mazama virginiana Jardine, 1835
Dorcelaphus virginianus Gloger,1841
Cariacus virginianus Lesson,1842. Type locality
Camp Crittenden, Sta. Cruz, Co., Arizona.
Reduncina virginiana Fitzinger, 1873
Cervus (Cariacus) virginianus Herrick,1892
Cariacus americanus Bangs, 1896
Dorcelaphus americanus Rhoads,1897
Mazama americana Lydekker, 1898
Odocoileus americanus Miller, 1899
Mazama (Dorcelaphus) americana Lydekker,1901
Odocoileus virginianus Stone and Cram,1903
Odontocoelus americanus Elliot, 1904
Mazama (Odocoileus) virginianus Lydekker,1914
COMMON NAMES
Spanish: North America: México: acuillame, venado,
venado cola blanca, venado saltón, venado real. Central
America: venado cola blanca, amapá, ciervo de cola
blanca, ciervo virginiano, ciervo cola blanca; Costa Rica:
venado cola blanca. South America: Colombia: venado
coliblanco, venado cola blanca, venado de cornamenta,
venado de páramo, venado llanero, venado de racimo,
venado blanco, taruca, ciervo, cierva, cuerva, ciervita,
venado sabanero, venado carameludo o caramerudo,
venado de ramazón, venado reinoso, venado cachiliso,
venado cachiforrado, venado cachienvainado, venado
grande, cucampo. cariacou, cariacú, cariacus; Perú:
Lluichú; Venezuela: venao
English: white-tailed deer
Portuguese: veado-galheiro
French: Guyana: Biche de Cayenne; biche de
Louisiana, bina hert
Native names (Indigenous): Apeese-mongoose, wat-
ai-ush (Cree), squinator, tah-chah-seentay-skah (Sioux);
in Mexico: mazatl (Aztec),ceh,uac nac, keej, yalem keej
(fawn), tankelem keej (yearling), nojoch keej (adult,
Mayan names); Axuni (Tarasco), Guej (Lacandon), Macha
(Huichol), muxati (Coras), phatehe (Otomi; Davila 1928
cit. Valenzuela 1991). In Colombia (Rodríguez-Mahecha
et al. 1995): Síkarama, Sawáya, Mejaca ñama / Sawayá,
Ejaca jama, Chomquet, Ovébi, Edúma (for juveniles),
 102 WHITE-TAILED DEER Odocoileus virginianus
Quenánali (for individuals with small antlers),Awebi,
SECTION 2
Agébi, Agebi, Nerri: Curripaco; Rra’ma, Namá, Huey,
Chichica, Guahaki, Chuntahe, Sunday, Uase, Kusaru,
Vima, Viisa, Irrama, Amusha.
SUBESPECIES: Smith (1991)
Odocoileus virginianus acapulcensis (Caton, 1877).
Type locality Acapulco, Guerrero, México
Odocoileus virginianus borealis (Miller, 1990).Type
locality “Booksport”, Maine, USA.
Odocoileus virginianus cariacou (Boddaert, 1784).
Type locality Guyane, coastal French Guiana
Odocoileus virginianus carminis Goldman and Kellogg,
1940. Type locality “Botellas Cañón, Sierra del Carmen,
northern Coahuila, México.
Odocoileus virginianus chiriquensis (Allen, 1910). Type
locality “Boquerón, Chiriqui”, Panamá
Odocoileus virginianus clavium Barboyr and Allen,
1922. Type locality “Big Pine Key”, Florida, USA
Odocoileus virginianus couesi (Coues and Yarrow,
1875). Type locality “Rancho Santuario”, northwestern
Durango, México.
Odocoileus virginianus curassavicus (Hummelinck,
1940). Type locality Island of Curacao.
Odocoileus virginianus dacotensis Goldman and
Kellogg, 1940. Type locality ”White Earth River”,
Mountrail Country, North Dakota, USA.
Odocoileus virginianus goudotti (Gay and
Gervais,1846). Type locality “vits dans les regions elevees
de la Nouvelle-Grenade”.
Odocoileus virginianus gymnotis (Wiegmann, 1833).
Type locality “British Guiana”.
Odocoileus virginianus hiltonensis Goldman and
Kellogg, 1940. Type locality “Hilton Head Island,
Beaufort County, South Carolina, USA.
Odocoileus virginianus leucurus (Douglas, 1829).
Type locality “the districts adjoining the river Columbia,
USA
Odocoileus virginianus macrourus (Rafinesque, 1817).
Type locality “Mer Rouge, Morehouse county, Louisiana,
USA.
Odocoileus virginianus mcilhennyi Miller, 1928. Type
locality “near Avery Island, Iberia Parish, Louisiana, USA
Odocoileus virginianus margaritae (Osgood, 1910).
Type locality “vicinity of Puerto Viejo”, Margarita Island,
Venezuela.
Odocoileus virginianus mexicanus (Gmelin, 1788).
Type locality “Valley of México”, México
Odocoileus virginianus miquihuanensis Goldman and
Kellogg, 1940. Type locality ”Sierra Madre Oriental, near
Miquihuana, southwestern Tamaulipas, México”.
Odocoileus virginianus nelsoni Merriam, 1898. Type
locality “San Cristobal, highlands of Chiapas, México”.
Odocoileus virginianus nigribarbis Goldman and
Kellogg, 1940. Type locality “Blackbeard Island,
McIntoch County, Georgia, USA.
Odocoileus virginianus oaxacensis Goldman and
Kellogg, 1940. Type locality “mountains 15 miles west
of Oaxaca, México”.
Odocoileus virginianus ochrourus Bailey, 1932. Type
locality “Coolin, south end of Priest Lake, Idaho, USA.
Odocoileus virginianus osceola (Bangs, 1896). Type
locality “Citronelle, Citrus county, Florida, USA.
Odocoileus virginianus peruvianus (Gray, 1874). Type
locality “Ceuchupate”, Perú.
Odocoileus virginianus rothschildi (Thomas, 1902).
Type locality “Island of Coiba”, Veraguas, Panamá.
Odocoileus virginianus seminolus Goldman and Kellog,
1940. Type locality”ten miles northeast of Everglades,
Collier county, Florida, USA.
Odocoileus virginianus sinaloae. Allen, 1903. Type
locality “Escuinapa”,southern Sinaloa, México.
Odocoileus virginianus taurinsulae Goldman and
Kellogg, 1940. Type locality “Bull’s Island, Charleston
County, South Carolina, USA.
Odocoileus virginianus texanus (Mearns, 1898). Type
locality “Fort Clark”, Kinney County, Texas, USA.
