Ultrasonographic and laparoscopic evaluation of the reproductive tract of the captive female African lion (Panthera leo)

The use of transabdominal ultrasonography to assess the oestrous cycle has not been previously described in the African lion (Panthera leo). Twelve sexually mature lionesses and five female cubs had their reproductive organs assessed by transabdominal ultrasound. Ovarian findings were compared to laparoscopic findings while performing laparoscopic ovariectomy or salpingectomy. Vaginal cytology was performed and serum progesterone levels were determined. By combining all data the oestrous cycle stage of each lion was determined. One lion was far pregnant and was not operated on. In adults a uterine body could be seen ultrasonographically in 67% of lions while mural structures could be distinguished in 44% of lions. Five uterine horns could be seen in 3 lions. In 12 adults 10 ovaries were found of which eight had discernable follicles or luteal structures. During laparoscopy 12 active ovaries were seen with luteal structures seen in 11 ovaries and follicles in 2 ovaries. Using laparoscopy as the gold standard, ultrasonography had a sensitivity of 66% and specificity of 83% to detect ovarian reproductive activity. Two uterine cysts and a cluster of periovarian cysts were seen in three different lions. Three lions were pregnant, two were in oestrus, three in a luteal phase (dioestrus), and four were in anoestrus. Transabdominal ultrasound in combination with serum progesterone levels and vaginal cytology can be used to assess ovarian cyclical activity with reasonable accuracy in captive bred lions.     

Observations of daily activity patterns in two captive short-nosed echidnas,Tachyglossus aculeatus

Daily activity patterns of a pair of short-nosed echidnas, Tachyglossus aculeatus, at the Topeka Zoo were observed once monthly for 1 year. These echidnas remained primarily nocturnal throughout the year. In observations when both echidnas exhibited extended periods of activity (5 hours or more) there was a high correlation in times activity began between the two animals. Activity patterns varied throughout the year possibly associated with changes in temperature and/or photoperiod. Diel temperature changes and noise levels did not appear to be major factors influencing activity in this study.     

Influence of social upbringing on the activity pattern of captive lion Panthera leo cubs:Benefits of behavior enrichment

<正> The influence of social upbringing on the activity pattern of lion Panthera leo cubs was investigated at three sites. Inthis study, stimulus objects such as sticks, grass, fresh dung (elephant Loxondota africana, zebra Equus quagga, impala Aepycerosmelampus, duiker Sylvicapra grimmia, kudu Tragelaphus strepsiceros, giraffe Girajfa camelopardalis and wildebeestConnochaetes taurinus) and cardboard boxes, were utilized in an enrichment program aimed at encouraging active behaviors ofcaptive lion cubs at Antelope Park and Masuwe. Lion cubs at Chipangali were not behaviorally enriched. Activity patterns wererecorded for 10 days at each site. We recorded moving, resting, playing, grooming, visual exploration and display of hunting instincts.We found that behavioral enrichment enhanced the active behaviors of captive lion cubs. Orphan-raised cubs spent moretime moving, playing and displaying hunting instincts than mother-raised cubs, but the time spent grooming was similar acrossareas and suggests that grooming is not influenced by enrichment. Mother-raised cubs spent more time engaged in visual explorationthan orphan-raised cubs and this could be a behavior acquired from mothers or a result of confidence to explore because oftheir presence. Activity patterns were different among time treatments across our three study sites. Based on these findings, wesuggest that lion cubs raised in captivity could benefit from behavioral enrichment to encourage active behaviors essential foreventual reintroduction into the wild .     

