• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.1473-1482
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• 2011

Adult male musk deer (Moschus spp.) secrete musk, a widely used ingredient in traditional Asian medicine and the international perfume industry. Musk deer are endangered due to historic over-utilization of musk and habitat loss. Musk deer farming, provides an important way of conserving musk deer and ensuring a sustainable musk supply. For over 50 years musk deer farming has been conducted in China with the endangered Alpine musk deer (Moschus sifanicus) the predominant farmed musk deer species. To date, few studies have examined the musk production of captive musk deer. This study analyzed musk-extraction data collected from 1997 to 2009 at Xinglongshan Musk Deer Farm, Gansu, China. The musk-extraction ratio (MER) of captive male musk deer was 90.30% (n = 732), while the annual average musk extraction (AME) per animal was $7.90{\pm}0.17\;g$ with the range from 0.00 g to 34.20 g (n = 732). The origin of the deer had an influence on AME and MER production, with male wild-captured (WC) individuals recording higher values (AME, $8.76{\pm}0.27\;g$, n = 272; MER, 93.75%, n = 272) than those of captive breeding (CB) males (AME: $7.39{\pm}0.22\;g$, n = 460; MER: 88.26%, n = 460). The origin of an individual's parents, however, did not influence AME and MER. Age also influenced musk production with the MER of 1.5-year-old males being 87.5% with an average musk production of $8.27{\pm}0.47\;g$ (n = 96). The peak period for musk production was from 1.5 to 8.5 years of age. The results of our study demonstrate musk deer farming could work as an effective measure to protect musk deer and provide sustainable musk resources, however, the musk production including MER and AME could be improved through optimizing the managing and breeding system in endangered musk deer farming.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.701-709
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• 2001

Yeso sika deer (Cervus nippon yesoensis) grazed on various types of plants, and the fiber content in these plants was low. The tastes of yeso sika deer for existing feeds for ruminant livestock resembled those of sheep. Though the digestibility of these feeds in yeso sika deer was slightly lower than that in sheep, the nutritive values of DCP and TDN were similar between the two species, suggesting that feed for sheep can be utilized. Therefore, in small-scale farming of yeso sika deer, the feeding amount in feeding planning can be determined using the feeding standards for sheep. However, when concentrates are fed, correction of TDN is necessary. In large-scale pasturage, the nutritional intake in summer is adequate because yeso sika deer graze on various types of wild plants. In winter, they mainly graze on sasa (Sasa senanensis), and supplementary food may be necessary to supply TDN. Thus, since yeso sika deer graze on many types of wild plants, existing feeds for ruminant livestock can be used. In addition, plant biomasses except concentrates that do not cause competition with existing livestock may be effectively utilized in yeso sika deer, suggesting their importance as animal resources. The data on the intake and nutritive values of Sasa senanensis can be parameters for estimating the appropriate inhabitant number of wild yeso sika deer in wintering areas.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.271-274
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• 2010

With deer farming now becoming recognized as one of the alternative livestock farming practices, there has been much attention on infectious diseases of cattle, but less awareness of these diseases in deer. Serum samples were randomly collected from 78 deer from 31 farms and 7 wild water deer from wild animal medical center during 2005 to 2007, respectively. A total 85 sera were tested for Neospora caninum antibodies by ELISA. Fourteen farmed deer(17.9%) were positive to N. caninum but no antibodies were found in sera from wild water deer. The sera from all of the area for these study showed positive in the range from 6.7 to 30.7%. On the basis of these study, farmed deer in Jeonbuk province were exposed extensively and seriously to N. caninum which might present a risk to other species included cattle and dog.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.740-746
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• 2009

