Wildlife Biologists Research Articles

Genetic protocols for DNA extraction from white-tailed deer cast antlers to confirm individuality

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are the most sought-after deer species in America. The antlers of mammals, such as deer, are one of the fastest regenerative tissues in the world and are grown and naturally cast every year. Research on cast antlers have been used for a variety of purposes including population comparisons and impacts of deer health due to climatic stressors. When investigating cast antlers, it is important to confirm individuality of match sets in addition to antlers of the same individual between years. Therefore, individuality must be confirmed genetically, and protocols must be developed and established to do so. Our objectives were to 1) establish a genetic protocol to harvest DNA from cast antlers using connective tissue, and 2) determine individuality from subsequent years and match sets. When fresh antlers are cast, they leave behind a viable connective tissue from which DNA can be extracted. The DNA was successfully extracted from the skin rings harvested from naturally cast antlers. This study developed viable methods to confirm individuality, which aid researchers and wildlife biologists in a better understanding of the white-tailed deer herd as they set management goals and harvest regulations.

Locally Procured Wild Game Culinary Trends in the US: A Study of the Ruffed Grouse as Entrée and Accompanying Nutritional Analysis

Wild-caught foods including game and fish can be part of a local, sustainable food system. Beneficial environmental, personal health, and nutrition claims are often linked to locally-sourced foods. Yet, because many species of wild game and fish that are legal to hunt or catch do not have nutrient data in the USDA food composition database these claims, especially in the realm of nutrition, are not well substantiated. To address this gap, the Cornell research team collaborated with USDA scientists to address shortcomings in nutrition information for several wild game and fish species, in this case Ruffed Grouse. A wildlife biologist with the Ruffed Grouse Society collected bird samples according to USDA-determined collection protocols to obtain edible meat portions. Nutrient analysis was conducted on raw Ruffed Grouse breast meat samples at USDA-validated laboratories using approved quality assurance procedures. Analytical data were sent to NDL scientists, who reviewed and compiled the data into full nutrient profiles for Ruffed Grouse which were made available in the USDA food composition database. This new nutritional information supplements the already-well-appreciated epicurean qualities of the Ruffed Grouse and contributes to the complex social construction of the notion of hunted food as gourmet entrée.

A Smart Camera Trap for Detection of Endotherms and Ectotherms

Current camera traps use passive infrared triggers; therefore, they only capture images when animals have a substantially different surface body temperature than the background. Endothermic animals, such as mammals and birds, provide adequate temperature contrast to trigger cameras, while ectothermic animals, such as amphibians, reptiles, and invertebrates, do not. Therefore, a camera trap that is capable of monitoring ectotherms can expand the capacity of ecological research on ectothermic animals. This study presents the design, development, and evaluation of a solar-powered and artificial-intelligence-assisted camera trap system with the ability to monitor both endothermic and ectothermic animals. The system is developed using a central processing unit, integrated graphics processing unit, camera, infrared light, flash drive, printed circuit board, solar panel, battery, microphone, GPS receiver, temperature/humidity sensor, light sensor, and other customized circuitry. It continuously monitors image frames using a motion detection algorithm and commences recording when a moving animal is detected during the day or night. Field trials demonstrate that this system successfully recorded a high number of animals. Lab testing using artificially generated motion demonstrated that the system successfully recorded within video frames at a high accuracy of 0.99, providing an optimized peak power consumption of 5.208 W. No water or dust entered the cases during field trials. A total of 27 cameras saved 85,870 video segments during field trials, of which 423 video segments successfully recorded ectothermic animals (reptiles, amphibians, and arthropods). This newly developed camera trap will benefit wildlife biologists, as it successfully monitors both endothermic and ectothermic animals.

Effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic on 2020 spring turkey hunting across the United States

Spring wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) hunting is a foundational activity for many hunters across North America. Managing turkey hunters and turkey hunting is, therefore, a priority for state and provincial fish and wildlife management agencies. Early stages of the current SARS‐CoV‐2 (COVID‐19) pandemic in the United States coincided with 2020 spring turkey hunting seasons across the U.S. Potential effects of increases in peoples' time available for hunting on effort and turkey populations could have been substantial. We surveyed the primary wildlife biologist tasked with wild turkey management for each state and provincial jurisdiction with a huntable wild turkey population to determine turkey hunter and hunting dynamics before and during the spring 2020 turkey season. Biologists in 47 states responded to the survey. Results varied among states but hunting license sales, the number of hunters afield, harvest, total hunter‐days afield, and the number of days individual hunters were afield were greater in 2020 than the mean from the previous 3 years (2017–2019) in many states. Although hunting effort and total reported harvest increased in most states in 2020 from the previous 3‐year average, take‐per‐unit‐effort (i.e., harvest per hunter day) decreased in 93% of jurisdictions from which data were available, supporting the finding that increases in turkey harvest in spring 2020 were a result of a COVID‐related increase in participation and effort and not increases in turkey abundance. We recommend using these reference data for turkey population and turkey hunter monitoring pre‐ and post‐pandemic. Monitoring efforts should include wildlife population and habitat evaluations and study of hunter dynamics in a social science framework.

In memoriam Kerekes József (1932-2022)

In memoriam Joseph J. Kerekes (1932-2022). On September 17, 2022. in Halifax, at the age of 90, died JOSEPF J. KEREKES (Figure 1), a member of the editorial board of Hungarian Waterfowl Publications, a great friend of Hungarian limnologists and ornithologists, and an internationally known and recognized retired senior research scientist of the Canadian Wildlife Service/Environmental Canada. With his death, a fruitful relationship of more than two decades between him and the Institute of Wildlife Management and Wildlife Biology of the University of Sopron was broken.

Connecting Students’ Interests to a Learning Context: The Case of Ecosystem Services in STEM Education

Interest in a subject matter is a powerful motivation in education. Prior knowledge of students’ interests can be helpful in teaching the concept of ecosystem services (ES) and disservices (ED), which is increasingly being used in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, including soil science. Study objectives were to evaluate prior students’ soil science-related interests and use them to expand the learning context of a laboratory exercise on soil reaction (pH) with ES/ED in an online introductory soil science course (FNR 2040: Soil Information Systems) taught at Clemson University. Students from multiple fields of study (environmental and natural resources, forestry, and wildlife biology) completed the laboratory exercise in Fall 2021. This exercise on soil regulating and provisioning ES/ED included a sequence of reusable learning objects (RLOs), which are self-contained online modules frequently used for e-learning. Laboratory activities included calculating the liming replacement cost of soil inorganic carbon (SIC) and avoided social cost of carbon (SC-CO2) from soil inorganic carbon (SIC) stocks in the assigned soil. The laboratory exercise was effective in increasing the familiarity with the concept of ES/ED (+39.4 increase in “extremely familiar” category) and the concept of SIC (+44.7 increase in “moderately familiar” category). The graded online quiz consisted of 9 questions and was taken by 55 students with an average score of 7.0 (out of 9). A post-assessment survey found that the laboratory was an effective way to learn about soil pH, SIC, and their ES/ED. Detailed student comments showed learning enjoyment (e.g., calculations, good experience), the value of multimedia (e.g., video, PowerPoint), the learning flexibility (e.g., separate parts), content applicability (e.g., economic values of services), and constructive criticism (e.g., clearer instructions, lots of information). A word cloud based on comments by the students about their soil ES laboratory exercise experience indicated the most common words submitted by students to describe their experience, such as “soil”, “calculations”, “enjoyed”, “learning”, and “values”, among others. Applied recommendations are proposed to develop future exercises based on the alignment of students’ interests, STEM subject matter, and ES/ED applications.

Cooperation and Cattle Herding in Eighteenth Century Acadia: Implications for Archaeological Studies of Agropastoralism

Anthropological studies of cattle management have frequently used nomadic open-range African pastoralists as models even when examining more sedentary agro-pastoralists relying upon combinations of crops and livestock that prevent or inhibit mobility. The relatively limited number of datasets on more sedentary agro-pastoralists makes it difficult to assess the suitability of this analogy when modeling and understanding herd dynamics in sedentary or semi-sedentary societies like those in the European Neolithic or pre-industrial colonies in North America. Census data on seventeenth- and eighteenth-century French colonists in eastern Canada and the northeastern U.S. reveal that household herds average fewer than eight individuals. Herds this small would have been dangerously close to collapse if animals were slaughtered and would not have had sufficient numbers to grow quickly. Using effective population size, a measure from wildlife biology, to assess the demographic and genetic health of wildlife populations, we demonstrate that Acadian herders were able to overcome the challenges of their small herds by participating in village or inter-village herd networks. Furthermore, we demonstrate that differences in herd management existed across the Acadian colonies and correspond, in part, to local involvement in cod fishing. We suggest this case study may provide a useful model for understanding prehistoric sedentary agropastoralism and the role of cooperation in prehistoric animal management decisions.

