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Wild Mammals (wild + mammal)
Selected AbstractsBOOK REVIEW: Parasitic Diseases of Wild MammalsAUSTRALIAN VETERINARY JOURNAL, Issue 1-2 2003PJ Duignan No abstract is available for this article. [source] Antimicrobial-resistant faecal Escherichia coli in wild mammals in central Europe: multiresistant Escherichia coli producing extended-spectrum beta-lactamases in wild boarsJOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 5 2010I. Literak Abstract Aims:, To determine the presence of antibiotic-resistant faecal Escherichia coli in populations of wild mammals in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Methods and Results:, Rectal swabs or faeces collected during 2006,2008 from wild mammals were spread on MacConkey agar and MacConkey agar containing 2 mg l,1 of cefotaxime. From plates with positive growth, one isolate was recovered and identified as E. coli. Susceptibility to 12 antibiotics was tested using the disk diffusion method. Resistance genes, class 1 and 2 integrons and gene cassettes were detected in resistant isolates by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) were further characterized by DNA sequencing, macrorestriction profiling and determination of plasmid sizes. Plasmid DNA was subjected to EcoRV digestion, transferability by conjugation and incompatibility grouping by multiplex PCR. The prevalence of resistant isolates was 2% in small terrestrial mammals (rodents and insectivores, nE. coli = 242), 12% in wild ruminants and foxes (nE. coli = 42), while no resistant isolates were detected in brown bears (nE. coli = 16). In wild boars (Sus scrofa) (nE. coli = 290), the prevalence of resistant isolates was 6%. Class 1 and 2 integrons with various gene cassettes were recorded in resistant isolates. From wild boars, five (2%, nrectal smears = 293) multiresistant isolates producing ESBL were recovered: one isolate with blaCTX-M-1 + blaTEM-1, three with blaCTX-M-1 and one with blaTEM-52b. The blaCTX-M-1 genes were carried on approx. 90 kb IncI1 conjugative plasmids. Conclusions:, Antibiotic-resistant E. coli occured in populations of wild mammals in various prevalences. Significance and Impact of the Study:, Wild mammals are reservoirs of antibiotic-resistant E. coli including ESBL-producing strains which were found in wild boars. [source] Wild mammals and the human food chainMAMMAL REVIEW, Issue 2-3 2008PIRAN C. L. WHITE ABSTRACT 1Wild mammals have a long history of association with the human food chain, with some being the source for domesticated animals and others being considered traditionally as game species. Wild mammals are of negligible importance in terms of overall energy flows in agricultural ecosystems in Britain, but some wild mammals can have detrimental effects on the human food chain through predation, competition and disease transmission. 2Understanding these ecological processes at the level of populations and individuals can assist with devising appropriate management strategies to reduce human,wildlife conflict over limited resources. There remains a dearth of reliable information on the economic impacts of wild mammals on human food production, although the available quantified evidence suggests that the impacts are generally minor and localized, and are far outweighed by the wider public benefits associated with wild mammals. 3Greater public awareness of environmental and animal welfare issues, together with changes to rural communities resulting from human population movements, are changing the social landscape of interactions between people and wild mammals in the British countryside, and leading to an increase in more ambivalent attitudes towards wild mammals than has typically been the case in the past. 4Reform of agricultural policy is placing greater emphasis on the management of the land for biodiversity and environmental protection. While the benefits deriving from many previous agri-environment schemes have been mixed, there is increasing evidence that an emphasis on targeted and coordinated management at the landscape scale can enhance success. This type of approach is essential if some of the major threats facing declining wild mammal populations, such as population fragmentation, are to be overcome. 5There is an increasing divergence between regulation of agricultural ecosystems for food production and disease minimization and regulation of the land for biodiversity production via agri-environment schemes. The resolution of these tensions at the policy level will have major implications for future interactions between wild mammals and the human food chain. [source] Life history correlates of oxidative damage in a free-living mammal populationFUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2009Daniel H. Nussey Summary 1Reactive oxygen species, produced as a by-product of normal metabolism, can cause intracellular damage and negatively impact on cell function. Such oxidative damage has been proposed as an evolutionarily important cost of growth and reproduction and as a mechanistic explanation for organismal senescence, although few tests of these ideas have occurred outside the laboratory. 2Here, we examined correlations between a measure of phospholipid oxidative damage in plasma samples and age, growth rates, parasite burden and investment in reproduction in a population of wild Soay sheep on St. Kilda, Scotland. 