Management Of Wildlife Populations Research Articles

Wildlife habitat suitability analysis and mapping the former dhidhessa wildlife sanctuary using GIS-based analytical hierarchal process and weighted linear combination methods

Management of wildlife populations and the creation of conservation programs depend on the evaluation of wildlife habitats. Habitat suitability mapping is a technique typically used to map appropriate environmental factors and assess species existence in different areas. This study aims to map wildlife habitat suitability sites in Former Dhidhessa wildlife sanctuary, Ethiopia, using GIS-based Analytical Hierarchal Process and Weighted Linear Combination Methods. This study used both primary and secondary data sources. Datasets used to collect data include Digital Elevation Model (DEM), Landsat 9 (OLI/TIRS) and population data. Beside, large mammalian species occurrence data obtained from field survey was used. To map wildlife habitat suitability sites in Former Dhidhessa wildlife sanctuary, environmental factors such as proximity of road network, distance to surface water, land use land cover types, slope, population density and topography were used with the integration of species occurrence data recorded from the study area. These environmental factors scaled to common ranges, and assigned appropriate weights. The quantile classification method was utilized to classify suitability index into five zones (unsuitable, less suitable, moderately suitable, suitable, and highly suitable) to produce the map. Accordingly, the model revealed that 18.9 % of the study area is highly suitable, 19.5 % is suitable, 19.9 % is moderately suitable, 19.5 % is less suitable, and 22.2 % is unsuitable for wildlife. About 58.3 % of the study area is currently identified as suitable for wildlife whereas 41.7 % is unsuitable. This showed that the former Dhidhessa wildlife sanctuary is still having large suitable habitats that can support wide ranges of wildlife. Hence, based on the developed preliminary habitat suitability indices and maps, the federal and local governments shall reevaluate the status of former Dhidhessa wildlife sanctuary and develop future conservation and management plans to enhance the conservation of wildlife and their habitats in the area.

Assessing population structure and migration patterns of wild boar (Sus scrofa) in Japan

Geographical wildlife patterns reflect historical range expansion and connectivity and provide insights into wildlife population management. In our large-scale phylogeographic population analysis of wild boars (Sus scrofa leucomystax) in Japan, we identified 15 clusters using 29 microsatellite markers, each structured within a range of approximately 200 km. This suggests that evolution was essentially driven by isolation by distance, and that the range of gene flow was limited. One cluster contained subpopulations located approximately 900 km apart, indicating the occurrence of past anthropogenic introductions. Moreover, we estimated effective migration to visualize the geographic genetic population diversity. This analysis identified six potential barriers, one of which involved large plains and mountainous areas in the Kanto region of eastern Japan. This barrier likely persisted in the two eastern clusters for an extended period, restricting migration to the neighboring areas. Overall, our study sheds light on the demographic history of wild boar in Japan, provides evidence of past anthropogenic introductions from distant areas, and highlights the importance of geographic barriers in shaping genetic diversity and population dynamics. This knowledge will be beneficial for forming informed wildlife management strategies toward the conservation of genetic integrity and ecological balance of wild boar populations in Japan.

Advances in wildlife abundance estimation using pedigree reconstruction.

The conservation and management of wildlife populations, particularly for threatened and endangered species are greatly aided with abundance, growth rate, and density measures. Traditional methods of estimating abundance and related metrics represent trade-offs in effort and precision of estimates. Pedigree reconstruction is an emerging, attractive alternate approach because its use of one-time, noninvasive sampling of individuals to infer the existence of unsampled individuals. However, advances in pedigree reconstruction could improve its utility, including forming a measure of precision for the method, establishing required spatial sampling effort for accurate estimates, ascertaining the spatial extent of abundance estimates derived from pedigree reconstruction, and assessing how population density affects the estimator's performance. Using established relationships for a stochastic, spatially explicit simulated moose (Alces americanus) population, pedigree reconstruction provided accurate estimates of the adult moose population size and trend. Novel bootstrapped confidence intervals performed as expected with intensive sampling but underperformed with moderate sampling efforts that could produce abundance estimates with low bias. Adult population estimates more closely reflected the total number of adults in the extant population, rather than number of adults inhabiting the area where sampling occurred. Increasing sampling effort, measured as the proportion of individuals sampled and as the proportion of a hypothetical study area, yielded similar asymptotic patterns over time. Simulations indicated a positive relationship between animal density and sampling effort required for unbiased estimates. These results indicate that pedigree reconstruction can produce accurate abundance estimates and may be particularly valuable for surveying smaller areas and low-density populations.