Rusa deer are the only viable commercial tropical deer species for farming in the tropics because of their hardiness, adaptability and prolific characteristics. Twelve entire rusa stags were slaughtered according to halal procedure and used for carcass evaluation and cutability studies. Three carcass categories; large (46 to 55 kg), medium (36 to 45 kg) and small (25 to 35 kg) were developed for rusa stags. This study indicated that entire Moluccan rusa deer stags with mean live weight ranges from 50 to 80 kg and age groups of 15 to 29 months showed dressing percentage of 58 to 62%. Carcass conformation of rusa stags showed significantly (p<0.05) higher forequarters portion than hindquarters for medium (mean weight, 40.8 kg) and large (mean weight, 50.0 kg) carcass categories. The large carcass category was significantly (p<0.05) bigger in hindquarters portion (47.3% vs. 45.4%) than the medium carcass category. This study showed that medium and large carcass categories are more suitable for boneless cuts since the muscles were larger than small carcasses and easy for deboning. Stag carcasses showed higher proportion of the musculature in the high-priced areas of the carcass such as in round cuts. Bone-in cuts are more suitable for small carcasses since the muscles were smaller and difficult to debone (mean weight, 30.5 kg). About 90% of total deer carcasses in the small carcass category were developed into retail bone-in cuts (excluding 9.9% of breast, shank and trimming). The carcass characteristics and cutability information derived from this study can be used as a basis for a venison marketing strategy for deer farming and production in the tropics.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.569-582
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• 2004

Current growth in the deer industry is 20% per annum as the demand increases for venison in Europe, including the increased use in Asia of antlers as a natural medicine by humans. The deer industry in Australia has developed rapidly, but farm profitability has fluctuated markedly. The knowledge on deer farming has largely been adopted from New Zealand (NZ) and the United Kingdom (UK) although the environmental conditions in these deer growing countries differ markedly from Australia. The practice used for weaning is one of the key factors influencing the profitability of the industry. However, a wide range in weaning dates are practised by farmers leading to the question of whether deer should be weaned after mating to reduce the stress during weaning or should they be weaned in the pre-rut period to allow does to recover their body condition for the next reproduction cycle. This review examines the effect of weaning time on the performance of does and hinds and the subsequent growth rate of the fawns and calves. Gaps in knowledge of weaning procedures and nutritional management for early weaned deer are identified.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.323-333
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• 2016

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to investigate musk deer in taxonomic status and genus species. We investigated the characteristic of musk deer for medicinal usages. Methods : To identifications of musk deer on the taxonomic status and genus species, the literary investigation were conducted on the Korean, China, and Japan pharmacopoeia and published herbal books, CITES Species Lists too. Results : Musk deer placement in a separate family status is the Moschidae. M. chrysogaster Hodgson and M. sifanicus Przewalski was the same species. So, Alpine musk deer revised M. chrysogaster Hodgson[=M. sifanicus Przewalski]. Geographic distribution of M. moschiferus L. divided Sibirica group and himalaica group. Group himalaica contains three subspecies: Korean musk deer(M. moschiferus parvipes Hol.), Chinese musk deer(M. chrysogaster Hodgson), and Himalayan musk deer(M. leucogaster Hodgson). The genetic divergence between M. moschiferus L. and other species was clearly distinguished from the others. M. berezovskii Flerove was less than the others. However, the divergence among M. chrysogaster Hodgson, M. fuscus Li, and M. leucogaster Hodgson were quite low. Musk deers are mostly distributed around the high-plateau. Moschus were from Nepal, Bhutan, Russia, China. Forest musk deer(M. berezovskii Flerove) farming was conducted in China from 1950s. In the Korean hebal pharmacopoeia, Moschus include l-muscone($C_{16}H_{30}O$ : 238.40) over 2% for quantitative test. Conclusions : There are three species of musk deer, Siberian musk deer(M. moschiferus L.), forest musk deer(M. berezovskii Flerove), and Alpine musk deer(M. chrysogaster Hodgson) for medicinal usages.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.347-355
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• 1994

Thirty farmers, representing three major deer counties in Kyung-Kee province and 50 farmers scattered in Chung-Buk province were interviewed to determine the current status of the Korean deer industry. Items surveyed were general information, farmed deer breeds. farm facilities, feeding and nutrition, hygiene and disorder incidence, velvetting, income sources, products and their sale, management problems and herd size control. The 888 deer farmed in Kyung-Kee province included spotted deer (Cervus nippon. 69.4%), red deer (Cervus elaphus, 6.1%), wapiti (Cervus elaphus canadensis, 12.2%), spotted $\times$ red deer hybrids (6.2%), red deer $\times$ wapiti hybrids (4.6%). and fallow deer (Dama dama, 1.5%). Poor information on feeding was evidenced by wide variation among farms of daily feed supply and ratios of forage to concentrate, and poor nutritional considerations according to physiological status of deer. Hygiene needed more attention. The incidence of diseases and disorders was high: enteritis (73.3% in Kyung-Kee province), fractures (60.0%), and dystocia (56.7%). The major source of farm income was velvet antler and its blood. To improve productive efficiency, attention should be given to improving farm facilities, simplified product marketing, developing standard feeding system, and economic grazing system.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.88-96
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• 2021