3We found that, amongst females of different ages, lambs had significantly elevated levels of oxidative damage compared to all other age classes and there was no evidence of increasing damage with age amongst adult sheep. 4Amongst lambs, levels of oxidative damage increased significantly with increasing growth rates over the first 4 months of life. Neither mean damage nor the effect of growth rate on damage differed between male and female lambs. 5Amongst adult female sheep, there was no evidence that body mass, current parasite burden or metrics of recent and past reproductive effort significantly predicted oxidative damage levels. 6This study is the first to examine age variation in an assay of oxidative damage and correlations between oxidative damage, growth and reproduction in a wild mammal. Our results suggest strong links between early conditions and oxidative damage in lambs, but also serve to highlight the limitations of cross-sectional data for studies examining associations between oxidative stress, ageing and life history in free-living populations. [source] Water quality and Cryptosporidium distribution in an upland water supply catchment, Cumbria, UKHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 7 2007A. Sturdee Abstract Four micro-catchment (MC) areas were identified to represent the main terrain types of a remote, sparsely populated upland valley catchment of 18 km2 in Cumbria, UK. These were improved land with good grazing (IB), steeply sloping land with rough grazing (SG), wet moorland with sparse grazing (WM) and enclosed woodland that excluded livestock and deer (EW). Each MC contained the origin of a small stream that flowed into Swindale Beck, the river draining the valley. The water quality during the 14-month study, as judged by chemical and physical parameters, was excellent, but it could not be regarded as pristine because of the frequent presence of Cryptosporidium oocysts arising from livestock and wild mammal faeces. Oocysts (0·2,5·6 l,1) detected by genus-specific immunofluorescent antibody were found in 32% of 188 water samples tested: ranking order EW 44%, IB 34%, Beck 30%, SG and WM 26%. Similarly, oocysts were identified in 9·5% of 1730 faecal samples. Small wild mammals (28%), calves (15·7%) and lambs (8·1%) were the dominant sources, whereas adult livestock (1·8%) and large wild mammals (4·8%) were less important. Autumn showed the highest occurrence of oocysts for both water and faecal samples. No hydrological controls were found to have a significant impact on the occurrence or concentration of oocysts in the main river or in the MCs, suggesting that their presence is controlled by seasonal changes in pathogen prevalence in the animal reservoir. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Antimicrobial-resistant faecal Escherichia coli in wild mammals in central Europe: multiresistant Escherichia coli producing extended-spectrum beta-lactamases in wild boarsJOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 5 2010I. Literak Abstract Aims:, To determine the presence of antibiotic-resistant faecal Escherichia coli in populations of wild mammals in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Methods and Results:, Rectal swabs or faeces collected during 2006,2008 from wild mammals were spread on MacConkey agar and MacConkey agar containing 2 mg l,1 of cefotaxime. From plates with positive growth, one isolate was recovered and identified as E. coli. Susceptibility to 12 antibiotics was tested using the disk diffusion method. Resistance genes, class 1 and 2 integrons and gene cassettes were detected in resistant isolates by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) were further characterized by DNA sequencing, macrorestriction profiling and determination of plasmid sizes. Plasmid DNA was subjected to EcoRV digestion, transferability by conjugation and incompatibility grouping by multiplex PCR. The prevalence of resistant isolates was 2% in small terrestrial mammals (rodents and insectivores, nE. coli = 242), 12% in wild ruminants and foxes (nE. coli = 42), while no resistant isolates were detected in brown bears (nE. coli = 16). In wild boars (Sus scrofa) (nE. coli = 290), the prevalence of resistant isolates was 6%. Class 1 and 2 integrons with various gene cassettes were recorded in resistant isolates. From wild boars, five (2%, nrectal smears = 293) multiresistant isolates producing ESBL were recovered: one isolate with blaCTX-M-1 + blaTEM-1, three with blaCTX-M-1 and one with blaTEM-52b. The blaCTX-M-1 genes were carried on approx. 90 kb IncI1 conjugative plasmids. Conclusions:, Antibiotic-resistant E. coli occured in populations of wild mammals in various prevalences. Significance and Impact of the Study:, Wild mammals are reservoirs of antibiotic-resistant E. coli including ESBL-producing strains which were found in wild boars. [source] Monitoring exposure to avian influenza viruses in wild mammalsMAMMAL REVIEW, Issue 3 2009KACI K. VANDALEN ABSTRACT 1Avian influenza (AI) viruses primarily circulate in wild waterfowl populations and are occasionally transmitted to domestic poultry flocks. However, the possible roles of other wildlife species, such as wild mammals, in AI virus ecology have not been adequately addressed. 