Calibrating epigenetic clocks with training data error.

Animal age data are valuable for management of wildlife populations. Yet, for most species, there is no practical method for determining the age of unknown individuals. However, epigenetic clocks, a molecular-based method, are capable of age prediction by sampling specific tissue types and measuring DNA methylation levels at specific loci. Developing an epigenetic clock requires a large number of samples from animals of known ages. For most species, there are no individuals whose exact ages are known, making epigenetic clock calibration inaccurate or impossible. For many epigenetic clocks, calibration samples with inaccurate age estimates introduce a degree of error to epigenetic clock calibration. In this study, we investigated how much error in the training data set of an epigenetic clock can be tolerated before it resulted in an unacceptable increase in error for age prediction. Using four publicly available data sets, we artificially increased the training data age error by iterations of 1% and then tested the model against an independent set of known ages. A small effect size increase (Cohen's d >0.2) was detected when the error in age was higher than 22%. The effect size increased linearly with age error. This threshold was independent of sample size. Downstream applications for age data may have a more important role in deciding how much error can be tolerated for age prediction. If highly precise age estimates are required, then it may be futile to embark on the development of an epigenetic clock when there is no accurately aged calibration population to work with. However, for other problems, such as determining the relative age order of pairs of individuals, a lower-quality calibration data set may be adequate.

A camera trap method for estimating target densities of grey squirrels to inform wildlife management applications

Effective wildlife population management requires an understanding of the abundance of the target species. In the United Kingdom, the increase in numbers and range of the non-native invasive grey squirrel Sciurus carolinensis poses a substantial threat to the existence of the native red squirrel S. vulgaris, to tree health, and to the forestry industry. Reducing the number of grey squirrels, is crucial to mitigate their impacts. Camera traps are increasingly used to estimate animal abundance, and methods have been developed that do not require the identification of individual animals. Most of these methods have been focussed on medium to large mammal species with large range sizes and may be unsuitable for measuring local abundances of smaller mammals that have variable detection rates and hard to measure movement behaviour. The aim of this study was to develop a practical and cost-effective method, based on a camera trap index, that could be used by practitioners to estimate target densities of grey squirrels in woodlands to provide guidance on the numbers of traps or contraceptive feeders required for local grey squirrel control. Camera traps were deployed in ten independent woods of between 6 and 28 ha in size. An index, calculated from the number of grey squirrel photographs recorded per camera per day had a strong linear relationship (R2 = 0.90) with the densities of squirrels removed in trap and dispatch operations. From different time filters tested, a 5 min filter was applied, where photographs of squirrels recorded on the same camera within 5 min of a previous photograph were not counted. There were no significant differences between the number of squirrel photographs per camera recorded by three different models of camera, increasing the method’s practical application. This study demonstrated that a camera index could be used to inform the number of feeders or traps required for grey squirrel management through culling or contraception. Results could be obtained within 6 days without requiring expensive equipment or a high level of technical input. This method can easily be adapted to other rodent or small mammal species, making it widely applicable to other wildlife management interventions.