Advances in research on the biology of the desert rodent Gerbillus tarabuli: a review.

Selection of the appropriate species and strain of laboratory animals are among the scientist's major concerns. Tarabul's gerbil (Gerbillus tarabuli) is a small, seasonally breeding, desert rodent native to Africa. Despite its unique biological features, which make it an ideal model candidate for biomedical research, only a few reports have used it in research. Hence, the present review aims to provide more data about this species, covering all aspects of its biology, such as taxonomy, morphology, anatomy, ecology, wildlife biology, molecular biology, physiology, neurobiology, genetics, reproduction, development, evolutionary biology, and conservation biology, and covers current progress in exploration of G. tarabuli, discussing its valuable characteristics, which are widely useful for research in various fields. This review paper is destined for biologists, scientists, mammologists, zoologists, academics, and students.

Teaching Field Data Crowdsourcing Using a GPS-Enabled Cellphone Application: Soil Erosion by Water as a Case Study

Crowdsourcing is an important tool for collecting spatio-temporal data, which has various applications in education. The objectives of this study were to develop and test a laboratory exercise on soil erosion by water and field data crowdsourcing in an online introductory soil science course (FNR 2040: Soil Information Systems) at Clemson University. Students from different STEM disciplines (wildlife biology, forestry, and environmental and natural resources) participated in the study in the fall of 2021. They completed a sequence of self-contained digital teaching modules or reusable learning objects (RLOs), which are often used in online learning. The exercise included a field exercise and learning module to teach students about different types of water-based soil erosion as well as field data collection and crowdsourcing tools. As a result of this exercise, student familiarity with crowdsourcing was effectively increased, as shown by the post-assessment survey with a +31.2% increase in the “moderately familiar” category and a +28.3% increase in the “extremely familiar” category. The online quiz contained ten questions and was taken by 56 students with an average score of 9.5 (out of 10). A post-assessment survey found that most of the students indicated that the laboratory was an effective learning experience about field data crowdsourcing using a GPS-enabled cellphone application. Detailed students’ comments indicated enjoyment of learning (e.g., data collection, learning about different technologies), the value of multimedia (e.g., ArcGIS Survey123, cellphone), the flexibility of learning (e.g., field work), the content applicability (e.g., actual field examples of erosion by water), and criticism (e.g., technical issues). A word cloud derived from students’ comments about their laboratory exercise experience indicated the most frequent words used by students, such as “erosion”, “enjoyed”, and “different”, among others. Incorporating a learning module and field exercise using modern data collection technology into an undergraduate soil science education course enabled students to understand the value and methods for leveraging cellphone-based field collection methods to crowdsource data for environmental assessment. Practical recommendations for planning and executing future crowdsourcing exercises were developed using the current study as an example.

Estimating wolf abundance from cameras

AbstractMonitoring the abundance of rare carnivores is a daunting task for wildlife biologists. Many carnivore populations persist at relatively low densities, public interest is high, and the need for population estimates is great. Recent advances in trail camera technology provide an unprecedented opportunity for biologists to monitor rare species economically. Few studies, however, have conducted rigorous analyses of our ability to estimate abundance of low‐density carnivores with cameras. We used motion‐triggered trail cameras and a space‐to‐event model to estimate gray wolf (Canis lupus) abundance across three study areas in Idaho, USA, 2016–2018. We compared abundance estimates between cameras and noninvasive genetic sampling that had been extensively tested in our study areas. Estimates of mean wolf abundance from camera and genetic surveys were within 22% of one another and 95% CIs overlapped in 2 of the 3 years. A single camera with many detections appeared to bias camera estimates high in 2018. A subsequent bootstrapping procedure produced a population estimate from cameras equal to that derived from genetic sampling, however. Camera surveys were less than half the cost of genetic surveys once initial camera purchases were made. Our results suggest that cameras can be a viable method for estimating wolf abundance across broad landscapes (>10,000 km2).

