Abstract
Free-roaming dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are of public health and conservation concern because of their potential to transmit diseases, such as rabies, to both people and wildlife. Understanding domestic dog population dynamics and how they could potentially be impacted by interventions, such as rabies vaccination, is vital for such disease control efforts. For four years, we measured demographic data on 2,649 free-roaming domestic dogs in four rural villages in Tanzania: two villages with and two without a rabies vaccination campaign. We examined the effects of body condition, sex, age and village on survivorship and reproduction. Furthermore, we compared sources of mortality among villages. We found that adult dogs (>12mos) had higher survival than puppies in all villages. We observed a male-biased sex ratio across all age classes. Overall survival in one non-vaccination village was lower than in the other three villages, all of which had similar survival probabilities. In all villages, dogs in poor body condition had lower survival than dogs in ideal body condition. Sickness and spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) predation were the two main causes of dog death. Within vaccination villages, vaccinated dogs had higher survivorship than unvaccinated dogs. Dog population growth, however, was similar in all the villages suggesting village characteristics and ownership practices likely have a greater impact on overall dog population dynamics than vaccination. Free-roaming domestic dogs in rural communities exist in the context of their human owners as well as the surrounding wildlife. Our results did not reveal a clear effect of vaccination programs on domestic dog population dynamics. An investigation of the role of dogs and their care within these communities could provide additional insight for planning and implementing rabies control measures such as mass dog vaccination.
Highlights
Domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) suffer from and can be reservoirs of diseases such as rabies and canine distemper
We studied the ecology of village dogs in four rural villages in northern Tanzania over four consecutive years (2010–2013) in order to determine their rates of survival, reproduction, and causes of death
We aimed to determine: 1) life expectancies of puppies and adult dogs, 2) whether higher female mortality produces a male-biased sex ratio, 3) how body condition influences mortality rates, 4) the principal sources of mortality, 5) how villages differ in dog demography and whether any village effects such as increased survival and population growth can be ascribed to the vaccination programs, and 6) whether within the vaccination villages, vaccinated dogs have lower rates of mortality than unvaccinated dogs
Summary
Domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) suffer from and can be reservoirs of diseases such as rabies and canine distemper. Rabies causes an estimated 55–59,000 human deaths in Africa and Asia [19,22,23], with an estimated 1,500 human deaths annually in Tanzania alone [24,25] These concerns for public and wildlife health have led to mass domestic dog vaccination programs in many developing countries including Tanzania. Such programs have been effective in eliminating rabies outbreaks in domestic dogs [25,26,27,28], understanding the demography of the targeted domestic dog populations will be key to future success. We studied the ecology of village dogs in four rural villages in northern Tanzania over four consecutive years (2010–2013) in order to determine their rates of survival, reproduction, and causes of death
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