Staging behaviours identify spatial and temporal risk of human‐wildlife conflict

Abstract Habitat conversion to farmland has increased human‐wildlife interactions, which often lead to conflict, injury or death for people and animals. Understanding the behavioural and landscape drivers of human‐wildlife conflict is critical for managing wildlife populations. Staging behaviour prior to crop incursions has been described across multiple taxa and offers potential utility in managing conflict, but few quantitative assessments of staging have been undertaken. Animal movement data can provide valuable, fine‐scale information on such behaviour with opportunities for application to real‐time management for conflict prediction. We developed an approach to assess the efficacy of six widely used metrics of animal movement to identify staging behaviour prior to agricultural incursions. We applied this approach to GPS data from 55 African elephants in the Serengeti‐Mara ecosystem and found tortuosity and HMM‐derived behavioural states to be the most effective for identifying staging events. We then assessed temporal patterns of defined staging at daily and seasonal scales and explored environmental and anthropogenic drivers of staging from spatial generalized logistic mixed models. Finally, we tested the viability of combining movement and simple spatial metrics to predict crop incursions based on GPS data. Our approach identified staging behaviour that appeared to be driven largely by human activity and diurnal availability of protective cover from forest, riverine vegetation, and topography. Staging also varied substantially by season. Tortuosity and behavioural state metrics identified different staging strategies with distinct spatial distributions and anthropogenic drivers, and appeared to be linked to the juxtaposition between protected and cultivated lands. Tortuosity‐based staging combined with distance‐to‐agriculture produced promising results for pre‐event prediction of crop incursion. Synthesis and applications. Our study found staging by elephants prior to crop use could be identified from GPS tracking data, indicating that a better understanding of movement behaviour can inform targeted and proactive human‐wildlife conflict management and inform spatial planning efforts. Our approach is extendable to other conflict‐prone species to assess pre‐conflict behaviours and space use and demonstrates some of the challenges and advantages of using animal behaviour to assess temporal and spatial heterogeneity in human‐wildlife conflict.

Distribution update of water deer (Hydropotes inermis) and prediction of their potential distribution in Northeast China

Human interventions have a great potential of spatially cornering and limiting species, therefore investigating the species distribution is one of the most crucial issues for managing wildlife populations and suggesting robust conservation strategies. Water deer (Hydropotes inermis) are widespread in China throughout history and are endemic to East Asia. However, they disappeared from Northeast China for years. We rediscovered the water deer in a previous study in Jilin Province, China. Then, we conducted further research in Northeast China to determine their distribution status, supplying fundamental data for the recovery and expansion of their population. An interview survey, line transect survey and infrared camera monitoring were carried out in some counties/cities in Northeast China from June to December 2021. The results showed that the water deer were distributed in Wuchang city of Heilongjiang Province, Changbai Korean Autonomous County, Baishan Municipal District, Ji’an city, Hunchun city, Huadian city, Antu County and Helong County of Jilin Province, Benxi Manchu Autonomous County, Huanren Manchu Autonomous County, Kuandian Manchu Autonomous County, Fengcheng city and Donggang city of Liaoning Province. The ensemble species distribution model constructed by sdm within the TSS of various models that were set as weight revealed that the potential distribution area of the water deer in the study area was 8764.66 km2 (28.77% of the study area). Combining recent studies concerning the distribution of water deer and the current study, we updated the distribution of wild water deer in Northeast China, which is vital for their conservation worldwide.

Spatial ecology of the Vicuña (Lama vicugna) in a high Andean protected area.

The study of animal space use is fundamental to effective conservation and management of wildlife populations and habitats in a rapidly changing world, yet many species remain poorly described. Such is the case for the spatial ecology of the Vicuña-a medium-sized wild camelid that plays a critical role, both as a consumer and as prey, in the high Andean food web. We studied patterns of space use of 24 adult female vicuñas from April 2014 to February 2017 at the southern edge of its range. Vicuñas showed strong fidelity to their home range locations across the study period and shared large portions of their home ranges with vicuñas from other family groups. Vicuña home ranges in our study were considerably larger than previous estimates across the range of the species. Variation in environmental and terrain factors and the associated risk of predation affected vicuña diel migration distance but not home range size or overlap. Our study offers new ecological insights into vicuña space use that can inform conservation and management efforts of vicuñas and other social ungulates.

Understanding spatially explicit capture–recapture parameters for informing invasive animal management

