This study provides for the first time in the Carpathians analysis of spatial behaviour of 20 male red deer monitored during 2005-2013 using radio-telemetry. Two distinct spatial patterns were displayed in the same local population, i.e. residential and migratory. Residential annual home ranges were significantly smaller compared to migratory ones using both Minimum Convex Polygon and Kernel Home Range, due to periodic movement of migrants between distinct seasonal ranges. Residents remained in the same area throughout the year and showed a positive age effect on the home range size. While seasonal ranges of migrants were comparable in size, residents surprisingly expanded their space use in winter compared to other seasons. Fidelity to seasonal ranges over the years, especially winter, was striking and comparable in both migrants and residents with increasing tendency throughout the year (37-68 %). Vertical differences in home range altitudes were most obvious in migrants, although in both migrant types, significant descent was recorded during the winter. The longest horizontal movements were recorded in three young stags emigrating to neighbouring mountain ranges (30, 47 and 65 km). Because 45 % of the population seems to be migratory, the data support importance of large-scale hunting management established in Slovakia in 2009.

The aim of this study was to monitor accumulation of lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic in leg skeletal muscle of some wild birds from selected areas of Slovakia and the correlations among the heavy metals. A total of 160 wild birds representing 3 species-Eurasian coot (Fulica atra) (n = 24), mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) (n = 68) and pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) (n = 68) were involved for analyses. Concentrations of heavy metals from samples were measured using atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS). Metal concentrations are expressed as mg/kg wet weight. The order of lead and arsenic concentrations in muscles of wild birds were as follows: mallard > pheasant > Eurasian coot; in the case of arsenic the differences were significant (P < 0.05). Muscle of Eurasian coot accumulated the highest concentration of cadmium and mercury followed by pheasant and the lowest in mallard, but differences were not significant (P > 0.05). Moderately negative correlations were noted in pheasant between cadmium and mercury (r = -0.39), and between mercury and arsenic (r = -0.45). Moderately negative correlation between cadmium and arsenic (r = -0.31) was found for Eurasian coot.

A study of roe deer fibropapillomatosis, a neoplastic disease with rising occurrence, was conducted in Slovakia during 1998-2014. The first documented case of the disease was identified in 1998, at the district of Senica, in the western part of the country bordering with the Czech Republic. The disease spread from the place of initial occurrence towards the south-eastern regions of Slovakia. During the 17 years of monitoring, the disease spread to 37 districts from the total of 72 districts in the Slovak Republic and 610 cases of roe deer fibropapillomatosis were registered. Examined cases were categorized according to the extent of the lesions as follows: animals with 1 to 10 tumours (53.28 %), 11 to 30 tumours (30.49 %) and more than 31 tumours (16.23 %). The size of tumours was categorized in 45.41 % of the individuals as small (10-50 mm) and in 46.72 % individuals as medium sized (51-100 mm). Large tumours (101 mm and larger) were rare. The predilection site of tumour development in both sexes of roe deer was the skin of the abdomen, followed by forelegs and hind legs, the back and the head. Although the viral aetiology of the disease has been clarified previously, there are still open questions regarding the epidemiology of the disease, particularly about the role of vectors and other environmental factors in its expansion.

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