Human impacts on the African Great Lakes

The African Great Lakes are important sources of fishes and water for domestic use, are used as avenues of transport, and receive agricultural, domestic and industrial effluents and atmospheric residues. Some of these lakes have speciose fish faunas of great interest to science. The catchment areas of some of the lakes are highly populated and user conflicts have increased the demands on the lakes' resources. There have been drastic reductions in fish stocks in most of the lakes due to overfishing. Introductions of new fish species, though followed by increases in fish catches, have been accompanied by a decline and in some cases extinction of native fish species. Some of the lakes have been invaded by the water hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes. Agricultural activities, deforestation and devegetation of the catchment areas have increased siltation, and led to loss of suitable habitats and biodiversity. There are increased nutrient inputs from agriculture, sewage and industrial discharges and combustion processes which can cause eutrophication. There are also increased threats of toxic pollution from industrial waste discharge, mining, pesticides, and oil residues and spills. Climatic changes may also affect thermal stability of the lakes. These factors threaten availability of dietary protein, clean water and biodiversity. National and international efforts are required to manage the fisheries, guide the introduction of exotics, conserve biodiversity, control the water hyacinth, control eutrophication, reduce input of contaminants and manage climate change.     

Climate change and pollutant impacts on Scottish vegetation

Summary

By the 2050s the UK is projected to be about 1.6°C warmer, when the atmospheric CO₂ concentration will be 525 ppmv. These changes will have profound effects on the Scottish flora and fauna. Vegetation primary productivity will increase, except in dry regions, and the productivity of upland forest plantations may increase by several Yield Classes. The spread of plant species may be less than expected, but a number of slow-growing ‘stress-tolerant’ species, including montane/alpine species, are likely to be lost. Nitrogen deposited as a result of emission of NO_X from vehicles and NH₃ from agriculture is now a major source of acidity, and problems of acidification and eutrophication are linked. Despite reductions in sulphur emissions, critical loads of acid deposition are likely to be exceeded for soils in most of the Scottish uplands until at least 2005. Critical levels affecting tree growth may be exceeded where forests are in cloud for 10% of the time in areas of the Great Glen. Much of the Scottish uplands receives 25–30 kg N ha^-1 yr^-1, which may be causing change in species composition. Background tropospheric ozone concentrations are increasing. Much of the Scottish uplands experiences mean summer ozone concentrations exceeding those in southern England, but with fewer exceedances of critical levels. However, many crops and some sensitive native species are probably being adversely affected.     

Testosterone increases activity but not daily energy expenditure in captive male dark-eyed juncos, Junco hyemalis

Plasma testosterone (T) levels in male dark-eyed juncos peak early in the breeding season, then decline. If T enhances opportunities for reproductive success, as suggested by previous experiments, why does elevated T not occur naturally? To address this question, we prolonged the early peak level throughout the breeding season and explored potential energetic costs of maintaining elevated T. We measured daily energy expenditure (DEE) of treated males (T-males) and controls (C-males) using doubly labelled water (DLW). We also conducted behaviour scans of T- and C-males housed in outdoor aviaries. DEE was not higher in T-males than in C-males. However, T-males did increase locomotion and foraging and decrease rest and self-maintenance. These results suggest that elevated T may increase the contribution of some components of DEE and lower the contribution of others. Furthermore, the T-induced decrease in allocation of time to rest and maintenance may represent a long-term cost that has led to selection against the maintenance of elevated T beyond the natural early spring peak. Copyright 2000 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.     

南非Hluhluwe-Umfolozi公园植被对非洲狮群大小的影响

非洲狮(Pantheraleo)群处于不断的分裂-聚合过程,其亚群大小与原狮群大小以及诸如狮群捕食成功度、协作幼仔保护及狮群领域防卫等社会性因素有关。我们分析了南非一个保护区(Hluhluwe-Umfolozi公园)15年间的狮群大小,其成年雌狮和成年雄狮群的大小在保护区内呈显著性变化。在开放生境中雌狮结大群,而茂密植被生境中则结小群。雄狮群大小与植被类型无关,但在大的雌狮群分布区域发现大雄狮群。令人惊奇的是,作为幼狮成活率指标的幼狮群大小和雌狮平均幼仔数在保护区内没有显著性差异。我们认为,雌狮群大小的不同是对植被结构的适应,即在开放生境中大群有利于协作狩猎、育幼、共同保护幼仔、应对高强度群间领域防卫竞争。相反,茂密植被中,群间竞争很低,高密度植被覆盖有利于狩猎成功及补偿小狮群对幼仔保护的不足。雌狮平均幼仔数在整个保护区内没有变化,我们认为是由于开放生境和茂密植被对狮群大小起到相似的调节作用     