AbstractSpatially explicit capture–recapture modeling is used to estimate population density to enhance our ecological understanding and management of wildlife populations. The two primary parameters estimated in the capture process of these models are σ and g0. The σ parameter is the standard deviation of a bivariate normal home range kernel (indicating home range size), while g0 is the probability of capture by a device placed at the home range center. These parameters are being increasingly generalized and used in simulation models to predict the detection or capture rates of invasive animals to inform management strategies. Given the sensitivity of simulation model predictions to parameter values, we performed an analysis of preexisting GPS telemetry and trapping data of invasive brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) across New Zealand to address the following three questions. First, how does σ vary with population density, habitat, and age–sex class? Second, how is g0 influenced by home range size (i.e., σ) and trap type? Third, how does the predicted probability of capture or detection of individuals vary with σ, different trap types and trap densities? We used data from 180 possums across 18 sites to develop a Bayesian hierarchical model. Results showed that σ decreased with increasing population density and increasing area of productive grassland. There was a strong negative relationship between σ and g0, and g0 was highest for cage traps and lowest for raised leg‐hold traps. Despite the potential compensatory inverse effect of g0 with σ, the probability of capturing a randomly located possum by a large array of traps increased with increasing σ. Results show that selection of σ for predictive simulation modeling should begin with an estimated population density. The associated g0 should then be identified as a function of σ, and stochasticity should be incorporated to account for inter‐individual variability. The approach employed here provides a methodology for estimating density, σ, and g0 using trapping and telemetry data, and our results will help guide careful consideration of density, σ, and g0 to improve the accuracy of simulation studies across species.

Symposium 1-2 - The Potential of Contraceptive Vaccines in Management of Wildlife Populations

Immunological contraception in wildlife has been the subject of many studies over the past 40 years owing to the social problems resulting from the damage caused to agriculture, forestry, fisheries, human living environments, and various ecosystems by overpopulated wildlife. To solve these problems, the demand for management techniques to maintain adequate wildlife populations is increasing. Generally, two types of methods are used for controlling wildlife populations: lethal and non-lethal. Lethal methods are the most common and effective for reducing wildlife populations in a relatively short period of time. However, from the viewpoint of animal welfare, social expectations for non-lethal methods have been increasing, and some applications of the population control through immunological contraception have also been used for large ungulates in the United States and Europe. Additionally, overpopulated species generally have high reproductive success rates, and fertility control techniques are expected to be an efficient approach. However, because the reproductive biology of wild animals is highly species specific, successful population management through fertility control requires the development of techniques that are appropriate for the target species. Additionally, fertility control techniques must be applied with the ecosystem in consideration. We have been searching for species-specific antigens derived from the zona pellucida for the development of contraceptive vaccines for raccoons and mongooses. In this talk, I will introduce the possibility and issues of contraceptive vaccines for wildlife management by presenting our research results and outlining examples of foreign applications of contraceptive vaccines to wildlife.

SNAPSHOT USA 2020: A second coordinated national camera trap survey of the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Managing wildlife populations in the face of global change requires regular data on the abundance and distribution of wild animals, but acquiring these over appropriate spatial scales in a sustainable way has proven challenging. Here we present the data from Snapshot USA 2020, a second annual national mammal survey of the USA. This project involved 152 scientists setting camera traps in a standardized protocol at 1485 locations across 103 arrays in 43 states for a total of 52,710 trap‐nights of survey effort. Most (58) of these arrays were also sampled during the same months (September and October) in 2019, providing a direct comparison of animal populations in 2 years that includes data from both during and before the COVID‐19 pandemic. All data were managed by the eMammal system, with all species identifications checked by at least two reviewers. In total, we recorded 117,415 detections of 78 species of wild mammals, 9236 detections of at least 43 species of birds, 15,851 detections of six domestic animals and 23,825 detections of humans or their vehicles. Spatial differences across arrays explained more variation in the relative abundance than temporal variation across years for all 38 species modeled, although there are examples of significant site‐level differences among years for many species. Temporal results show how species allocate their time and can be used to study species interactions, including between humans and wildlife. These data provide a snapshot of the mammal community of the USA for 2020 and will be useful for exploring the drivers of spatial and temporal changes in relative abundance and distribution, and the impacts of species interactions on daily activity patterns. There are no copyright restrictions, and please cite this paper when using these data, or a subset of these data, for publication.

