Smooth muscle hamartoma in a castrated male red deer (Cervus elaphus) in New Zealand.

Abstract

Reports of neoplasia in deer remain rare (Hill and Staples Citation1999), despite the conviction that as deer farming became more common, a greater number of pathological processes, including tumours, would be recognised in deer (Pérez et al. Citation1998). Skin tumours are among the most common neoplasms reported in red deer (Cervus elaphus) and are usually papillomavirus-associated dermal fibropapillomas and papillomas (Erdélyi et al. Citation2009; Vaatstra et al. Citation2014; Garcês et al. Citation2020). Additional reports of cutaneous and subcutaneous tumours in red deer include malignant schwannoma and dermal malignant melanoma (Pérez et al. Citation1998; Scandrett and Wobeser Citation2004). In related deer species, subcutaneous dermoid cysts have been described in caribou (Rangifer tarandus) (Wobeser et al. Citation2009) and cutaneous fibromas in predominantly male white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) (Berry Citation1925; Friend Citation1967; Sundberg and Nielsen Citation1982).