Mean selenium and vitamin E (α-tocopherol) concentrations in the liver, myocardium and skeletal muscle of nine goat kids with nutritional myodegeneration (NMD) were significantly lower than those in a group of nine kids dying from other causes. Each of the 18 kids was from a different property in the southern half of the North Island. The polyunsaturated fatty acid composition of the liver, myocardium and skeletal muscle was not significantly different between the two groups, but the overall level of peroxidisable polyunsaturated fatty acids appeared high in both groups.