A menu of climate change adaptation actions for terrestrial wildlife management

AbstractThe real‐world application of climate change adaptation practices in terrestrial wildlife conservation has been slowed by a lack of practical guidance for wildlife managers. Although there is a rapidly growing body of literature on the topic of climate change adaptation and wildlife management, the literature is weighted towards a narrow range of adaptation actions and administrative or policy recommendations that are typically beyond the decision space and influence of wildlife professionals. We developed a menu of tiered adaptation actions for terrestrial wildlife management to translate broad concepts into actionable approaches to help managers respond to climate change risks and meet desired management goals. The menu includes actions related to managing wildlife populations as well as managing wildlife habitat. We designed this resource to be used with the Adaptation Workbook, a structured decision‐support tool for climate adaptation. We describe real‐world examples in which managers have used the Wildlife Adaptation Menu to integrate climate adaptation considerations into wildlife management and conservation projects. Our examples illustrate how a comprehensive and structured menu of adaptation approaches can help managers brainstorm specific actions and more easily and clearly communicate the intent of their climate adaptation efforts.

In situ treatment of juvenile frogs for disease can reverse population declines

AbstractEffective management of wildlife populations threatened by disease requires accurate predictions about the consequences of intervention. However, generating such predictions is challenging, especially for organisms with complex life histories that are also threatened by climate change, such as montane amphibians. Cascades frogs (Rana cascadae) in northern California have experienced dramatic declines associated with the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), and remnant populations are also threatened by changing climate conditions. We evaluated the population‐level impacts of treating Cascades frog metamorphs with the antifungal chemical itraconazole using a field experiment and population simulations. We explored the influence of larval habitat on these treatment effects by including metamorphs from different larval habitat types. We found that frogs treated with itraconazole were more than four times more likely to survive their first winter than untreated controls and had reduced Bd infection intensity compared to other surviving frogs from the same cohort in the following year. We also found an effect of larval habitat type on Bd infection in recently metamorphosed frogs, with the lowest levels of infection occurring in frogs emerging from larval habitats that tend to be intermediate in temperature and drying rate. Applying the differential apparent overwinter survival of treated and untreated metamorphs to population projections suggests that intermittent antifungal treatment of metamorphs has the potential to restore population viability. Our results indicate that in situ treatment of individual hosts may be a useful component of a comprehensive management strategy to reduce the risk of pathogen‐mediated population declines and extirpations.

Restoring vertebrate predator populations can provide landscape-scale biological control of established invasive vertebrates: Insights from pine marten recovery in Europe.

Invasive species pose one of the greatest global threats to biodiversity. There has been a long history of importing coevolved natural enemies to act as biological control agents to try to suppress densities of invasive species, with historically limited success and frequent adverse impacts on native biodiversity. Our understanding of the processes and drivers of successful biological control has been focussed on invertebrates and is evidently limited and potentially ill‐suited with respect to biological control of vertebrate populations. The restoration of native vertebrate predator populations provides a promising nature‐based solution for slowing, halting, or even reversing the spread of some invasive vertebrates over spatial scales relevant to the management of wildlife populations. Here, we first review the growing literature and data from the pine marten‐red and grey squirrel system in Europe. We synthesise a multi‐decadal dataset to show that the recovery of a native predator has resulted in rapid, landscape‐scale declines of an established invasive species. We then use the model system, predator–prey interaction theory, and examples from the literature to develop ecological theory relating to natural biological control in vertebrates and evolutionary processes in native‐invasive predator–prey interactions. We find support for the hypotheses that evolutionary naivety of invasive species to native predators and lack of local refuges results in higher predation of naive compared to coevolved prey. We apply lessons learnt from the marten‐squirrel model system to examine the plausibility of specific native predator solutions to some of the Earth's most devastating invasive vertebrates. Given the evidence, we conclude that depletion of vertebrate predator populations has increased ecosystem vulnerability to invasions and thus facilitated the spread of invasive species. Therefore, restoration of vertebrate predator populations is an underappreciated, fundamental, nature‐based solution to the crisis of invasive species and should be a priority for vertebrate invasive species management globally.

Eyes on the herd: Quantifying ungulate density from satellite, unmanned aerial systems, and GPScollar data.

