A captive Attwater's prairie‐chicken (Tympanuchus cupido attwateri; APC) breeding program was initiated in 1992 to avoid extinction of the APC, currently one of the most endangered birds in the United States. We addressed the efficacy of using pen‐reared birds to supplement wild populations or to establish new populations. From 19 July 1996 to 30 October 1997, we released 119 pen‐reared APC on Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge (APCNWR) and Galveston Bay Prairie Preserve (GBPP), in an effort to supplement wild populations. We used radiotelemetry to determine survival, movements, and reproduction of pen‐raised APC. We evaluated the effects of acclimation period, date of release, transmitter style, and release habitat on post‐release survival. Birds held in acclimation pens for 14 days experienced higher 6‐month survival than those held for 3 days (47.4% and 19.4%, respectively). We did not observe a difference in survival for different date of release, release habitats, or transmitter styles. Survival 2 weeks post‐release was similar for birds released in 1996 and 1997 on APCNWR (61.7% and 50.8%, respectively) and on GBPP (75.0% and 81.8%, respectively). Movements and monthly ranges for juvenile males and females were similar to those of wild APC. Overall site and year nest success was 44%. Recruitment on APCNWR was zero, while recruitment on GBPP was unknown. Future research is needed to determine why broods did not survive.

The geographic expansion of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in U.S. white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) has been largely unabated by best management practices, diagnostic surveillance, and depopulation of positive herds. Using a custom Affymetrix Axiom single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array, we demonstrate that both differential susceptibility to CWD, and natural variation in disease progression, are moderately to highly heritable (h 2 ¼ 0:337 6 0:079 ─ 0:637 6 0:070Þ among farmed U.S. white-tailed deer, and that loci other than PRNP are involved. Genome-wide association analyses using 123,987 quality filtered SNPs for a geographically diverse cohort of 807 farmed U.S. white-tailed deer (n = 284 CWD positive; n = 523 CWD non-detect) confirmed the prion gene (PRNP; G96S) as a largeeffect risk locus (P-value , 6.3E-11), as evidenced by the estimated proportion of phenotypic variance explained (PVE $ 0.05), but also demonstrated that more phenotypic variance was collectively explained by loci other than PRNP. Genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP; n = 123,987 SNPs) with k-fold cross validation (k = 3; k = 5) and random sampling (n = 50 iterations) for the same cohort of 807 farmed U.S. whitetailed deer produced mean genomic prediction accuracies $ 0.81; thereby providing the necessary foundation for exploring a genomically-estimated CWD eradication program.

We applied an 8‐year selection process in an attempt to determine if yearling antler quality in subsequent cohorts could be improved by selecting for yearling male white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) exhibiting relatively superior antler potential under suboptimal nutritional conditions. In 41 single‐sire (breeding M) breeding herds, 217 yearling males were produced on an 8% protein diet of limited quantity. All antler measurements increased significantly (P < 0.001) during the study: number of points (+3.2), inside spread (+96.5 mm), main beam length (+129.1 mm), basal circumference (+21.6 mm), and total antler weight (+231.3 g). Furthermore, mean gross Boone and Crockett (GBC) score increased (P < 0.001) linearly throughout the study, with the GBC of the 1999 cohort exceeding that of the 1993 cohort by 36.4 in (923.0 mm). These data provide insight to the effectiveness of a selection process (i.e., culling) in an overall deer‐management program.