Detecting spider monkeys from the sky using a high-definition RGB camera: a rapid-assessment survey method?

Commercial, off-the-shelf, multirotor drones are increasingly employed to survey wildlife due to their relative ease of use and ability to cover areas quicker than traditional methods. Such drones fitted with high-resolution visual spectrum (RGB) cameras are an appealing tool for wildlife biologists. However, evaluations of the application of drones with RGB cameras for monitoring large-bodied arboreal mammals are largely lacking. We aimed to assess whether Geoffroy’s spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) could be detected in RGB videos collected by drones in tropical forests. We performed 77 pre-programmed grid flights with a DJI Mavic 2 Pro drone at a height of 10 m above the maximum canopy height covering 45% of a 1-hectare polygon per flight. We flew the drone directly over spider monkeys who had just been sighted from the ground, detecting monkeys in 85% of 20 detection test flights. Monkeys were detected in 17% of 18 trial flights over areas of known high relative abundance. We never detected monkeys in 39 trial flights over areas of known low relative abundance. Proportion of spider monkey detections during drone flights was lower than other commonly employed survey methods. Agreement between video-coders was high. Overall, our results suggest that with some changes in our research design, multirotor drones with RGB cameras might be a viable survey method to determine spider monkey presence in closed-canopy forest, although its applicability for rapid assessments of arboreal mammal species′ distributions seems currently unfeasible. We provide recommendations to improve survey design using drones to monitor arboreal mammal populations.

Evaluating the ability of a locally focused culling program in removing chronic wasting disease infected free-ranging white-tailed deer in Illinois, USA, 2003-2020.

In northern Illinois, chronic wasting disease (CWD) was first identified in free-ranging white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus; hereafter referred to as "deer") in 2002. To reduce CWD transmission rates in Illinois, wildlife biologists have conducted locally focussed culling of deer since 2003 in areas where CWD has been detected. We used retrospective spatial, temporal and space-time scan statistical models to identify areas and periods where culling removed higher than expected numbers of CWD-positive deer. We included 490 Public Land Survey "sections" (∼2.59 km2 ) from 15 northern Illinois counties in which at least one deer tested positive for CWD between 2003 and 2020. A negative binomial regression model compared the proportion of CWD positive cases removed from sections with at least one CWD case detected in the previous years, "local area 1 (L1)," to the proportion of CWD cases in adjacent sections-L2, L3, and L4-designated by their increasing distance from L1. Of the 14,661 deer removed and tested via culling, 325 (2.22 %) were CWD-positive. A single temporal CWD cluster occurred in 2020. Three spatial clusters were identified, with a primary cluster located at the border of Boone and Winnebago counties. Four space-time clusters were identified with a primary cluster in the northern portion of the study area from 2003 to 2005 that overlapped with the spatial cluster. The proportion of CWD cases removed from L1 (3.92, 95% CI, 2.56-6.01) and L2 (2.32, 95% CI, 1.50-3.59) were significantly higher compared to L3. Focussing culling efforts on accessible properties closest to L1 areas results in more CWD-infected deer being removed, which highlights the value of collaborations among landowners, hunters, and wildlife management agencies to control CWD. Continuous evaluation and updating of the culling and surveillance programs are essential to mitigate the health burden of CWD on deer populations in Illinois.