Odocoileus virginianus thomasi Merriam, 1898. Type
locality “Huehuetan”, Chiapas, México.
Odocoileus virginianus toltecus (Saussure, 1860). Type
locality “Orizaba”, Veracruz, México.
Odocoileus virginianus tropicalis (Cabrera, 1918).
Type locality “La María, en el Valle del Dagua”,
Colombia.
Odocoileus virginianus nemoralis (Hamilton-Smith,
1827). Type locality restricted to “Central America, round
the Gulf of Mexico to Surinam”; further restricted to
“From Honduras to Panamá” (Lydekker, 1915).
Odocoileus virginianus ustus (Trouessart, 1910). Type
locality ”El Pelado”, north of Quito (4,100 m), on the
border with Colombia.
Odocoileus virginianus venatorius Goldman and
Kellogg, 1940. Type locality”Hunting Island, Beufort
County, south Carolina, USA.
Odocoileus virginianus veraecrucis Goldman and
Kellogg, 1940. Type locality “Chijol, northern Veracruz,
México”.
Odocoileus virginianus virginiana (Zimmermann,
1780). Type locality “Wisconsin”, USA.
Odocoileus virginianus yucatanensis (Hays, 1872).
Type locality “throughout Yucatán and the southern part
of México”.
Note to the reader: This chapter is an attempt to
summarize the most relevant information on the
neotropical subspecies and populations of white-tailed
deer. While recognizing that, in the northern hemisphere,
it is one of the most thoroughly studied species of large
mammals, this chapter provides little information on the
species in the United States or Canada.
MORPHOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION
The white-tailed deer is a polytypic species that has
become well adapted to different environments. This
diversity is reflected in body weight, external dimensions,
coat coloration, antler growth and assorted physiological,
biochemical and behavioral distinctions. In general, the
color is darker in the humid, forested areas and paler in
the drier, more open brushland, reddish in subtropical
and tropical environments (Baker 1984). In the northern
hemisphere they undergo two complete molts per year:
the summer coat consists of short, thin, wiry hairs and

varies from red-brown to bright tan; the winter coat varies
from blue-gray to gray-brown and has longer, thicker
and more brittle hairs (Smith 1991). In the southern
hemisphere, the high Andean populations may retain a
grayish pelage year-round, while tropical whitetails may
keep the tawny, reddish phase (Baker 1984). Fawns have
a reddish-brown with white dorsal spots that disappear at
3-4 months of age (Hesselton and Hesselton 1982).
Figure 1 - Male with growing antlers, with velvet, (O. v.
veraecrucis) in captivity (Photo: Alberto González-
Romero).
External body measurements of adult males varies
for each subspecies. The range of measurements is as
follows: total length 104-240 cm; length of tail, 10-
36.5 cm; length of hind foot, 27.9-53.8 cm; height at
shoulder, 53.3-106.7 cm; condylobasal length of the
skull, 19.8-32.2 cm (Taylor 1956). Adult males weigh
from 90 to 135 kg, females weigh 20-40 % less in USA,
but these values diminish in the tropic. Adult deer in the
Florida Keys or Coiba Island may weigh 22.5 kg (Halls
1978). Antlers are found only on males from April
through February, but these dates change with latitude.
The metatarsal gland reaches a maximum length of about
4.1 cm, but it seems to diminish with decreasing latitude.
In Venezuela, Brokx (1984) found O.v. gymnotis lacking
the glands completely. Dental formula: I=0/3, C=0/1,
P=3/3, M=3/3, total=32.
Among the 38 subspecies there is a wide variation in
size. The largest forms are found in the northern
hemisphere (with some exceptions as O.v. clavium) and
the smaller in the southern hemisphere. The largest of
South American subspecies is O.v. cariacou of Brazil which
has a shoulder height of about 80 cm. The smallest is the
white-tailed deer of Margarita Island, Venezuela (O.v.
margaritae), which stands only about 60 cm. The majority
of white-tailed deer living at subtropical and tropical
climates is very small, with bucks weighing less than 50
kg and does less than 35 kg. Subspecies from the savannas
of Venezuela and Texas appear to have shifted toward
classic open-landscape adaptations: they are more sexually
dimorphic in weight than are forms from forest, dense
shrubs, and coastal swamps, and they have larger, more
complex antlers and bigger tails. The metatarsal gland
increases in size with increasing aridity and seasonality of
GALLINA ET AL. 103
climates; in tropical white-tailed deer, this gland disappears
SECTION 2
irrespective of aridity. South American forms have smaller
antlers, shorter tails, and more vestigial canines and are
thus more primitive than northern deer (Brokx 1985;
cited by Geist 1998).
North and South American white-tailed deer are
deemed to be a single species, Odocoileus virginianus.
Molina and Molinari (1999) used principal components
and cluster analyses to compare crania and mandibles
of Venezuelan and North American forms. They found
that (1) Venezuelan and North American Odocoileus differ
greatly from each other; (2) differentiation of groups
within Venezuelan exceeds that within North American;
(3) the most divergent Venezuelan Odocoileus are those
from Margarita Island and the Mérida Andean highlands;
(4) the Margaritan Odocoileus does not differ in
mandibular shape from its lowland congeners, but differs
appreciably from other Venezuelan Odocoileus in having
smaller mandibles and in cranial-mandibular characters;
(5) the Mérida Andean Odocoileus contrasts markedly
with other Venezuelan congeners in mandibular shape
and cranial characters; (6) the remaining Venezuelan
Odocoileus constitute a single group; (7) within this
group, individuals from the Caribbean coast have larger
mandibles and differ in some cranial characters. Thus,
Molina and Molinari (1999) propose that (a) Venezuelan
and other Neotropical Odocoileus are not conspecific with
O. virginianus; (b) Margaritan and Andean forms are
distinct species: Odocoileus margaritae and Odocoileus
lasiotis, respectively; (c) the remaining Venezuelan forms
must be included within one species, Odocoileus cariacou;
(d) Caribbean coast Odocoileus may represent an
undescribed subspecies of O. cariacou.
Brokx (1984) proposed for Colombia: O.v. goudotii:
Gay and Gervais, 1846, in the Colombian Andes; O.v.
ustus Trouessart, 1910, Ecuatorian Andes and maybe
south of Colombia; O.v. tropicalis: Cabrera, 1918, in
the Western Cordillera Occidental, Pacific coast of
Colombia, it seems to be extinct (Hernández-Camacho
et al. 1992); O.v. apurensis: Brokx 1972, in the Eastern
Colombian Andes, Eastern Llanos and Amazonía. Smith
(1991) did not consider the subspecies O.v apurensis ,
and its distribution is attributed to O.v. goudotii. The
population at caribbean lowlands, from Guajira to
Cordoba department is attributed to O.v.curassavicus:
Hummelink 1940 (López-Arévalo and González-
Hernández 2006).