During the summer of 1996, 50 radio-tagged, pen-reared Attwater's prairie chickens (Tympanuchus cupido attwateri) were released on Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge in a restoration effort to supplement a wild population. We evaluated fine-scale habitat use of pen-reared Attwater's prairie chickens during the 1997 nesting season based on 4 variables: obstruction of vision, plant height, litter depth, and percentage of bare ground. Low obstruction of vision (mean ¼ 1.5 dm), plant height (mean ¼ 67.3 cm), and litter depth (mean ¼ 2.7 cm) characterized preferred habitats. Bare ground averaged 16.5% at Attwater's prairie chicken locations compared with 8.2% at random locations. Use locations differed from random locations with respect to visual obstruction (P , 0.001), plant height (P , 0.001), litter depth (P , 0.001), and bare ground (P ¼ 0.007). Potential release sites should be managed using prescribed burning and controlled grazing to produce vegetative structure with an obstruction of vision 1.5 dm, plant height 67.3 cm, litter depth 2.7 cm, and percentage of bare ground ! 16.5%), the preferred habitat of pen-reared Attwater's prairie chickens. Resumen Durante el verano de 1996, 50 pollos de ''Attwater's prairie''(Tympanuchus cupido attwateri), criados en corral y con equipo de radiotelemetría, fueron liberados en el Refugio Nacional de Fauna Silvestre Attwater Prairie Chicken como un esfuerzo para restaurar y reforzar la població n natural de esta especie. Durante la época de anidamiento de 1997 evaluamos a nivel de escala fina el uso del há bitat por los pollos liberados, la evaluació n se basó en 4 variables: obstrucció n de la visió n, altura de planta, profundidad del mantillo y porcentaje de suelo descubierto. La Baja obstrucció n de visió n (promedio ¼ 1.5 dm), la altura de planta (promedio ¼ 67.3 cm) y la profundidad del mantillo (promedio ¼ 2.7 cm) caracterizaron los há bitats preferidos. El suelo descubierto promedio el 16.5% en las localidades de los pollos de ''Attwater's prairie'' en comparació n con 8.2% en sitios elegidos aleatoriamente. Los sitios utilizados difirieron de los sitios aleatorios con respecto a la obstrucció n visual (P , 0.001), altura de planta (P , 0.001), profundidad del mantillo (P , 0.001) y suelo descubierto (P ¼ 0.007). Los sitios potenciales de liberació n deben ser manejados utilizando el fuego prescrito y el apacentamiento controlado para producir una estructura vegetativa con una obstrucció n visual 1.5 dm, una altura de planta 67.3 cm, una profundidad de mantillo 2.7 cm y un porcentaje de suelo descubierto ! 16.5%, características del há bitat preferido por lo pollos de ''Attwater's prairie'' criados en corral.

Despite implementation of enhanced management practices, chronic wasting disease (CWD) in U.S. white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus; hereafter WTD) continues to expand geographically. Herein, we perform the largest genome-wide association analysis (GWAA) to date for CWD (n = 412 CWD-positive; n = 758 CWD-non-detect) using a custom Affymetrix Axiom® single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array (n = 121,010 SNPs), and confirm that differential susceptibility to CWD is a highly heritable (h2 = 0.611 ± 0.056) polygenic trait in farmed U.S. WTD, but with greater trait complexity than previously appreciated. We also confirm PRNP codon 96 (G96S) as having the largest-effects on risk (P ≤ 3.19E-08; Phenotypic Variance Explained ≥ 0.025) across three U.S. regions (Northeast, Midwest, South). However, 20 CWD-positive WTD possessing codon 96SS genotypes were also observed, including one that was lymph node and obex positive. Beyond PRNP, we also detected 23 significant SNPs (P-value ≤ 5E-05) implicating ≥ 24 positional candidate genes; many of which have been directly implicated in Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and prion diseases. Genotype-by-environment (GxE) interaction GWAA revealed a SNP in the lysosomal enzyme gene ARSB as having the most significant regional heterogeneity of effects on CWD (P ≤ 3.20E-06); with increasing copy number of the minor allele increasing susceptibility to CWD in the Northeast and Midwest; but with opposite effects in the South. In addition to ARSB, 38 significant GxE SNPs (P-value ≤ 5E-05) were also detected, thereby implicating ≥ 36 positional candidate genes; the majority of which have also been associated with aspects of Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and prion diseases.