Weryfikacja metody klasycznej (łowieckiej) oceny wieku jelenia szlachetnego (Cervus elaphus L.) analizą histologiczną uzębienia żuchwy

The study presents verification of the accuracy of the traditional hunters' method of red deer stags age determination based on the assessment of mandibular tooth development and degree of wear with the histological thin−section technique estimating age from the number of annular layers in the secondary dentine and cementum deposited in incisors (I1) or molars (M1). The performed analysis enabled construction of pictorial tables to estimate the age of the Mazurian red deer stags using the traditional hunters' method and recognition of the characteristic features of dentition in stags from a given age group, thus allowing improvement of the existing hunters' method.