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Increasing use of hair to survey carnivore distribution and identify carnivore scavengers or predators at prey kill sites requires methods for cost-efficient identification of predator hair. Although DNA analysis can be used to identify species-specific hairs, reliability depends on quality of hair, collection method, and environmental conditions, with cost that can exceed CAD$35/hair. In contrast, features of guard hairs including hair length, banding, and macro-and microscopic characteristics of the hair cuticle and medulla offer an alternative approach when hair quality is poor or funding is limited. Past keys focused on hair identification of prey species (e.g., ungulates, rodents) in predator scat analysis or were general because they contained all mammals in a region, thus complicating the focus on dichotomous keys for large carnivores. We used Random Forest (RF) to identify features that best classified known-origin guard hairs (n ¼ 175) and used these characteristics to develop a dichotomous key for hair identification of the 7 major, large carnivore species common to the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, Canada. We found relative medulla width and pattern, cuticle-scale characteristics, and hair length provided the greatest probability of correctly distinguishing among hairs of different carnivore species. Correct classification of within sample hairs with RF based on Area Under the Curve (AUC) averaged 0.95 AE 0.10, with coyote (Canis latrans) hairs having the lowest classification accuracy. Blind trials classifying 21 hairs using the dichotomous key yielded correct classifications of 88% AE 7% to the family level and 60% AE 10% to the species level. Hair preparation and identification by a trained technician was estimated at 30 AE 15 min/hair and CAD$8/hair. Our carnivore hair key provides an alternative approach to DNA hair analysis when either funds are limited, or hair samples are not of sufficient quality to be successfully sequenced. Ó

Ungulates groom to remove ectoparasites but grooming may interfere with foraging, vigilance, and rumination, and it is possible that these effects differ among migratory tactics due to differences in parasite infestations. We compared the effects of grooming for winter ticks (Dermacentor albipictus) on winter foraging behavior by migrating and resident elk (Cervus canadensis) in the partially migratory population at the Ya Ha Tinda, adjacent to Banff National Park, Canada. We used hair loss on the dorsal shoulder area (“withers”) measured from photographic images as an index of tick infestation of individual elk. We conducted 594 focal observations on 48 radio-collared and 18 uncollared individuals that were uniquely identifiable from ear-tags (N = 66) in 2019 to assess whether grooming for ticks in winter reduced time spent foraging, ruminating, or being vigilant. Because rubbing or hair loss from radio-collars may influence tick infestations and behavior, we controlled for whether elk were collared or uncollared in our analyses. Neck hair loss was 3−5% greater in collared elk than uncollared elk, but neither withers hair loss nor time spent grooming differed. Grooming occurred during 42% of the observations but grooming comprised only ~1% of observation time. Nevertheless, 40% of all grooming was observed during resting, and grooming interrupted vigilance behavior ~8 times more than foraging. We found no differences among elk following different migratory tactics in time spent grooming or in other behaviors, but one of the two groups of migrant elk had higher withers hair loss. Our results suggest winter ticks may have slight effects on elk relative to other ungulates, particularly moose (Alces alces), in North America.

Cases of true and pseudo-hermaphroditism, in which animals possess both ovaries and testes or have a single chromosomal and gonadal sex but secondary features of the other sex, have been documented in several cervids, including Odocoileus (deer) and Capreolus (roe deer) species. Another form of intersexuality that has been well documented in Domestic Cattle (Bos taurus) and induced in Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) is freemartinism, where blood is shared between heterosexual twins leading to XX/XY chimeras. We report the first case of pseudo-hermaphroditism in wild Elk (Cervus canadensis), observed in the central east slopes of the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, Canada, from September through December 2019. The Elk had no antlers, exhibited female external genitalia, and displayed male secondary sexual characteristics, including colouring and breeding behaviour. To determine whether this is a case of true hermaphroditism, pseudo-hermaphroditism, or freemartinism would require blood analysis and inspection of internal sex organs by necropsy.