GENETICS
Barragán (2002) working with captive animals found
all individuals analyzed presented a complement
composed by 2n=70 chromosomes. The fundamental
number (FN) found for this species was 74 (66 x 1 + 2
x 2 + sexual chromosomes x 2). The IC and RB for
pair one, permitted classified as submetacentric
(IC=36.8 ± 4.9 and RB=1.77± 0.36). In the case of
the other autosomes (pair 2-34) the IC was cero (0)
and the RB (~), and were classified as autosomes
telocentric (Fig. 2).
Based on mtDNA data, Moscarella et al. (2003)
concluded that Venezuelan white-tailed deer do not warrant
 104 WHITE-TAILED DEER Odocoileus virginianus
recognition as separate species, but some populations
SECTION 2
deserve recognition as distinctive evolutionary units
worthy of conservation attention.
Smith et al. (1986) found that white-tailed deer from
Suriname was polymorphic (P) for 10.5% of the 19 loci
and had an overall locus heterozygosity (H) of 0.036; in
contrast, white-tailed deer from southeastern United States
was P = 36.8% and H = 0.078. The genetics distance (D)
was 0.173. White-tailed deer from Suriname was closer to
red brocket deer Mazama americana (D = 0.063). Also
the morphological distance based on size-unadjusted cranial
characteristics, has a comparatively narrow maxillary
breadth and was closer to red brocket deer
Vaughan et al. (1995) analyzed 18 loci assayed from
deer across the three locations (Costa Rica, United
States, and Suriname) for multilocus heterozygosity (H),
alleles per locus (A), and polymorphism (P). Genetic
distances between the three white-tailed deer populations
were: Costa Rica vs. United States, D = 0,085; United
States vs. Surinam, D = 0.164; and Costa Rica vs.
Surinam, D = 0,112.
Figure 2 - Metaphase and karyotype of a female of white-
tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) with conventional
Giemsa stained. In the square section the X Y sexual
chromosomes of the male karyotype (Courrtesy
Barragán).
DISTRIBUTION
The white-tailed deer range from southern Canada,
almost all the United States (it is absent in Utah, rare in
Nevada and California), Mexico (with exception of Baja
California Peninsula), southward to northern South
America (Colombia, Venezuela, Guianas, northern Brazil,
Northern and Western Peru, and Bolivia, Smith 1991).
The area of distribution of white tailed deer in South
America covers approximately 5.5 million square
kilometers (Brokx 1984), and currently it seems to be
expanding.
Historical
Historically, O. virginianus probably was not as
abundant as it is today, but occupied nearly as wide a
range. Numbers increased after land clearing and forest
exploitation, but then were reduced as a result of
overhunting. In Canada, it was only found in the southern
parts of a few provinces (60º North Latitude), to
subequatorial South America (15º South Latitude; Baker
1984).
During the Spanish Conquest and colonial periods,
many spaniards were amazed by the high deer density
in Central America. Francisco Solano Astaburuaga, in
1857, wrote: “hay muchos ciervos e gamos e corzos ni
más ni menos que los de Castilla, e los indios señores e
principales son grandes monteros...”. (“there are as
many cervids and fallow deer and roe deer as at Castilla,
and Indians are good rangers...”). Costa Rica exported
between 1900 and 1933, 86 400 deer skins to the United
States, England, France and Germany (Solís-Rivera and
Brenes 1987).
The archeozoological studies made in the Eastern
Cordillera of the Colombian Andes have recorded the
species as present in the area 12.000 years ago, as well
as related evidence of small groups of hunters- gatherers
in the Paleoindian Stage, Preceramic or Litic Stage,
3.000 years ago (Correal and Van Der Hammen 1977;
Rincon 2003). More recently the Spanish chronicles of
Indians in the Nuevo Reino de Granada indicated the
deer presence in the paramos of the cordillera oriental
as in the Colombian Llanos; in the paramo of the savanna
of Bogota and probably in the Paramos around the area
since 1526 to 1763 (Tovar 1988, 1995).
Current
White-tailed deer is widely distributed, from Canada
to South America. It is the premier large mammal in
most parts of North and Central America. In southern
latitudes deer range from tropical lowlands,
approximately at sea level, to mixed forest-brush areas
in the Andes of Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia,
at elevations from 4000 to 4500 meters. In tropical
environments at lower elevations, deer is found best in
arid and shrub country. In Panama whitetails frequent
the drier Pacific side (Baker 1984).
Currently in Colombia, deer distribution is
fragmented. The causes of this fragmentation are natural
factors such as the patchy distribution of the paramos,
and antropic causes such as overexploitation and
urbanization. White-tailed deer are found in the low
land savannas and open forest in Orinoquia and
Amazonia; the plains at Caribe from Córdoba to Guajira;
the high region of Magdalena, Tolima, Cundinamarca
and Huila, and Valle del Dagua. In the Cordilleras
Central, and Oriental and the Andes de Nariño at 4.000
meters a.s.l. It is no longer found in the Parque Nacional
Natural los Nevados, Cordillera Central, where they
were recorded for the last time in the 1960´s. Their
extinction may have been related to diseases caused by
cattle (Hernández-Camacho et al. 1985). It is still found
in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (Alberico et al.
2000; Cuervo et al. 1986; López-Arévalo et al. 2004).
KNOWN POPULATIONS
In situ populations
White-tailed deer population estimated in the United
States must be over 11,000,000 of which a third will be
in the State of Texas. In Canada the estimation is a half
of million deer (Whitehead 1993).

Figure 3 - Distribution map of Odocoileus virginianus. The source of information presented in the map was: Hall (1981)
and Smith (1991).
In México, the white-tailed deer is the most widely
studied deer (Weber and Galindo-Leal 1995). That is,
75% of 502 deer-related publications between 1850 and
2001 were on white-tails (Mandujano 2004). In
particular from the 14 subspecies, the best known are:
O. v. texanus, O.v. couesi, and O.v. sinaloae. There are
also studies on O. v. mexicanus and O. v. yucatanensis.
But seven subspecies: O. v. veraecrucis, O. v. toltecus, O.
v. truei, O. v. nelsoni, O. v. oaxacensis, O. v. acapulcensis
and O. v. thomasi, are less known. This is critical because
all of them inhabit tropical areas (Mandujano and Bello
1998) where rural people commonly practice subsistence
hunting. In Mexico, white-tail deer densities varies from
1-20 deer/km2 in the different geographic locations
studied (Table 1).
