Ads
related to: best feed for deer antler growth
Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Science & Tech. Shopping. Sports
Growth occurs at the tip, and is initially cartilage, which is later replaced by bone tissue. Once the antler has achieved its full size, the velvet is lost and the antler's bone dies. This dead bone structure is the mature antler. In most cases, the bone at the base is destroyed by osteoclasts and the antlers fall off at some point. [6]
The growth and loss of antlers for most species of deer coincide closely with rutting season. In reindeer, males will begin growing their antlers in February and shedding them in November or December.
Deer grow antlers anew each spring, often at the rate of an inch per day. Now, scientists want to take the cells that power deer antler growth and figure out how to give that same ability to humans.
Velvet antler is the whole cartilaginous antler in a precalcified growth stage of the Cervidae family including the species of deer such as elk, moose, and caribou. Velvet antler is covered in a hairy, velvet-like "skin" known as velvet and its tines are rounded, because the antler has not calcified or finished developing.
Mule deer females usually give birth to two fawns, although if it is their first time having a fawn, they often have just one. [29] A buck's antlers fall off during the winter, then grow again in preparation for the next season's rut. The annual cycle of antler growth is regulated by changes in the length of the day. [29] [31]
When infected deer congregate at an artificial feeding site, they could easily infect other deer that visit the same site. “It’ll facilitate more rapid transmission of disease,” says Fuda. 4.
The velvet antler or, the antler in the premature stages of growth, is believed by some to have medicinal purposes. Elk are also raised for venison, their meat. All of these markets are rising in popularity thus causing an increase in the breeding industry. Other species of similar type are farmed in the same way such as deer, moose, and red stag.
Ads
related to: best feed for deer antler growth