Reproduction in captive lion tamarins (Leontopithecus): Seasonality,infant survival,and sex ratios

Diversity in reproductive and social systems characterizes the primate family Callitrichidae. This paper contributes to our appreciation of this diversity by presenting the first detailed comparative analysis of captive breeding in three species of lion tamarins (Leontopithecus chrysomelas, L. chrysopygus, and L. rosalia) housed at the Centro de Primatologia do Rio de Janeiro. The annual pattern of reproduction in all three species of Leontopithecus was markedly seasonal, with births occurring during the spring, summer, and fall months from August through March. While modal number of litters produced per female per year was 1, approximately 20% of breeding females produced two litters per year. The onset of breeding activity in years when two litters are produced was significantly earlier than in years when only one litter was produced. The cumulative number of offspring surviving to 3 months of age did not differ between years with one vs. two breeding attempts. Like other callitrichids, postnatal mortality was highest during the first week of life, and there were pronounced species differences in offspring survival through 1 year, with significantly lower survivorship in L. chrysomelas. Infant survivorship was affected by a number of experiential factors. Survivorship up to 30 days of life was higher in groups in which the breeding female had previous experience with infants as a nonbreeding helper than in groups in which the female lacked previous helping experience. Likewise, survivorship to 30 days of life was higher for infants born to multiparous females than for infants born to primiparous females. When parity and previous helping experience were analyzed concurrently, the lowest survivorship was associated with offspring produced by inexperienced primiparous females. Genus-wide, there was no significant departure from a 50:50 sex ratio at any point during the first year of life, nor was there evidence for differential mortality for male and female infants. However, L. chrysopygus produced significantly more male infants at birth (65:44) and had male-biased litters (approximately 60% males) throughout the first year of life, while L. chrysomelas showed a nonsignificant tendency toward female-biased litters. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Isolation of a retrovirus and a herpesvirus from a captive California sea lion

A non-oncogenic retrovirus was isolated from an explanted skin biopsy from a captive California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) with a history of recurring skin lesions. The morphology of the viral particles in electron photomicrographs was characteristic of a foamy virus, a retrovirus in the subfamily Spumavirinae. Viral cytopathic effects consistent with foamy virus infection were observed in subsequent explants of skin and lymph nodes and co-cultivated peripheral blood leukocytes. The sea lion with the persistent foamy virus infection later died from pericarditis caused by Pasteurella multocida. A herpesvirus was isolated from explants of lung.     

The origin, current diversity and future conservation of the modern lion (Panthera leo)

Understanding the phylogeographic processes affecting endangered species is crucial both to interpreting their evolutionary history and to the establishment of conservation strategies. Lions provide a key opportunity to explore such processes; however, a lack of genetic diversity and shortage of suitable samples has until now hindered such investigation. We used mitochondrial control region DNA (mtDNA) sequences to investigate the phylogeographic history of modern lions, using samples from across their entire range. We find the sub-Saharan African lions are basal among modern lions, supporting a single African origin model of modern lion evolution, equivalent to the 'recent African origin' model of modern human evolution. We also find the greatest variety of mtDNA haplotypes in the centre of Africa, which may be due to the distribution of physical barriers and continental-scale habitat changes caused by Pleistocene glacial oscillations. Our results suggest that the modern lion may currently consist of three geographic populations on the basis of their recent evolutionary history: North African-Asian, southern African and middle African. Future conservation strategies should take these evolutionary subdivisions into consideration.     

Environmental influences on the activity of captive apes

Forty-one zoological gardens in seven European countries were visited to investigate activity level in captive environments for great apes. Forty-three groups of gorillas and 68 groups of orangutans were observed. The seven factors quantified for each of the environments were size of the enclosure, usable surface area, frequency of feeding, number of animals, and number of objects (stationary, temporary, and movable). Activity level of each group was measured by instantaneous scan sampling for one hour on two consecutive days. For both species, the factors most highly related to activity level were number of animals, and stationary, temporary, and movable objects. The usefulness of these variables for predicting group activity level was different for the two species, however. Factors important for gorillas were stationary and temporary objects, while stationary and movable objects were significant for orangutans. These findings suggest that objects within environments may be more important for captive apes than the size or construction of the enclosure. Also, the types of objects that need to be included in environments may be related to the natural behavior of the individual species.     