In tropical areas, as Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, Mexico,
the results using abundance index show a low value for
white-tailed deer (0.025) compared with temazate deer,
Mazama temama (0.36) (Bello 1993). In Tabasco,
Mexico, the Parque Estatal la Sierra de Tabasco and La
Sierra de Tenosique, the index was one and 0.5
respectively (Jesús and Bello 2004).
Little information has been generated regarding the
current white tailed deer populations in Central America.
Mendez (1984) reported a general distribution at Central
America countries and its occurrence in some protected
areas. Current for Panama in Cerro Hoya National Park,
Pacific coast, province of Veraguas and Los Santos, the
specie is common (Anam 2007). In Costa Rica, the mean
distribution area is in the tropical dry forest, of the
Guanacaste and Punta Arenas provinces, where several
GALLINA ET AL. 105
SECTION 2
reintroductions were made at the end of 80‘s (Calvopiña,
1995, Hernandez 1995, Sáenz 1995); white tailed deer
is abundant at Santa Rosa and Palo Verde national parks
(Reid 1997). For Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras,
Guatemala and Belize, the information about wild
populations is not available.
In Venezuela, in 1973, there was an estimated
population of 10,000 deer in 68,000 ha in El Frio, State
of Apure (Lander 1991). The main deer population in
the Colombian Andes is found in the Eastern Cordillera,
mainly in the Altiplano Cundiboyacense. It is currently
reported in six protected areas: the Natural National
Parks Cocuy, Chingaza, Sumapaz and Pisba; and the
Flora and Fauna Sanctuaries Iguaque and Isla la Corota.
Today, the existence of deer in the interandine valleys is
in doubt. Preliminary evaluations indicate numerous
populations in the Departments of Casanare and
Vichada, also in Meta and Arauca. Wild populations are
protected in the Natural National Park El Tuparro
(López-Arévalo et al. 2004).
Some information on the free ranging population in
Peru is available. Confined wild populations could exist
in several protected areas, such as the national parks
Cerros de Amotape, in Tumbes and Piura, Cutervo in
Cajamarca, Huascarán in Ancash, Manu in Cusco and
Madre de Dios, Tingo María in Huánuco, Yanachaga
Chermillén in Pasco; the National Reserves of Calipuy
in la Libertad, Lachay in Lima, Salinas and Aguada
Blanca in Arequipa; and the Historic Sanctuary of Machu
Pichu in Cuzco (Acabape, 2007).
 106 WHITE-TAILED DEER Odocoileus virginianus
Table 1 - White-tailed deer densities estimations (deer/km2) in several locations at the Neotropical region.
SECTION 2
Ex-situ populations
In Mexico, it is a common practice to have deer in
captivity. There are many UMAS (“Unidades para la
Conservación, Manejo y Aprovechamiento Sustentable
de la Vida Silvestre” or Units for conser vation,
management and sustainable use of wildlife) that harbour
white-tailed deer. For example, in the State of Yucatan,
there are 12 UMAS for deer (González-Marín 2002); in
Tabasco had more than five UMAS (Mendoza-Castillo
and Gamboa-González 1993), but currently there are 15
UMAS with Odocoileus (Bello et al. 2009), three of them
are zoos (León-Castro 2000). All the Zoos in Mexico
have deer stocks in captivity.
Most of Colombian Zoos had deer stocks. During
2004, 250 individuals were found in six zoos and two
private farms (Guzmán 2005). The existences of two more
farms with 40 individuals were identified although it is
considered illegal. Elsewhere in Latin America, it is little
known about captive white-tail deer populations.
HABITAT
White-tailed deer live in a wide range of habitats from
north temperate to subtropical and semi-arid environments
in North America, and include rainforests and other
equatorial associations, such as deciduous forests and
savannahs of Central America and Northern South
America (Brokx 1984; Danields 1991; Smith 1991). It is
abundant in mixed pine-oak forests of Mexico (Ffolliott
and Gallina 1981), and prefers flat sites, such as the mesas
or elevated areas, where plant diversity and the available
biomass have greater values (Gallina 1994b). They are
also found in second-growth forests and thickets and
forest-savanna ecotones of Guatemala, Honduras, Belize,
El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama (Mendez 1984).

The amount and temporal distribution of precipitation is
the ecological limitation in more southern latitudes and
lower elevations (Ffolliott and Gallina 1981; Mendez
1984; Villarreal 1999). O. virginianus favour more mesic
climates and vegetation within arid regions. In the Andes
countries, distribution of the white-tailed deer is not limited
by elevation but rather by steep arid habitat and by
rainforest on mountain slopes (Brokx 1984).
White-tailed deer is an extremely adaptable species.
The species thrives in close association with man and
his agricultural and industrial activities. Its requirements
are met in practically every ecosystem, but it reaches its
largest densities in hardwood forests and bushlands (Teer
1991).
Delfin (2002) made a habitat evaluation for O. v.
mexicanus using the model of Optimal Habitat Unit in a
tropical dry forest at the Mixteca Poblana, Puebla, Mexico,
and Delfin et al. (2009) with O. v. veraecrucis in the State
of Veracruz, Mexico, applying GIS, and considering
abiotic and biotic variables: distance to free water,
temperature, slope, orientation, vegetation type,
protection cover and food, as a preliminary stage to
implement conservation and sustainable use strategies for
deer. Coronel-Arellano et al. (2009) propose to use the
standardized vegetation index as a predictive variable of
the density of white-tailed deer in temperate habitat sites,
and emphasize the importance of this procedure as a
potential tool for other areas focusing on the conservation
and reintroduction of large carnivores, for which the deer
are prey.
The white-tailed deer inhabits tropical dry forest in
Chamela, located on the Mexican Pacific central coast,
which is characterized by both temporal and spatial
availability of food, nutrients, and water for white-tailed
deer (Mandujano and Gallina 1995b; Mandujando et al.
2004, Silva-Villalobos et al. 1999). In the Biosphere
Reserve of Manantlán, Jalisco, Mexico, white-tailed deer
prefer the cloud forest (González-Pérez 2003).
In tropical evergreen forest, white-tailed deer have
benefited from transformed habitats (acahuales) and crops
(Jesús and Bello 2004). The secondary forests with trees
of 6 m high and gentle slopes (11º), with a dense shrub
cover of 90% (Bello et al. 2004a). The tropical rain-forest
has been long considered as a sub-optimal habitat for the
white-tailed deer (Leopold 1977). But it was just recently,
that more detailed studies of habitat use had been carried
out in tropical rain-forests in Mexico (Naranjo 2002;
Reyna-Hurtado 2002; Weber 2005).
