Troubling disease syndrome in endangered live Patagonian huemul deer (Hippocamelus bisulcus) from the Protected Park Shoonem: unusually high prevalence of osteopathology.

Objective: The last 1500 endangered Patagonian huemul deer (Hippocamelus bisulcus) exist in > 100 groups which are not recovering. Prevalence of osteopathology in dead huemul was 57+% (Argentina), whereas similar cases in Chile were accompanied by selenium deficiency. The first clinical cases from live wild huemul confirm widespread osteopathology which explains short life spans, low recruitment, and thus absence of population recovery.

Severe dental fluorosis in juvenile deer linked to a recent volcanic eruption in Patagonia.

The Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic eruption deposited large amounts of tephra (ashes) on about 36 million ha of Argentina in June of 2011. Tephra was considered chemically innoxious based on water leachates, surface water fluoride levels were determined to be safe, and livestock losses were attributable to inanition and excessive tooth wear. To evaluate effects on wild ungulates, we sampled wild red deer (Cervus elaphus) at 100 km from the volcano in September-November 2012.

Age-independent osteopathology in skeletons of a South American cervid, the Patagonian huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus).

The huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus), an endemic Patagonian deer, has been endangered for decades. Although conservation in Argentina has been directed at the 350-600 remaining huemul, the population has not recovered. In initial studies on the potential effects of diseases on huemul population dynamics, skeletal remains collected between 1993 and 2007 in the Andes (41-45 degrees S, 71.