2Due to their habitat and behaviour, many wild mammals may be capable of transmitting pathogens among wild and domestic populations. Exposure to AI viruses has been reported in an array of wild and domestic animals. The presence of wild mammals on farms has been identified as a risk factor for at least one poultry AI outbreak in North America. These reports suggest the need for seroprevalence studies examining the exposure of wild mammals to AI viruses. 3Serological tests are routinely used to assess domestic poultry, domestic swine and human exposure to influenza A viruses, but these tests have not been validated for use in wild mammals. As such, some of these protocols may require adjustments or may be inappropriate for use in serology testing of wild mammals. Herein, we review these serological techniques and evaluate their potential usefulness in AI surveillance of wild mammals. We call for care to be taken when applying serological tests outside their original area of validation, and for continued assay verification for multiple species and virus strains. [source] Wild mammals and the human food chainMAMMAL REVIEW, Issue 2-3 2008PIRAN C. L. WHITE ABSTRACT 1Wild mammals have a long history of association with the human food chain, with some being the source for domesticated animals and others being considered traditionally as game species. Wild mammals are of negligible importance in terms of overall energy flows in agricultural ecosystems in Britain, but some wild mammals can have detrimental effects on the human food chain through predation, competition and disease transmission. 2Understanding these ecological processes at the level of populations and individuals can assist with devising appropriate management strategies to reduce human,wildlife conflict over limited resources. There remains a dearth of reliable information on the economic impacts of wild mammals on human food production, although the available quantified evidence suggests that the impacts are generally minor and localized, and are far outweighed by the wider public benefits associated with wild mammals. 3Greater public awareness of environmental and animal welfare issues, together with changes to rural communities resulting from human population movements, are changing the social landscape of interactions between people and wild mammals in the British countryside, and leading to an increase in more ambivalent attitudes towards wild mammals than has typically been the case in the past. 4Reform of agricultural policy is placing greater emphasis on the management of the land for biodiversity and environmental protection. While the benefits deriving from many previous agri-environment schemes have been mixed, there is increasing evidence that an emphasis on targeted and coordinated management at the landscape scale can enhance success. This type of approach is essential if some of the major threats facing declining wild mammal populations, such as population fragmentation, are to be overcome. 5There is an increasing divergence between regulation of agricultural ecosystems for food production and disease minimization and regulation of the land for biodiversity production via agri-environment schemes. The resolution of these tensions at the policy level will have major implications for future interactions between wild mammals and the human food chain. [source] The value of infrared thermography for research on mammals: previous applications and future directionsMAMMAL REVIEW, Issue 3 2007DOMINIC J. MCCAFFERTY ABSTRACT 1Infrared thermography (IRT) involves the precise measurement of infrared radiation which allows surface temperature to be determined according to simple physical laws. This review describes previous applications of IRT in studies of thermal physiology, veterinary diagnosis of disease or injury and population surveys on domestic and wild mammals. 2IRT is a useful technique because it is non-invasive and measurements can be made at distances of <1 m to examine specific sites of heat loss to >1000 m to count large mammals. Detailed measurements of surface temperature variation can be made where large numbers of temperature sensors would otherwise be required and where conventional solid sensors can give false readings on mammal coats. Studies need to take into account sources of error due to variation in emissivity, evaporative cooling and radiative heating of the coat. 3Recent advances in thermal imaging technology have produced lightweight, portable systems that store digital images with high temperature and spatial resolution. For these reasons, there are many further opportunities for IRT in studies of captive and wild mammals. [source] Could we live with reintroduced large carnivores in the UK?MAMMAL REVIEW, Issue 3 2004CHARLES J. WILSON ABSTRACT 1.,Literature on the wolf Canis lupus, brown bear Ursus arctos and lynx Lynx lynx is reviewed to determine if sufficient semi-natural habitat exists in the UK for a viable population of any of these species and to assess the potential risks to human safety, livestock and economically valuable wildlife. Public attitudes to the recovery and reintroduction of some other mammals are also briefly reviewed. 2.,The large home range sizes and low population densities of large carnivores mean that the Scottish Highlands is the only UK region with the potential to support a viable population. Human population density is also lower in the Highlands and the density of wild ungulate prey higher than in many parts of Europe where large carnivores survive. 