In the arid region of Northeastern Mexico, dominated
by the xerophyllous brushland deer habitat preferences
were influenced by habitat type, sex and year. Females
used the vegetation associations with dense cover (Acacia-
Castela brushland). Males however, selected most of the
habitat types according to availability, showing preferences
for open habitats dominated by Flourensia (Bello et al.
2001a; Gallina and Bello 2000). In arid zones, when
weather conditions are good with normal precipitation
(more or less than 400 mm annual), the quality and
quantity of available forage is a key factor in determining
habitat use by deer. However, if drought or predation
increases, thermal and hiding cover become relatively
GALLINA ET AL. 107
more important than forage availability (Bello et al. 2001b,
SECTION 2
Gallina and Bello 2000).
Correa-Viana (1995) found that in Venezuela (paramo
Mucubaji) deer preferred open habitats in the valley to
pine forest of Pinus radiata (exotic species), slopes of
Espeletia and Coloradito Forest (Polylepis rericea).
In Colombia, there is little information about deer
habitat use. Although in high areas deer used more the
Paramo, and the subparamo, and in low proportion the
forest (Ramos 1995). In tropical dry forest, deer in
semicaptivity used grassland and crops, for the availability
of food (Mateus-Gutierrez 2005). In the Andes region,
the species is present in seven types of ecosystems
proposed by Etter (1998), and four agroecosystems. In
the Orinoquía region deer used natural (dry savannas,
wet or flooding, and forest) and transformed ecosystems
(Romero et al. 2004).
In Peru, Barrio (2006) found differences in habitat
use between O. v. peruvianus and Hippocamelus antisensis.
They seem to separate themselves by altitude and habitat
type.
SPATIAL USE AND HOME RANGE
White-tailed deer occupy a well defined home range,
but they are not territorial. Home ranges are influenced
by age, sex, density, social interactions, and latitude,
season and habitat characteristics. Size of home ranges
varies inversely with density and vegetative cover. Annual
home range averages 59- 520 ha (Marchinton and Hirth
1984).
In Northeastern Mexico, O.v. texanus home range
averages 193 ha for females and 234 ha for males (1995-
1998) in a xerophyllous brushland (Bello et al.2004a).
The differences noted were between the fawning and
reproductive seasons in some years, and were caused by
differences in the quantity and distribution of precipitation
(Bello et al. 2004b). In the same area, Soto-Werschitz
(2000) compared female home range with and without
fawns, and the results obtained showed that the females
without fawns reduced their home range size during
fawning period, meanwhile the females with fawns
maintained their home range size, probably because the
energetic requirements for lactating period.
Individuals belonging to O.v. sinaloae were
radiotracked in a tropical dry forest in the Pacific Coast
of Mexico (Chamela, Jalisco). The mean distance
travelled by a female was 1.5 y 2.6 km/day during the
dry and wet season respectively. The home range size
was 11 ha and 24-44 ha, respectively. In the dry season
a male traveled 2.5 km/day and the home range size
was 26 ha (Sánchez-Rojas et al. 1997). Also with the
same subspecies, in a cloud forest of the Biosphere
Reserve of Manantlán, Jalisco, Mexico, a study of six
females reported a mean home range size of 14.5 ha
during wet season and 16.9 ha in the dry season
(González-Pérez 2003).
In Chamela, Jalisco, Mexico, deer prefered the tropical
dry forest all the year, mainly during the wet season as
foraging area, because the availability of palatable plant
species (density and biomass of foliage, and the presence
of Spondias purpurea (important fruits in the dry season),
 108 WHITE-TAILED DEER Odocoileus virginianus
and of high nutritional quality; also the low predation risk
SECTION 2
compared with the tropical semi-evergreen forest that
develops along the streams and rivers in the area
(Mandujano et al. 2004), with less palatable plants, with
higher fiber contents, lignin and alcaloids (Silva-Villalobos
et al. 1999), and more used by predators (López-
González et al. 1998; Núñez and Miller 1997).
In Costa Rica, Sáenz-Méndez and Vaughan-Dickhaut
(1998) reported the mean daily distance traveled as 3.1
km (2.8-3.6 km). The average daily home range was
18.3 ha. Deer used 8 to 11 habitat types of the 14 available.
Habitat utilization was significantly different between the
dry season and the wet season. The most utilized habitats
were grazing land, forest plantations (Pithecelobium
saman), cultivated land (sorghum and fruits), riparian
vegetation, chaparral, jaraguales and guacimales
(Guazuma ulmifolia). Rodríguez-Sáenz et al. (1985)
found that the size of the home range (two females) varied
between 7.7 and 14.8 ha. The mean distance travelled
daily was 1.6 to 1.7 km. In other study Calvopiña-Oñate
(1990) analized ecological aspects of deer reintroduction
in some localities of Costa Rica. The mean distance of
dispersion was 6 km (3-11 km) from the liberation site.
The mean home range size was 323 ha (25-530 ha).
In Colombia, information about deer movements was
obtained with animals in captivity (Camargo-Sanabria
2005; Mateus-Gutiérrez 2005) and reintroduced
individuals in cattle ranches (Gómez-Giraldo 2005). The
results obtained in captive conditions along a year of
radiotracking of two animals were 26 and 96 ha (male),
and 17 and 45 ha (female). In the case of the three
individuals reintroduced in cattle ranches, the values
registered were larger 114 and 378 ha, the largest size
was for males (Gómez–Giraldo 2005). In Venezuela, the
home range estimated for two deer reintroduced in a ranch
was 80 ha, using more the gallery and caducifolious forests
(Correa-Viana 2000).
FEEDING ECOLOGY
White-tailed deer are ruminants with a typical
compound stomach (rumen, reticulum, omasum and
abomasum), being a selective feeder that chooses plants
and plant parts with considerable discrimination. It is
considered a browser that prefers shrubs and trees,
although consumes a variety of foods including sedges,
fruits, nuts, forbs, mushrooms, and some grasses. Diet
changes with regions and seasons (Danields 1991; Gallina
1993; Gallina et al. 1981; Mandujano et al. 2004). It is
considered an opportunistic concentrate feeder (Table 2).
Deer at La Michilía biosphere Reserve in Durango,
Mexico preferred shrub (51%) and tree species (32%).
Clemente (1984) in the State of Aguascalientes, Mexico,
found a consumption of 49% of forbs and 45% of shrubs
in summer; 15% forbs, 35% fruits and 39% shrubs in
autumn; and 20% forbs, 61% shrubs and 18% trees during
winter. The crude protein decrease in the chemical
analysis of deer diet: 8.94, 7.87 and 6.32% in summer,
autumn and winter respectively. The dr y matter
consumption was estimated for a doe (weight of 45 kg),
as 2.29 kg in summer, 1.85 kg in autumn and 1.20 kg
in winter.