Novel approaches to quantifying density and distributions could help biologists adaptively manage wildlife populations, particularly if methods are accurate, consistent, cost-effective, rapid, and sensitive to change. Such approaches may also improve research on interactions between density and processes of interest, such as disease transmission across multiple populations. We assess how satellite imagery, unmanned aerial system (UAS) imagery, and Global Positioning System (GPS) collar data vary in characterizing elk density, distribution, and count patterns across times with and without supplemental feeding at the National Elk Refuge (NER) in the US state of Wyoming. We also present the first comparison of satellite imagery data with traditional counts for ungulates in a temperate system. We further evaluate seven different aggregation metrics to identify the most consistent and sensitive metrics for comparing density and distribution across time and populations. All three data sources detected higher densities and aggregation locations of elk during supplemental feeding than non-feeding at the NER. Kernel density estimates (KDEs), KDE polygon areas, and the first quantile of interelk distances detected differences with the highest sensitivity and were most highly correlated across data sources. Both UAS and satellite imagery provide snapshots of density and distribution patterns of most animals in the area at lower cost than GPS collars. While satellite-based counts were lower than traditional counts, aggregation metrics matched those from UAS and GPS data sources when animals appeared in high contrast to the landscape, including brown elk against new snow in open areas. UAS counts of elk were similar to traditional ground-based counts on feed grounds and are the best data source for assessing changes in small spatial extents. Satellite, UAS, or GPS data can provide appropriate data for assessing density and changes in density from adaptive management actions. For the NER, where high elk densities are beneath controlled airspace, GPS collar data will be most useful for evaluating how management actions, including changes in the dates of supplemental feeding, influence elk density and aggregation across large spatial extents. Using consistent and sensitive measures of density may improve research on the drivers and effects of density within and across a wide range of species.

Novel passive detection approach reveals low breeding season survival and apparent lactation cost in a critically endangered cave bat.

Capture-mark-recapture/resight (CMR) methods are used for survival-rate studies, yet are often limited by small sample sizes. Advances in passive integrated transponder (PIT) technology have enabled passive detection or ‘resight’ of marked individuals using large antennas with greater read-ranges than previously possible. We used passively-detected resight data and CMR models to study survival rates of the southern bent-winged bat Miniopterus orianae bassanii, a critically endangered, cave-dwelling bat. Over three years, we used PIT-tagging to monitor 2966 individuals at the species’ largest breeding aggregation, using daily detection data (> 1.6 million detections) to estimate seasonal survival probabilities, structured by age, sex and reproductive status, and parameterise population projection matrices. This has hitherto been impossible using traditional CMR methods due to disturbance risk and low recapture rates. Bats exhibited lowest apparent seasonal survival over summer and autumn, particularly for reproductive females in summer (when lactating) and juveniles in autumn (after weaning), and high survival in winter. Lowest survival rates coincided with severe drought in summer–autumn 2016, suggesting that dry conditions affect population viability. Under all likely demographic assumptions, population projection matrices suggested the population is in deterministic decline, requiring urgent action to reduce extinction risk. Passively-collected resight data can now be used in combination with CMR models to provide extensive, robust information for targeted wildlife population management.

Predicting surface abundance of federally threatened Jollyville Plateau Salamanders (Eurycea tonkawae) to inform management activities at a highly modified urban spring.

Urban expansion has contributed to the loss of habitat for range restricted species across the globe. Managing wildlife populations within these urban settings presents the challenge of balancing human and wildlife needs. Jollyville Plateau Salamanders (Eurycea tonkawae) are a range restricted, federally threatened, species of neotenic brook salamander endemic to central Texas. Almost the entire geographic range of E. tonkawae is embedded in the Austin, Cedar Park, and Round Rock metropolitan areas of Travis and Williamson counties, Texas. Among E. tonkawae occupied sites, Brushy Creek Spring has experienced some of the most extensive anthropogenic disturbance. Today the site consists of small groundwater outlets that emerge in the seams within a concrete culvert underlying a highway. Salamanders persist within this system though they are rarely detected. Here, we model the occurrence of salamanders within the surface habitat of Brushy Creek Spring using generalized linear models. In the absence of available data regarding the amount of water that is discharged from the spring, we use accumulated rainfall as a proxy for discharge to estimate salamander abundance. Additionally, we present evidence of reproduction, recruitment, and subterranean movement by E. tonkawae throughout this site. Infrastructure maintenance is inevitable at Brushy Creek Spring. We intend for our results to inform when maintenance should occur, i.e., during environmental conditions when salamanders are less likely to be observed in the surface habitat, to avoid unnecessary impacts to this federally threatened species.