Background: Sika deer, Cervus nippon, were originally introduced to South Korea from Japan and Taiwan for commercial farming purposes. Unfortunately, they were released into the wild during religious events and have since begun to impact the native ecosystem and species endemic to South Korea. The study of activity patterns can improve our understanding of the environmental impact of non-native species and their association with sympatric species. Using camera traps, we studied the diel and seasonal activity patterns of non-native sika deer and quantified the temporal overlap with sympatric mammalian species in the Muljangori-oreum wetlands of Hallasan National Park, South Korea. Results: A total of 970 trap events were recorded for five mammalian species from nine locations during the camera-trap survey. Siberian roe deer (Capreolus pygargus tianschanicus) had the highest number of recorded events (72.0%), followed by sika deer (Cervus nippon) (16.2%), wild boar (Sus scrofa) (5.0%), Asian badger (Meles leucurus) (4.5%), and the Jeju weasel (Mustela sibirica quelpartis) (2.0%). Sika deer had bimodal activity patterns throughout the year, with peaks throughout the spring-autumn twilight, and day and night time throughout the winter. Relating the daily activity of sika deer with other mammalian species, roe deer expressed the highest degree of overlap (Δ₄ = 0.80) while the Asian badger demonstrated the lowest overlap (Δ₄ = 0.37). Conclusions: Our data show that sika deer are a crepuscular species with seasonal variations in daily activity patterns. Additionally, we identified the temporal differences in activity peaks between different mammals in the Muljangori-oreum wetlands and found higher degree of overlap between sika deer and roe deer during twilight hours.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.123-130
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• 2003

In this study, current status of domestic deer farms and its feeding were surveyed. The information of supply and demand of feed f3r deers including its industry were also examined and then analyzed to make fundamental data for deer farms and government policy. The results are as follows. 1. Over 40 years old farmers were about 63％ of total deer farms while 20­30 years olds were less than 1％ indicating that young people still evade agriculture. Moreover, considering education, over 52％ of the farmers have bachelor degree showing much higher rates compared to the other agricultural fields. The reason can be assumed that the labor burden is not serious in deer farming while it is not dirty job compared to the other livestock management. Those high­educated people can be easily trained as experts of deer farming to improve its international competition. 2. Most of investigated farms raise Korean spotted deers and Elk showing that the percentage of Elk has greatly increased(However, many farmers have complained about purchasing methods and they insisted that the sales organization should be controlled by government). 3. 57％ of total cost of production is for feed while most of feeds are imported from abroad. It indicated that it is urgent to make counterplan for saving feed cost. 4. It is necessary to develop feeds for deers in the near future while most of the examined farmers currently use normal assorted feed. Typical roughage sources feeds are rice straw, alfalfa hay, browses feed, and so on. Most of them are currently imported except the rice straw indicating urgently needed to develop domestic bulky feed. 5. The present questions are development of processed goods of velvet antler, establishment of reasonable management system, difficulty of velvet antler selling, feed supply, and so on. It is necessary for government and academic world to develop reasonable policy and scientific research program.

• Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.18-26
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• 2006

In-field site-specific nitrogen (N) management increases crop yield, reduces N application to minimize the risk of nitrate contamination of ground water, and thus reduces farming cost. Real-time N sensing and fertilization is required for efficient N management. An 'on-the-go' site-specific N management system was developed and evaluated for the supplemental N application to com (Zea mays L.). This real-time N sensing and fertilization system monitored and assessed N fertilization needs using a vision-based spectral sensor and controlled the appropriate variable N rate according to N deficiency level estimated from spectral signature of crop canopies. Sensor inputs included ambient illumination, camera parameters, and image histogram of three spectral regions (red, green, and near-infrared). The real-time sensor-based supplemental N treatment improved crop N status and increased yield over most plots. The largest yield increase was achieved in plots with low initial N treatment combined with supplemental variable-rate application. Yield data for plots where N was applied the latest in the season resulted in a reduced impact on supplemental N. For plots with no supplemental N application, yield increased gradually with initial N treatment, but any N application more than 101 kg/ha had minimal impact on yield.