3.,Attacks on people have been recorded in Europe for healthy bears and for rabid bears and wolves but there are no reports of attacks by lynx. Bears are more carnivorous in the north of their range than in the south and although wild mammals seldom appear to be important prey serious predation of livestock can occur. Livestock predation is also reported for the wolf and the lynx but they appear to prefer wild prey if available. However, mass kills of up to 100 or more sheep are occasionally recorded for wolves. 4.,Attitudes to reintroductions and carnivores generally tend to be favourable amongst the general public, but negative amongst those most likely to be adversely affected. Fears for human safety and significant livestock predation with bears and wolves, respectively, suggest that reintroduction of these species is unlikely to be acceptable in the foreseeable future. Reintroduction of the lynx may be feasible but habitat suitability and potential impact on vulnerable native wildlife need to be assessed. Socio-economic and legal issues also need to be addressed before such a reintroduction is considered. [source] Sand flea (Tunga spp.) infections in humans and domestic animals: state of the artMEDICAL AND VETERINARY ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 3 2009S. PAMPIGLIONE Abstract. Tungiasis is a parasitic disease of humans and animals caused by fleas (Siphonaptera) belonging to the genus Tunga. Two species, Tunga penetrans (L.) and Tunga trimamillata, out of 10 described to date, are known to affect man or domestic animals; the other eight are exclusive to a few species of wild mammals. Tunga penetrans and T. trimamillata originated from Latin America, although the first species is also found in sub-Saharan Africa (between 20° N and 25° S). Hundreds of millions of people are at risk of infection in more than 70 nations, mostly in developing countries. The second species has been reported only in Ecuador and Peru. Males and non-fertilized females of Tunga are haematophagous ectoparasites; pregnant females penetrate the skin where, following dilatation of the abdomen, they increase enormously in size (neosomy) and cause inflammatory and ulcerative processes of varying severity. The importance of Tunga infection in humans concerns its frequent localization in the foot, which sometimes causes very serious difficulty in walking, thereby reducing the subject's ability to work and necessitating medical and surgical intervention. Tungiasis in domestic animals can be responsible for economic losses resulting from flea-induced lesions and secondary infections. Because tungiasis represents a serious problem for tropical public health and because of the recent description of a new species (Tunga trimamillata), it seems appropriate to review current knowledge of the morphology, molecular taxonomy, epidemiology, pathology, treatment and control of sand fleas of the genus Tunga. [source] Assessment of organochlorine pesticides and metals in ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) at Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve, MadagascarAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 12 2009Thomas R. Rainwater Abstract Like most of Madagascar's endemic primates, ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) face a number of threats to their survival. Although habitat loss is of greatest concern, other anthropogenic factors including environmental contamination may also affect lemur health and survival. In this study, we examined ring-tailed lemurs from the Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve (BMSR), southern Madagascar for exposure to organochlorine (OC) pesticides and metals and examined differences in contaminant concentrations between sexes and among age groups, troops, and habitats. A total of 14 pesticides and 13 metals was detected in lemur blood (24 individuals) and hair (65 individuals) samples, respectively. p,p,-DDT, heptachlor, aldrin, heptachlor epoxide, endrin aldehyde, and endrin were among the most prevalent pesticides detected. Surprisingly, the persistent metabolite of p,p,-DDT, p,p,-DDE, was not detected. The most commonly detected metals were aluminum, zinc, boron, phosphorus, silicon, and copper, whereas metals considered more hazardous to wildlife (e.g. arsenic, cadmium, lead, selenium, vanadium) were not found above detection limits. Overall, concentrations of OC pesticides and metals were low and similar to those considered to be background concentrations in other studies examining the ecotoxicology of wild mammals. Few inter-sex, -age, -troop, and -habitat differences in contaminant concentrations were observed, suggesting a uniform distribution of contaminants within the reserve. Several statistically significant relationships between lemur body size and contaminant concentrations were observed, but owing to the lack of supportive data regarding contaminant exposure in wild primates, the biological significance of these findings remains uncertain. Results of this study document exposure of ring-tailed lemurs at BMSR to multiple OC pesticides and metals and provide essential baseline data for future health and toxicological evaluations of lemurs and other wild primates, especially those in regions with expanding agricultural and mining operations. Am. J. Primatol. 71:998,1010, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] | ||||||||||