• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.118-121
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• 2015

The water deer, Hydropotes inermis (Cervidae), is native to China and Korea and has two subspecies of the Chinese water deer (Hydropotes inermis inermis) and Korean water deer (Hydropotes inermis argyropus). To date, only the Korean water deer has been reported in South Korea. In this study, however, an intraspecific phylogeny and haplotype analysis based on mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I indicated that both Korean and Chinese water deer are found in South Korea. The populations of the two Korean genetic lineages did not show distinct geographic distributions. Further morphological studies on the Korean water deer will be required to confirm its taxonomic status.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.60-64
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• 2024

This case report documents the rescue, clinical presentation, treatment, and recovery of pneumothorax in a female Korean water deer (Hydropotes inermis argyropus) following a vehicular collision. Severe injuries, including a confirmed rib fracture, prompted an extensive treatment plan. Computed tomography imaging confirmed pneumothorax, particularly in the left lung, necessitating thoracocentesis to alleviate the accumulated air. Post-procedural monitoring demonstrated gradual recovery, with the water deer exhibiting restored appetite after the 2nd day of thoracocentesis. Successful recovery marked by natural pneumothorax resolution allowed for treatment cessation on the 13th day after injury.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.363-368
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• 2009

The Korean water deer (Hydropotes inermis argyropus) is an endemic species and one of the common species in Korea. The species ranges throughout the Korean peninsula and plays an important role as herbivores in natural ecosystem. Therefore, the species could be used as a good bio-indicator to monitor the quality of habitats. This study was to estimate the concentrations of five heavy metals (Fe, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb) from three different organs (kidney, liver and spleen) in the Korean water deer. According to the analyses of heavy metal accumulations, the concentration of Fe is higher than Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb from all the organs. Among the organs, spleen (286.50) showed higher heavy metal concentrations than kidney (39.40) and liver ($23.21\;{\mu}g\;g^{-1}$). In general, the concentrations of the heavy metals were about two times higher in Cheorwon, Gangwon province than in the Eastern part of Jeonnam province. In particular, Cd and Pb showed a significant difference (P<0.05). Except for Fe in spleen, all of the heavy metal concentrations were below background levels.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.836-845
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• 2011

This study aims feeding habit of the Korean water deer(Hydropotes inermis argyropus) using a visual analysis of rumen contents of 44 individuals. The samples were collected from Cheorwon(Gangwon province) and the eastern part of Jeonnam province. Based on the analysis, a total of 15 orders, 18 families and 13 species were identified. Among them, Solanceae(53.8%) and Graminease(30.3%) showed the highest proportions. Plants of 13 orders, 15 families and 10 species were found and forbs(70.21%) and Solanceae(54.9%) were most preferred in Cheorwon. Eight orders, 7 families and 4 species were found in the Eastern parts of Jeonnam province, and Gramineae(78.6%) and woody plants(14.70%) was most preferred. Among four seasons, Gramineae in spring(80.6%) and autumn(68.8%), Leguminosae(75.9%) in summer, and Solanceae(85.4%) in winter were the highest proportions.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.171-180
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• 2012

The field of wildlife habitat conservation research has attracted attention as integrated biodiversity management strategies. Considering the status of the species surveying data and the environmental variables in Korea, the GARP and Maxent models optimized for presence-only data could be one of the most suitable models in habitat modeling. For make sure applicability in the domestic environment we applied the machine learning species distribution model for analyzing habitats of the Korea water deer($Hydropotes$ $inermis$ $argyropus$) in the $Sapgyocheon$ watershed, $Chungcheong$ province. We used the $3^{rd}$ National Natural Environment Survey data and 10 environment variables by literature review for the modelling. Analysis results showed that habitats for the Korea water deer were predicted 16.3%(Maxent) and 27.1%(GARP), respectively. In terms of accuracy(training/test) the Maxent(0.85/0.69) was higher than the GARP(0.65/0.61), and the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient result of the Maxent(${\rho}$=0.71, p<0.01) was higher than the result of GARP(${\rho}$=0.55, p<0.05). However results could be depended on sites and target species, therefore selection of the appropriate model considering on the situation will be important to analyzing habitats.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.318-324
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• 2010

The aim of this study is to examine feeding habits of the Korean water deer(Hydropotes inermis argyropus) from its rumen contents using a PCR-DGGE method. For this study, rumen contents were collected from water deer causalities by natural death or road-kill in two different sites(Cheorwon, Gangwon province and the Eastern part of Jeonnam province). DNA was extracted from rumen contents of a total of 44 individuals. Two primers, rbcLZ1aF(GC) and rbcL19bR, were used for PCR amplifications of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase large subunit (rbcL) gene. Among 44 samples, twenty-nine samples were successfully amplified by PCRs. The 29 PCR products of partial rbcL gene were applied for PCR-DGGE. Totally, six families of plants were detected from the diet analyses. Five families of plants were found in Cheorwon, Gangwon province, but only three families of plants were found in the Eastern part of Jeonnam province. The PCR-DGGE method will provide us with a potential tool to study feeding habits of ungulates including water deer, even though our results failed to identify the prey plants at the level of species.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.129-134
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• 2018

