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Malformations seen in Kodiak deer
The Associated Press
Published Monday, April 20, 2009
KODIAK, Alaska - Scientists say environmental toxins are the likely cause of an anomaly increasingly found in Kodiak's deer population.
A growing number of bucks lack a scrotum or evident testes and have the body conformation of does.
In most cases, the malformed bucks possess abnormal antlers including unusually sharp points and retention of velvet.
Jake Jacobson, a registered guide, first noticed abnormal bucks on Kodiak's south end 15 years ago.
He says that abnormality has since grown more common, particularly in the Aliulik Peninsula. Jacobson started collecting tissue samples from affected bucks in 1999.
Researchers at Colorado State University analyzed tissue and blood samples from abnormal and normal bucks taken by hunters on the Aliulik Peninsula and from other parts of Kodiak.
Scientists say exposure to environmental contaminants are the likely cause of the anomaly.