In the arid zones of Mexico and USA, deer select as
much as 83% shrub species (Villarreal 1999). More
information on the nutrition and related aspects, of white-
tailed deer in Northeastern Mexico, are described by
Ramírez-Lozano (2004). As an example, plant species
consumed by deer have high crude protein (some more
than 20%). Considering the use of water sources in arid
areas of Northeastern Mexico where water management
is intense, the deer are found at distances greater than 200
m from the sources (Bello et al. 2001b; Bello et al. 2003b).
According with Arceo et al. (2005), in the tropical
dry forest of Chamela, Jalisco, Mexico, the main families
Euphorbiaceae, Leguminosae, Convolvulaceae, and
Sapindaceae accounted for 80%, 64%, and 37% of the
diet during the rainy, transition and dry season respectively.
The mean percentage of protein estimated for plants
consumed was 14.2%. The percentage of free nitrogen
extract was estimated in 49.0% and the mean annual fiber
percentage was 24.2%. An important food resource in
this habitat was the fruits of Spondias purpurea
(Anacardiaceae) (Mandujano et al. 1994). These fruits
constituted the 13% of the diet during dry season (Arceo
et al. 2005) and could contribute between 2 to 30 liter/
ha of water depending on annual fruit production
(Mandujano and Gallina 1995a).
In the tropical semi-deciduous rain-forest of south-
eastern Mexico (Calakmul Region) the white-tailed deer
was found to feed on the fruits, leaves and stems of 26
species of trees, palms and bushes. The zapote tree
(Manilkara sapota) can be considered a “keystone plant
resource” for deer and other wildlife in this region of
Mexico (Weber 2005). This species also ate large amounts
of fruits during the wet season (June to November).
Considerable dietary overlap exists between the white-
tailed deer and Mazama pandora during this period
(Weber 2005).
Di Mare-Hering (1991) at San Lucas Island,
Puntarenas, Costa Rica, found that major forage plants
were browse (dry season) and forbs (wet season). Diet
diversity and equitability were high, ranging from 35 to
72%, with the highest values during the dry season and
the lowest in the wet season. Foods eaten were in general
of lower quality than temperate zone forages. Some of
the forage plants are known to contain secondary
compounds.
In Colombia, deer diet was studied by two methods:
direct observations (captivity) in the dry forest (Mateus-
Gutierrez 2005) and in wild conditions in the Páramo
(Blanco and Zabala 2005; Mora and Mosquera 2000;
Ramos 1995) and also by surveys obtained with local
people and researchers in natural savannas and paramos
(Blanco and Zabala 2005; González 2001). Deer is an
opportunistic forager eating crops in the paramo, mainly
beans, potatoes and maize (Blanco and Zabala 2005).
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
The mean gestation period is about 202 days (Halls
1978) but differs among subspecies, ranging from 187
to 222 days. Litter size ranges from one to three (twins
are common), and is related to genetic factors and
nutrition (Verme and Ullrey 1984). Neonates have spotted
 GALLINA ET AL. 109

Table 2 - Comparison of white-tailed deer diet in different habitats and countries.

SECTION 2

1
Rainy season includes spring, summer and fall in temperate region, and dry season includes winter.

References: White tail deer diet in different habitat at the Neotropical region according to: 1Branan, Werkhoven, and Marchinton
1985; 2Granado 1989; 2Danields 1987; 3Di Mare 1994; 4Weber 2005; 5Arceo, Mandujano, Gallina and Pérez-Jiménez 2005;
6
Clemente-Sánchez 1985; 7Gallina, Maury and Serrano 1981; 7Gallina 1993; 8Ramírez-Lozano 2004; 8Villarreal 1999.

pelage that is lost three months after birth. Females usually
breed at the age of 1.5 years, while males attain sexual
maturity by the age of 1.5 years. The ultimate determinant
of the breeding season is availability of adequate nutrition,
which is cued by photoperiod (Verme and Ullrey 1984).
In northern subspecies it occurs in autumn and winter (it
changes with the latitude), but reproductive cycles of
South American white-tailed deer are inadequately known
(Brokx 1984). In the tropics, breeding can be year-round
with peaks in certain seasons (Geist 1998).The fawning
 110 WHITE-TAILED DEER Odocoileus virginianus
period for O.v. gymnotis occurs mainly from July to
SECTION 2
November (rainy season), but a second peak occurs
during February and March (dry season). The fawning
peak of O.v. apurensis occurs mainly from November to
February, perhaps in adaptations to heavy rains and
widespread flooding on the low llanos. In Peru, fawning
varies regionally but generally occurs from January to
March (Brokx 1984).
In North America the rutting season takes place from
October to early December, reaching its height in
November. In South America the season of the rut varies
according to locality. In Peru most rut activity seems to
take place in February and March. During the rut the
bucks run with an individual doe for a day or two before
moving off in search of another doe in oestrus.
In Mexico, a study in captivity showed that the
breeding season in O.v. couesi, began in December and
ended in March (Rosas-Becerril 1992). In a tropical dry
forest of Chamela, deer (O.v. sinaloae) breed between
November and January, and fawns are born between June
and August (Mandujano et al. 2004). Martinez-Romero
(2004) using estradiol and progesterone levels in captive
females and testosterone in males of O.v. mexicanus, in
Puebla, Mexico, found that the reproductive season started
in November but copulation did not take place until
January. In captivity, in Chapultepec Zoo at Mexico City,
deer breeding season was from October to December
(Rosas-Alvarado 1990).
Compared with other aspects on the ecology of this
species, the reproductive biology of white-tailed deer has
been little studied in Mexico. Many aspects of the
reproduction of the Coues white-tailed deer (O.v. couesi)
were studied in Durango, Mexico, both in captivity and
in the wild (Galindo-Leal and Weber 1998; Weber 1992).
The average fawning date was February 12 th. The
reproductive season is approximately 95 days long,
starting in January and finishing at the beginning of April.
The interval between oestrus is 26 days (± 3.5 days).
Behavioural oestrous last 18 hours (± 1.5 hours). Fawns
are born in August and September after a gestation period
of 198 to 200 days (Rosas-Becerril 1992; Weber and
Galindo-Leal 1992). Males start the rut in November with
some behavioural and physiological changes and this
period finishes in May with the shedding of the antlers.
The antler velvet is shed during the first two weeks of
October. The largest testicular diameters were recorded
in February, the same time that most females are found
in oestrus (Weber and Galindo-Leal 1995) Growth and
weight gain patterns of fawns have been also studied in
central and northern Mexico with average weight gains
of 225 gm/day for naturally reared fawns (Weber and
Hidalgo 1999).
