Morfometría, patrones de crecimiento y ganancia de peso de venados cola blanca (Odocoileus virginianus) en cautiverio en Durango y Toluca, México

Growth and weight gain patterns were studied in white -tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) (n = 35) in Durango and Toluca, Mexico from 1989 to 1994. Fawns weighed an average of 2.3 kg at birth (ee = 0.873, n = 14). Weight gain was 225.5 (ee = 25.7, n = 4) gr/day and 107.0 (ee = 38.4, n = 7) gr/day for naturally reared and bottle-reared fawns, respectively. The average lactation period was 112.2 and 88.5 days, and the average weaning weight was 14.5 and 12.6 kg for naturally reared and bottle-reared fawns, respectively. Adult males (n = 10) tended to grow continuously until five years old, and females (n = 11) stopped growing at three years old, very much likely as a consequence of breeding. Effect of nutrition, environment and habitat primary productivity are discussed as factors controlling growth in deer. Growth patterns in white -tailed deer in Mexico are similar to those reported for this species in the USA and Canada, for the Cervidae, and for both wild and domestic ungulates elsewhere.