Training and experience increase classification accuracy in white-tailed deer camera surveys

Context Use of camera trap data in wildlife research is reliant on accurate classification of animals at the species, sex–age category or individual level. One such example is white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) camera surveys, which are often conducted to produce demographic estimates used by managers to establish harvest goals for a population. Previous research suggests that misclassification of deer by sex–age category (e.g. adult male, adult female, fawn) is common in these surveys, and represents a source of bias that could misinform important management decisions. Aim To examine whether training material has an effect on classification accuracy of white-tailed deer and explore other observer-based, experiential factors as they relate to classification accuracy. Methods We developed and tested the efficacy of species-specific training material designed to reduce sex–age misclassifications associated with white-tailed deer images. Key results Exposure to training material resulted in the greatest improvement in classification accuracy of deer images compared with any other respondent-based factors we investigated. Other factors, such as professional experience as a wildlife biologist, field experience viewing white-tailed deer and experience viewing deer images from camera traps, were positively associated with classification accuracy of deer images. Conclusions Our findings suggest that training material has the ability to reduce misclassifications, leading to more accurate demographic estimates for white-tailed deer populations. We also found that prior experience using camera traps and familiarity with target species was positively related to classification accuracy. Implications Species-specific training material would provide a valuable resource to wildlife managers tasked with classifying animals at the species, sex–age category or individual level.

Capacity building for wildlife health professionals: the Wildlife Health Bridge

The Wildlife Health Bridge was established in 2009 with the aim of improving the expertise and knowledge base of wildlife health professionals in biodiverse low- and middle-income countries. The Wildlife Health Bridge centres around partnerships among educational institutions: the Zoological Society of London, the Royal Veterinary College, the University of Edinburgh’s Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, the Wildlife Institute of India, and the University of Melbourne Veterinary School. The Wildlife Health Bridge provides quality education in wildlife health, ecosystem health, and wildlife biology, facilitates the interchange of students between collaborating countries for research studies and provides a global graduate network of wildlife health professionals. In addition to established Masters’ level wildlife health training programmes run by the partner organisations, the Wildlife Health Bridge has developed a collaborative field-based course, Interventions in Wild Animal Health, provided annually in India since 2016, which has trained 138 veterinarians to date, enhancing local and international capacity in managing emerging wildlife health issues and building global professional linkages. The Wildlife Health Bridge’s Wild Animal Alumni network facilitates networking and exchange between Wildlife Health Bridge institutions and graduates, with over 701 members from 67 countries, half of which are biodiverse low- and middle-income countries. Collaboration between educational institutions has enabled new ideas and ongoing developments in the delivery of materials and learning outcomes. The Wildlife Health Bridge is building global capacity in trained wildlife health professionals, through educational programmes and a synergised network, with the aim of impacting conservation practice to benefit human, domestic animal and wildlife health.

Infectious Diseases of North American Black Bears (Ursus americanus): Viral and Bacterial Pathogens (Part One)

Black bears (Ursus americanus) serve as an important keystone species within an ecosystem, and can also serve as sentinels for environmental health. Wildlife rehabilitators, biologists, and veterinarians working with these animals should familiarize themselves with infectious diseases commonly associated with these ursids. The purpose of this article is to provide a literature review of the common viral and bacterial pathogens associated with black bears.

Stimuli and barriers to innovation in wildlife policy – long-term institutional analysis of wolf management in Belarus

Following democratisation, many post-socialist countries in Central and Eastern Europe adjusted their wolf policies to accommodate a more positive discourse on the species and the need to sustain and expand its populations. However, Belarus continues an approach informed by a discourse on wolf as a dangerous pest that should be reduced to the most possible extent through unrestricted hunting. Based on data from desk research covering the last 150 years and from semi-structured interviews we explored the reasons for the long-term stability of the policy path and identified potential sources of policy innovations. We argue that the persistence of potentially unsustainable practices has been connected with a strong dominance of hunters in the policy field and the lack of actors representing alternative discourses and policy options. This has changed recently when wildlife biologists and environmental activists proposed policy adjustments modelled on the approaches used in the EU. However, these have not translated into meaningful changes because of hierarchical, top-down governance, dominance of the ministry responsible for hunting, and the lack of external stimuli for policy innovation. We propose activities to strengthen the co-ordination of wolf policy between Belarus and its EU neighbours and to ensure sustainable wolf management.

