LA COSECHA SELECTIVA: UN FACTOR DE CAMBIO EN LAS ASTAS DEL VENADO COLA BLANCA (Odocoileus virginianus texanus) SELECTIVE HARVESTING: IS IT AN ANTLER CHANGE FACTOR FOR WHITE-TAILED DEER (Odocoileus virginianus texanus)

Abstract

In Mexico, as in many other places of the world, selective harvesting of the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus texanus) is based on the size and morphometry of the antlers, which may be affecting this hunting species that is the most important biological and economic species in the diversified livestock system. The objective of this research was to determine the effect of selective hunting and environmental factors as mineral supplement (indirect) and pluvial precipitation on the morphometrical characteristics of the antlers of the white-tailed deer in Northeastern Mexico. 3259 records of antlers of animals hunted between 1999 and 2009 were evaluated. The records were obtained from the Asociacion Nacional de Ganaderos Diversificados (ANGADI) fauna breeders in 367 (UMA) Management Units for Conservation of Wildlife of Coahuila (n805), Nuevo Leon (n1362) and Tamaulipas (n1092). The dependent variables evaluated were the characteristics of the antlers described by the international measurement system of the Boone and Crockett Club modified by ANGADI, also an index (INDEX) and mass (MASS) of the same antlers. The dependent variables were analyzed with a generalized linear model with independent variables of: year, class, supplement, municipality within state and state. Means for total score of the antlers were 374.9, 432.7 and 481.3 cm (p0.05) for young bucks, adults and 6.5 years old. Also, a negative phenotypic trend was found for the MASS and INDEX variables of the antlers with a significant overlap between the age groups among the same variables, possibly as an effect of the selective harvesting or from the supplement.