Rumen microbes and fermentation of wild sika deer on the Shiretoko peninsula of Hokkaido Island, Japan

Abstract

A total of 32 wild Hokkaido sika deer ( Cervus nippon yesoensis ) were shot (13 in summer, nine in autumn and 10 in winter) in the Syari district, Shiretoko Peninsula of Hokkaido Island, Japan. The ingested foods, rumen fermentation parameters and microbes were determined to evaluate digestive strategy and food availability in each season. Ingested foods and ruminal characteristics greatly varied by season. Rumen digesta mainly comprised of graminoids in summer, graminoids and agricultural products in autumn, and bark and twigs in winter. Rumen pH showed seasonal differences ( P < 0.05) and was lowest in summer, highest in winter, and intermediate in autumn, reflecting the seasonal differences in ruminal concentration of total volatile fatty acids which were significantly lower ( P < 0.05) in winter than in summer and autumn. Acetate proportions were significantly higher in winter than in other seasons ( P < 0.05), while the opposite trend was seen in proportions of propionate and butyrate. Rumen ammonia levels showed significant seasonal differences ( P < 0.05), decreasing from summer to autumn to winter. Rumen protozoa levels in autumn and winter decreased to 28 and 10% of the levels observed in summer, respectively ( P < 0.05 for both). The rumen bacteria level in winter was lower ( P < 0.05) than that in autumn, but no difference was seen for the other seasonal comparisons. Gram negative cocci were present in significantly higher proportions in winter than in other seasons ( P < 0.05), while Gram negative curved rods were less frequently observed in winter ( P < 0.05). Based on these results, wild sika deer in this area are shown to survive with rumen microbial populations altered with the dietary conditions that vary greatly by season.

Hindgut microbes, fermentation and their seasonal variations in Hokkaido native horses compared to light horses

“…Higher VFA levels, especially higher acetate levels, in native horses even during winter (Table 3) may suggest that microbial adaptation to a fibrous diet is greater in native horses than in light horses. A similar shift in fermentation pattern is reported in the rumen of wild sika deer ingesting highly fibrous foods such as bark in snowy winter (Ichimura et al 2004). The shift in the flora of the horse hindgut in the present study (more Gram-negative rods in winter, Table 1) was opposite to that of deer rumen (less Gram-negative rods but more Gramnegative cocci in winter, Ichimura et al 2004), implying a difference in the flora between these two animal species.…”

“…A similar shift in fermentation pattern is reported in the rumen of wild sika deer ingesting highly fibrous foods such as bark in snowy winter (Ichimura et al 2004). The shift in the flora of the horse hindgut in the present study (more Gram-negative rods in winter, Table 1) was opposite to that of deer rumen (less Gram-negative rods but more Gramnegative cocci in winter, Ichimura et al 2004), implying a difference in the flora between these two animal species. Thus, microbial adaptation could be seen as a microbial community shift to maximize feed digestion in a certain situation.…”

“…Adaptation of gut microbiota in wildlife to seasonal or dietary conditions has been described for the ruminants deer (Orpin et al 1985;Dehority et al 1999;Ichimura et al 2004) and sheep (Hobson et al 1975). Our results suggest that this adaptation is also present in the equine hindgut, the extent of which would be greater in Hokkaido native horses than in light horses.…”

Molecular diversity of rumen bacterial communities from tannin-rich and fiber-rich forage fed domestic Sika deer (Cervus nippon) in China

“…Among these microorganisms bacterial populations have been extensively studied for many years since rumen bacteria have important roles in the efficient degradation of plant biomass and detoxification of secondary compounds in plants [1,4-7]. This has led to a variety of studies investigating rumen bacterial structure have been conducted on domestic cows, sheep, yak, Reindeer in Norway and wild Sika deer in Japan [4,5,8-10]. Moreover, rumen bacterial communities are affected by the host and diet [11,12].…”

Seasonal changes in digestibility, passage rate and rumen fermentation of alfalfa hay in sika deer (Cervus nippon) under restricted feeding

“…In wild sika deer, the food availability decreases sharply in winter, when the percentage of bark and twigs in their food increases (Takatsuki & Ikeda 1993; Yokoyama et al . 2000; Ichimura et al . 2004).…”