In tropical regions of Mexico, the white-tailed deer
tend to be much less seasonal in its reproduction than in
temperate environments (Galindo-Leal and Weber 1998).
However, very little is known about seasonality and other
aspects of reproduction of this species in the tropics. In
the Calakmul Region of Campeche, Mexico, very young
fawns and/or fetuses and males with velvet antlers have
been observed almost year-round, suggesting a lack or
reproductive seasonality at this latitude. McCoy-Colton
and Vaughan-Dickhaut (1985) reported the fawning
season in April and May in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, at
the beginning of the rainy season.
Blounch (1987) reported that, in the Colombian
Llanos, the fawning season was from September to March,
with a peak in December. Males with antlers were present
all the year. The same pattern was observed in the high
lands, but with a high frequency of births in December,
January and February (Blanco and Zabala 2005).
According with Guzmán (2005) the reproductive cycle
in captive males is approximately one year long (12-13
months). The antlers are normally shed from November
to January, but not in all places. The gestation time in
captivity was estimated to be 5-6 months, with the
probability of one or two births in the year. The probability
of having twins increases with the female’s age. The first
oestrus (n=12) varied from 176 days (0.5 years) to 1205
days (3.3 years) with a mean of 532 days (1.5 years).
Brokx (1972b) found that deer does are continuously
polyestrous in the llanos region, yet the main rut of adult
bucks occurs in the dry season (January to May). A
secondary peak of births was evident in February and
March, and attributed to sexual activity of young maturing
bucks in the rainy season. Does readily ovulate after
parturition, and probably reproduce at intervals shorter
than one year. The apparent lack of synchronization in
breeding biology is therefore attributed to accelerated
reproduction and locally selective forces.
BEHAVIOUR
Deer behaviour, in a sample of 26 females and 13
males in captivity, was studied by Rosas-Alvarado (1990,
1994), in Chapultepec Zoo (Mexico City). The author
identified 106 behavioural patterns and described the
ethogram for the species. Serio-Silva (1999) describes
the changes of behaviour in white-tailed deer as a
consequence of exposure to humans (presence/absence)
in two different kinds of enclosed plots located in
Banderilla and Xalapa, in the state of Veracruz, Mexico.
His results suggested changes in the feeding behaviour.
The species is crepuscular, but activity varies
according to several environmental variables, mainly the
distribution and amount of precipitation (Gallina et al.
1998; Gallina et al. 2003; Marchinton and Hirth 1984).
White-tailed deer form two basic social groups: family
groups centered around a matriarch (the mother and
female fawns of previous generations) and fraternal
groups made of adult and occasionally yearling males
(Marchinton and Hirth 1984). Mixed groups occur only
during the mating period. It is possible to find mixed
feeding groups, but these assemblages are temporary
and they do not form social groups. Dominance
hierarchies minimize conflicts and avoid aggression within
groups, reducing energy expenditure and risk of injury
(Marchinton and Hirth 1984). Social organization and
behaviour vary in relation to habitat characteristics, so
group size is inversely related to density cover (Hirth
1977; Mandujano and Gallina 1996). Sexual segregation
and the relation with diet quality were studied by
Buenrostro (2005) in a tropical dry forest at the Sierra
de Huautla, Morelos, Mexico. She found that females

consumed a higher quality diet (with high fecal nitrogen
values) compared to males.
In a Cloud Forest at the biosphere Reserve of
Manantlán, Jalisco, Mexico, six females were radiotracked,
finding a bi-modal daily activity cycle (González-Pérez
2003): 09:00-12:00 h and 19:00-00:00 h. Deer in arid
zones were more active during crepuscular hours: 17:00-
21:00 h and early in the morning 05:00-09:00 h. During
the breeding season, deer were active at all hours of the
day. A negative correlation was found between activity
and temperature (Gallina et al. 2003). Distances traveled
per day by deer (O.v. texanus) were significantly different
between years (x = 7,016 ± 354m). Significant differences
in season-year interaction were detected, this could be
explained by significant differences in seasonal precipitation
(Bello et al. 2003a; Bello et al. 2004b). Significant
relationships were found between precipitation and
distance traveled per day, as the former increased, so did
the latter (Bello et al. 2004b).
Deer activity patterns were obtained by radiotracking
14 animals equipped with collars with activity sensor, in
Northeastern Mexico (Corona 1999; Gallina et al. 1998,
2003; Mandujano et al. 1996; Pérez et al. 1996). Deer
spent less time feeding (11% in 1995, 16% in 1996) and
more time bedding (57% in 1995, 64% in 1996). Although
males and females had different energetic requirements
along the year, there were no significant differences in
their activity patterns (Gallina et al. 1998; Pérez et al.
1996). Deer were more active during the breeding season
when searching for a mate, and less active during
postreproductive or gestation season, which coincides with
the dry season. Delfin et al. (1998) found than deer
travelled less distances during this season, when
temperatures were high, maybe to reduce energetic
consumption. During the fawning season, deer activity
increases. This season coincides with the rainy season,
when there is a considerable increase in the quantity of
forage availability.
The characteristics of the diurnal bedsites used by deer
in semiarid zones with xerophyllous brushland that are
hot (> 40ºC) and dry (< 400 mm/year rainfall) must be
taken into consideration both for deer conservation and
the appropriate management of their habitat. Several
habitat variables were measured at the bedsites: shrub
species, height, volume, thermal and protection cover,
forb and grass cover, temperature and humidity.
Randomly selected sites were also described to compare
the habitat variables and detect any preferences. Shrub
cover, height and volume were higher in the bedsites.
There were seasonal differences in site selection: males
selected bedsites under shrubs with more thermal cover,
volume and height. During the fawning season females
looked for more protective cover (Contreras 2000).
Rodríguez-Ramírez (1987) studied the composition
of size, social group and the reproductive behaviour of
deer in the Isla San Lucas, Costa Rica. The family groups
were composed of the mother and fawns of that year,
adult males were solitary. Adult males and females formed
mixed groups during fawning and breeding season, but
only in the later season were there bonds between the
sexes.
GALLINA ET AL. 111
Correa-Viana (1995) reported that deer in the paramo
SECTION 2
Mucubaji, Venezuela, had two activity peaks: at 0900 h
and in the sunset. In Venezuela, Correa-Viana (2000)
reintroduced two deer in a ranch of Jaimero, Portuguesa,
Venezuela, and studied their movements, activity and
habitat use.