Exploring Public Support for Large-Scale Commercial Axis Deer Harvests in Maui, Hawaii

Commercial harvests have been effectively employed to manage wildlife populations across the world. Although commercial harvesting of the nonnative, invasive axis deer (Axis axis) in Maui, Hawaii, occurs at small scales and only on private lands, there is potential for large-scale implementation to be used as a population management tool. To investigate local stakeholder interest in a hypothetical, large-scale commercial harvest of axis deer, we used an online survey of individuals and businesses in Maui to analyze their attitudes towards axis deer populations and management, their experiences with axis deer, and potential to utilize axis deer venison and products, as relevant. We found evidence of public support for commercial harvesting to be employed as one of the many tools available to manage axis deer populations. Additionally, we documented support on both the supply-side and demand-side for axis deer-derived products that may be available if large-scale commercialized harvesting were implemented. We leverage these results to contribute to conversations about commercial wildlife harvesting in the United States by challenging assumptions that the practice is inconsistent with the public’s perceptions of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and suggesting policies and programs that would ease axis deer commercial harvest growing pains.

In Pursuit of New Spaces for Threatened Mammals: Assessing Habitat Suitability for Kashmir Markhor (Capra falconeri cashmeriensis) in the Hindukush Range

Natural wild habitats are either destroyed or shrunk due to human interventions. Therefore, habitat evaluation is crucial for managing wildlife populations and designing robust conservation strategies. Species presence data and geographic information system (GIS) coupled with ground-breaking powerful statistical techniques have made such assessments possible. We used maximum entropy modeling (MaxEnt) to identify suitable habitats for Kashmir markhor (Capra falconeri cashmeriensis) in Malakand Division, Pakistan. MaxEnt was applied to 169 markhor sighting points and topographical and current bioclimatic variables. Results showed that the accuracy of the MaxEnt model was good (AUC = 0.889). Of the total area studied (8407.09 km2), 22.35% (1878.75 km2) was highly suitable and 32.63% (2743.53 km2) was moderately suitable for markhor. Protected areas including Chitral Gol National Park (CGNP), Tooshi-Sasha Conservancy (TSC), and Gehrait-Golain Conservancy (GGC) and their buffers were included in highly suitable habitats. MaxEnt also predicted highly suitable habitats in Kumrat and Kalam valleys. We believe that moderately suitable habitats identified in Jinjeret, Ursoon, Birir valley, and Bumborait valley have the potential to host markhor populations. Based on the results obtained in the current study, we strongly recommend expanding the current protected areas (PAs) network in the study area and strengthening it by inclusive conservation management with local communities.

CYTOKINE-RELEASE ASSAY FOR THE DETECTION OF MYCOBACTERIUM BOVIS INFECTION IN CHEETAH (ACINONYX JUBATUS).

The lack of species-specific assays for the diagnosis of infectious diseases, such as bovine tuberculosis, poses a threat to the management of wildlife populations, especially for vulnerable species such as cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus). The aim of this study was to identify and develop a cell-mediated immunological cytokine-release assay that could distinguish between Mycobacterium bovis-infected and uninfected cheetahs using commercially available feline cytokine ELISA and domestic cat (Felis catus) recombinant proteins. Antibodies against domestic cat cytokines, tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), and interferon gamma (IFN-γ), were screened for cross-reactivity with plasma cytokines from cheetah whole blood stimulated using QuantiFERON®-TB Gold Plus (QFT) tubes. Evidence of cytokine production in response to QFT mitogen stimulation was observed in all four ELISA assays. However only the Mabtech Cat IFN-γ ELISABasic kit could distinguish between M. bovis-infected (n = 1) and uninfected (n = 1) cheetahs and was therefore selected for further evaluation. A preliminary cheetah specific cutoff value (11 pg/ml) for detecting M. bovis infection using the Mabtech Cat IFN-γ release assay was calculated using a M. bovis uninfected cheetah cohort. Although this study only included one confirmed M. bovis culture-positive and one M. bovis culture-negative cheetah, the Mabtech Cat IFN-γ release assay demonstrated its potential for diagnostic application in this species.