BRIEF COMMUNICATION: Genetic parameters for growth in Wapiti deer farmed in New Zealand

摘要

The New Zealand deer industry commonly uses "Wapiti" type deer as terminal sires mated to "red" hinds in venison production systems. The terms "Elk" and "Wapiti" are commonly used almost interchangeably in the New Zealand deer industry to describe subspecies of red deer originating in North America (Cervus elaphus subspecies manitobensis, roosevelti and nelsonf). These subspecies are approximately twice the mature body size of "red" deer subspecies originating in Britain and Europe (Cervus elaphus subspecies scoticus and hippelaphus). The term "Elk" is often used to describe recent importations of these genotypes, while "Wapiti" commonly describes deer descended from a historical (wild) importation into Fiordland National Park, New Zealand which hasnaturally introgressed with "red" deer subspecies as a consequence of overlapping home geographical boundaries. For this paper the term Wapiti will be used to cover both terms, as the populations are not distinct. In reality the deer in Wapiti herds providing terminal sires to "red" herds are usually a hybridised mixture between North American genotypes and the British and European genotypes, with North American genotypes making up from 40% to 100%, in the case of pure importations, of the breed composition.