There is some information about deer behaviour in
Colombia, obtained by radiotracking two deer. In
semicaptivity the reintroduced deer presented three activity
periods (Camargo-Sanabria 2005), and later changed to
a binomial pattern as in wild animals (Mateus-Gutierrez
2005). In captivity the dominance relationships were: adult
males dominated adult females, and these females
dominated the juveniles (Camargo-Sanabria 2005). In
the Paramo region of Colombia, deer spent 55% of their
time for feeding in the morning hours, 22.8% ruminating,
and 21.6% resting. Deer used only 0.1% of the time for
drinking (Mora and Mosquera 2000).
White-tailed deer live in family groups, and herds up
to twenty are often observed in high-density areas on
treeless plains of the llanos. In savannas, deer are sedentary,
living on rather small, permanent and overlapping home
ranges. Permanent water holes are important in seasonally
dry habitats. The white-tailed deer grazes in the morning
and evening where protected, but becomes strictly
nocturnal if harassed (Brokx 1972a).
CONSERVATION STATUS
In the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Gallina
and López Arevalo 2009) O. v. clavium is considered
endangered (EN D, a population estimated to number
less than 250 mature individuals) and O.v. leucurus as
Lower Risk near threatened (LR/nt, a taxa which does
not qualify for Conservation Dependent, but which are
close to qualifying for Vulnerable, IUCN, 1994).
The O.v. mayensis is the only subspecies from
Guatemala included on CITES Appendix III.
In the tropical dry forest, continued dry years and
the hunting of females could have a quickly decreased
population size. In the Chamela region of Mexico, jaguar
(Panthera onca), puma (Puma concolor) and ocelot
(Leopardus pardalis) predate on deer (López-González
et al. 1998; Núñez and Miller 1997). Predation has an
important role on deer populations, during fawning, and
at the end of the dry season, when individuals might be
more vulnerable. Another important factor is poaching
or illegal hunting, a common practice used all the year,
killing both sexes and all ages (Contreras-Moreno 2008).
Although a highly resilient and adaptable species, local
extinctions of white-tailed deer due to over-hunting have
been documented in sub-optimal habitats with high
hunting pressure such as the tropical rain forest of the
Calakmul Region (Weber 2002, 2005; Weber and
Gonzalez, 2003). Together with the peccaries, deer from
the Mazama genus and some caviomorph rodents (i.e.
pacas and agouties), the white-tailed deer are the main
game species for both subsistence and sport hunters in
Meso-america south of the Tropic of Cancer. This species
has been subjected historically to a continuously high
hunting pressure and yet still remains in most habitats
throughout this tropical region. Using a novel technique
 112 WHITE-TAILED DEER Odocoileus virginianus
incorporating both GIS/GPS technologies and
SECTION 2
participatory research with hunters, Weber (2005) found
that maximum annual harvests of 0.6 deer/km2 are
needed to achieve source-sink dynamics in a heavily hunted
subsistence scenario in southeast Mexico.
There are differing opinions about the role of the
Wildlife Conservation, Management and Sustainable
Utilization Units (UMA) for conservation of white-tailed
deer in México, so Sanchez-Rojas et al. (2009) emphasize
the importance of UMA as a complementary strategy for
the conservation and sustainable use of this species in
forested areas in the center of the country. The work of
Mandujano and Gonzalez-Zamora (2009) shows that
most UMA do not have the critical size to support MVP
of white-tailed deer, while the Biosphere Reserves, Areas
of Protection of Natural Resources, and Protected Areas
of Flora and Fauna, are the ANP (Spanish acronym for
‘Natural Protected Areas’) which could potentially support
the MVP of this species. A recent evaluation suggest a
minimum critical area (MCA) of 1,667 to 50,000 ha to
support a minimum viable population (MVP) of 500 deer,
or 16,670 to 500,000 ha for long-term viability of 5,000
deer, depending on regional deer density. These authors
suggest a system of conservation at a regional level in
which ANPs and UMAs are incorporated, assuming
source-sink and archipelago reserve models, where
connectivity can have an important role in the movement
of individuals between populations.
Gallina and Escobedo-Morales (2009) analyze the
introduction of exotic species in UMA, such as red deer,
that could be an important alternative at production level
but has not contributed to the conservation of native
species and in many cases may have serious negative
consequences as competition for resources and possible
disease vectors. Therefore, strict control of these exotic
species is necessary, as the encouragement of the use
and conservation of native wildlife and the revision of the
main conservation objectives of UMA.
The mammal list of Colombia (Rodríguez 1998),
classified this deer species as vulnerable (VU). Recently,
using the UICN criteria each subspecies were categorized:
O.v. tropicalis, critical risk (CR), O. v. apurensis, low
concern (LC) and O.v.goudotii, O.v. ustus, O.v.
curassavicus are data deficient (DD) (López-Arévalo and
González-Hernández 2006).
Hunting pressure and habitat transformation are the
factors that eliminated deer populations from the savannas
of Bogota, and around the paramos. It was probably
extinct or reduced in numbers in El Nevado del Huila
and El Nevado de Puracé, in the Andes de Nariño and in
the Alto Cauca, Valle del Dagua, in the Sierra Nevada de
Santa Marta, and in different sectors of Orinoquía,
Colombia. The increased interest as hunting trophy made
necessary to plan monitoring strategies and activity
regulation in Colombia. Other important pressure is feral
dogs. In areas like National Natural Park Chingaza, where
hunting pressure has diminished, deer population
increased notably during the last decade, and now are
easily observed. The same pattern was registered in the
Orinoquía, where one can see herds composed up to 30
individuals. In captivity, deer had reproduced successfully.
Finally there is a deer management and conservation
strategy describing short, medium and long term
activities (López-Arévalo et. al. 2004). The main aspects
are the need to evaluate conditions in situ of the
distribution, population size and home ranges, habitat,
hunting activities, educational programs and monitoring.
At ex situ level, it is important to have a control of
fawning, breeding activities, interchanges between zoos,
and veterinarian aspects.
The white-tailed deer is one of the most important
game animals in Latin America, particularly in: México,
Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panamá, Colombia, Venezuela,
Ecuador and Peru (Ojasti 1996). White-tailed deer in
South America are much less abundant now than in the
1940’s, and the general decline appears to be the result
of indiscriminate hunting, changes in land use and
competition with domestic animals (Brokx 1984).
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We want to thanks Susana González and J. Mauricio
Barbanti Duarte for the invitation to write this chapter
and give us this opportunity. We are very grateful for the
information provided by Javier Barrios and J. Mauricio
Barbanti Duarte to improve the distribution map of white-
tailed deer in South America, and also to Giordano
Ciocheti and Norma Corona Callejas for help us with
this map.
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