The effects of wound site and blood collection method on biochemical measures obtained from wild, free-ranging red deer (Cervus elaphus) shot by rifle

Three groups of factors which might affect the blood biochemistry of red de er (Cervus elaphus) were examined. These were the wounding site (head/neck versus chest), the stalker who collected the blood (coupled with the geogra phical area where each deer was shot), and the sex and nutritional status o f the deer. The activities of muscle enzymes, creatine kinase, aspartate am ino transferase, and lactate dehydrogenase, were markedly higher in the pla sma of deer shot in the chest as compared with those shot in the head or ne ck: the plasma also looked different, being deep cherry red in colour in th e chest-shot deer. Other biochemical measures were unaffected by the woundi ng site. Blood collected by one stalker from the chest cavity had higher ac tivity of the liver enzyme, glutamate dehydrogenase, higher concentration o f potassium and lower concentrations of sodium and chloride than blood coll ected by another stalker from a knife wound in the base of the neck. Otherw ise the method of collecting blood had very little effect on blood biochemi stry. Cortisol was unaffected by the wound site nor, probably, by the metho d of collecting blood, but was highest in the stags living in a more mounta inous region and in those deer that had to be shot twice before they died. Stags, which were shot in the rutting season and were probably fasting, had significantly higher concentrations of free fatty acids than hinds. Lactat ing hinds had significantly less fat on their kidneys than non-lactating hi nds and stags. All hinds, which were shot in winter, had lower concentratio ns of urea than stags, which were shot in the autumn.