Abstract
The aim of the study was to assess the condition of roe deer in the closed hunting season based on the analysis of body weight and fat reserves in roe deer killed in road collisions. The research material consisted of kidneys dissected from 12 bucks, 4 does, and 5 fawns killed in road accidents between February 12 and May 10, 2020. The measurements were used for calculation of the kidney fat index (KFI) based on the formula [Bobek et al. 1984]: KFI = kidney weight with fat/kidney weight without fat. The study presents the distribution of the analyzed parameters with reference to the animal sex and month in which the animal died in the road collision. A distinct decline in the value of fat reserves expressed as the KFI index and the perirenal fat weight mass was observed in the study. In the first two months (February, March), this decrease coincided with reduced body weight, which rapidly increased in April. This may have been related to the intensive vegetation growth. Nevertheless, the costs of the breeding season (primarily in males) resulted in further weight loss in May. The analysis of carcass weight and fat reserves in roe deer killed in road collisions can complete the information about their individual condition and indirectly shows the condition of the roe deer population in the closed hunting season, i.e. in the critical period for this species (winter and the beginning of the breeding season).
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