The cysts of Sarcocystis grueneri were detected and characterized from the cardiac muscles of the Korean water deer (Hydropotes inermis argyropus). Of the 38 heart muscle samples examined by light microscopy, 10 were found infected with the cysts of Sarcocystis sp. The cysts appeared oval to spherical shape and measured $110-380{\mu}m$ in length and $90-170{\mu}m$ in width. A phylogenetic tree of the 18S rRNA sequences (1.5 kb) revealed a close relationship of the infected cysts to genus Sarcocystis. The 18S rRNA sequence of the infected cysts showed 100% identity to S. grueneri and 97% to S. capracanis. Here, we first report the S. grueneri infections in the Korean water deer.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.653-659
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• 2015

The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of tick-borne pathogens in the Korean water deer (Hydropotes inermis argyropus). Pathogens were identified using PCR which included Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, Rickettsia, and Theileria. Rickettsia was not detected, whereas Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, and Theileria infections were detected in 4, 2, and 8 animals, respectively. The most prevalent pathogen was Theileria. Of the 8 Theileria-positive animals, 2 were mixed-infected with 3 pathogens (Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, and Theileria) and another 2 animals showed mixed-infection with 2 pathogens (Anaplasma and Theileria). Sequencing analysis was used to verify the PCR results. The pathogens found in this study were identified as Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Ehrlichia canis, and Theileria sp. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report identifying these 3 pathogens in the Korean water deer. Our results suggest that the Korean water deer may serve as a major reservoir for these tick-borne pathogens, leading to spread of tick-borne diseases to domestic animals, livestock, and humans. Further studies are needed to investigate their roles in this respect.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.62-68
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• 2021

Despite numerous efforts on reducing road-kill worldwide, the collisions have been occurring continuously. Many factors are affecting road-kill occurrences and the effect is various by species. We investigated Hydropotes inermis argyropus road-kill characteristics on the national highway. We examined 9,099 H. i. argyropus road-kill points with distance to the gaps on road (interchange and intersection) and distance to six natural land-cover types as explanatory variables. We also examined the number of road-kill occurrences according to temporal variation using chi-square test with 9,658 events. In general, H. i. argyropus road-kill location tended to occur close to the gaps on road, agricultural lands and forests. The average distance from road-kill to the gap was 694.7 m and 78.6% of the collisions were occurred within 1 km from the gaps. In addition, Kruskal-Wallis test showed the distance between road-kill points and each land cover and the gaps was significantly different. The temporal analyses showed that the differences of the H. i. argyropus road-kill frequency are significant in both month and season. Our results implies H. i. argyropus road-kill location tended to occur close to the gaps on road, agricultural lands and forests in general, especially during May and June, according to their seasonal behavior. Thus, we suggest there is a need of concentrated management on the roads with specific characteristics for both wildlife and human safety.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.87-91
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• 2016

Deer serve as reservoirs of tick-borne pathogens that impact on medical and veterinary health worldwide. In the Republic of Korea, the population of Korean water deer (KWD, Hydropotes inermis argyropus) has greatly increased from 1982 to 2011, in part, as a result of reforestation programs established following the Korean War when much of the land was barren of trees. Eighty seven Haemaphysalis flava, 228 Haemaphysalis longicornis, 8 Ixodes nipponensis, and 40 Ixodes persulcatus (21 larvae, 114 nymphs, and 228 adults) were collected from 27 out of 70 KWD. A total of 89/363 ticks (266 pools, 24.5% minimum infection rate) and 5 (1.4%) fed ticks were positive for Anaplasma phagocytophilum using nested PCR targeting the 16S rRNA and groEL genes, respectively. The 16S rRNA gene fragment sequences of 88/89 (98.9%) of positive samples for A. phagocytophilum corresponded to previously described gene sequences from KWD spleen tissues. The 16S rRNA gene fragment sequences of 20/363 (5.5%) of the ticks were positive for A. bovis and were identical to previously reported sequences. Using the ITS specific nested PCR, 11/363 (3.0%) of the ticks were positive for Bartonella spp. This is the first report of Anaplasma and Bartonella spp. detected in ticks collected from KWD, suggesting that ticks are vectors of Anaplasma and Bartonella spp. between reservoir hosts in natural surroundings.