Silviculture for Deer and Timber: A Multiple-Use Policy Analysis Reveals Important Implementation Barriers

Policies that attempt to balance timber production with non-market values that forests provide are common across the United States. Such is the case in northern Maine, USA, where management of critical areas of mature softwood-dominated forest are regulated through the State’s primary wildlife management agency. We use a case study approach with qualitative and quantitative analyses to understand the persistent difficulties encountered by both forest and wildlife managers when implementing this policy. Interviews with foresters and wildlife biologists established the management parameters, and simulated management scenarios compared forest management outcomes with respect to both financial and wildlife habitat provision goals. The model results indicated that there are opportunities for comparable revenues within regulated habitat areas as without, although the returns varied due to legacy of previous management and species composition. More importantly, the interviews revealed that differing habitat metrics used by foresters and biologists are a barrier to communication and management planning, and thus also a barrier to effective policy implementation. We close with thoughts on the applicability of both the methods and results to other situations where an understanding of multiple-use forest policy implementation is desired.

Veterinarians and Wildlife Biologists Should Join Forces to End Inhumane Mammal Trapping Technology

Current mammal trapping standards uphold the use of inhumane trapping technology. For example, killing neck snares for the capture of canids, and rotating-jaw traps, and steel-jawed leghold traps for procyonids and mustelids, are being used by trappers despite decades of research showing that they are inhumane, and cause serious injuries and distress in captured animals. Many wildlife biologists unsuccessfully raised concerns about inhumane mammal trappings. This short communication stresses the need for veterinarians and wildlife biologists to work together to improve the fate of mammals captured in killing or restraining traps, and modify mammal trapping standards on the basis of animal welfare science.

How Do Hunters Hunt Wild Boar? Survey on Wild Boar Hunting Methods in the Federal State of Lower Saxony.

Simple SummaryHigh wild boar population densities lead to human–wildlife conflicts. For proper wildlife management, knowledge of wildlife biology as well as human attitudes is needed. We conducted inquiries on hunting methods and on hunters’ attitudes in the German Federal State of Lower Saxony to better understand hunting strategies. Single hunt, especially at bait, is still the most widely used method for hunting wild boar. The proportion of drive hunts within the hunting bag is increasing. The proportions of hunting methods vary regionally due to wild boar densities, geographical conditions and hunters’ practices. Private hunting is important for wild boar management, although it is just insufficient. Besides promoting more efficient hunting methods and motivating hunters, in the future, additionally, administrative wildlife managers could be established as coordinators of wild boar management, and as such, could manage hunting, the incorporation of regional conditions and investigating hunters’ attitudes and abilities.High wild boar population densities lead to demands for a population reduction to avoid crop damages or epidemic diseases. Along with biological studies, a better understanding of the human influence on wildlife and on wildlife management is important. We conducted inquiries on hunting methods and on hunters’ attitudes in the Federal State of Lower Saxony, Germany, to better understand hunting strategies and the influence on increasing wild boar population, as well as to underpin game management concepts. Single hunt, especially at bait, is still the most widely used method for hunting wild boar. The proportion of drive hunts within the hunting bag is increasing. The proportions of hunting methods vary regionally due to wild boar densities, geographical features (vegetation, terrain, etc.) and hunters’ practices. Hunters increased the proportion of conjoint hunts on wild boar. Baiting remains an important hunting method in wild boar management and the proportion of drive hunts should be fostered. Private hunting is important for wild boar management, although it is just insufficient. Additionally, administrative wildlife managers are recommended for the near future as coordinators of wild boar management, and as such, could manage hunting, the incorporation of regional conditions and investigating hunters’ attitudes and abilities.

Technology wish lists and the significance of temperature-sensing wildlife telemetry

Telemetry has revolutionized studies in wildlife biology, ecology, physiology, and conservation. With the increased demand for telemetry, new technology has made great strides to enable long studies in harsh and remote areas on a wide variety of study species. As the climate crisis continues to impact animals, temperature-sensing telemetry has become a helpful technique for understanding the effects of climate change and how to protect wildlife from them. However, temperature-sensing telemetry and telemetry in general still pose technological challenges and accessibility issues for the researchers who use it. Currently available telemetry technology is expensive, too large and heavy for many study species, and cannot measure all variables researchers want to study. These technological improvements have especially been neglected for temperature-sensing telemetry, which may be underutilized given the current climate crisis. To understand why innovation has stalled, and where it should be directed going forward, we gathered opinions from researchers who use telemetry and from manufacturers that create and supply telemetry equipment. Our goal was to broadly describe the current technological landscape, compare it to what we envision for the future, and make suggestions for how to reach that future.