Human impacts on Persoonia falcata. Perspectives on post-contact vegetation change in the Keep River region, Australia, from contemporary vegetation surveys

Persoonia falcata R. Br. and Buchanania obovata Engl. seeds are consistently preserved in abundance from archaeological sites across the Keep River region from 3500 b.p. up until the contact period. Although artefacts continued to be deposited after establishment of the pastoral industry, remains of these two plant species disappear in the upper levels of all excavated deposits. The contemporary vegetation in the vicinity of these sites appears to lack P. falcata, although B. obovata remains in abundance. These observations raise questions regarding (1) the impact of changing land-use and fire regimes, (2) the impact of Aboriginal land management on particular plant species and (3) the reorientation of Aboriginal site use across the region after settlement. These issues are explored in this paper using a comparative analysis of stand structure of the contemporary vegetation around previously excavated sites, as well as from published information on recent regional fire history. Results show improved recruitment of P. falcata (that is, seedlings are recruited into adult life stages) in the only site where Aboriginal people have re-introduced customary management. Both the timing of burning and significant unburnt periods appear important to the post-contact decline and also in the future success of populations of P. falcata in the region.     

Investigating the potential impacts of climate change on a marine turtle population

Recent increases in global temperatures have affected the phenology and survival of many species of plants and animals. We investigated a case study of the effects of potential climate change on a thermally sensitive species, the loggerhead sea turtle, at a breeding location at the northerly extent of the range of regular nesting in the United States. In addition to the physical limits imposed by temperature on this ectothermic species, sea turtle primary sex ratio is determined by the temperature experienced by eggs during the middle third of incubation. We recorded sand temperatures and used historical air temperatures (ATs) at Bald Head Island, NC, to examine past and predict future sex ratios under scenarios of warming. There were no significant temporal trends in primary sex ratio evident in recent years and estimated mean annual sex ratio was 58% female. Similarly, there were no temporal trends in phenology but earlier nesting and longer nesting seasons were correlated with warmer sea surface temperature. We modelled the effects of incremental increases in mean AT of up to 7.5°C, the maximum predicted increase under modelled scenarios, which would lead to 100% female hatchling production and lethally high incubation temperatures, causing reduction in hatchling production. Populations of turtles in more southern parts of the United States are currently highly female biased and are likely to become ultra‐biased with as little as 1°C of warming and experience extreme levels of mortality if warming exceeds 3°C. The lack of a demonstrable increase in AT in North Carolina in recent decades coupled with primary sex ratios that are not highly biased means that the male offspring from North Carolina could play an increasingly important role in the future viability of the loggerhead turtle in the Western Atlantic.     

Salt impacts on organic carbon and nitrogen leaching from senesced vegetation

Senesced vegetation is exposed to a wide range of salt concentrations in surface waters resulting from human activities which include deicing salts and irrigation water chemistry. Both dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and salt concentrations are rising in northern hemisphere watersheds, yet there has been little investigation of sodium as a potential mechanism for DOC increases. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of solution sodicity and salinity on DOC and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) leaching from five types of senesced and cut vegetation. Vegetation was soaked for 24 h in a series of sodium chloride (NaCl)–calcium chloride (CaCl₂) solutions with sodium adsorption ratios (SAR) of 2, 10, or 30 and electrical conductivities of 0.1 dS m^?1 through 3.0 dS m^?1. Vegetation was also soaked in a sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO₃) solution at SAR = 30 and stream water from local watersheds with a range of sodicity and salinity. The mass of both DOC and DON released increased as SAR increased in the NaCl solutions, but the total salinity had inconsistent effects on DOC and DON release. NaHCO₃ leached similar amounts of DOC and DON as NaCl. The SAR of the stream water solutions was able to explain 88 % of the variability in DOC leached from vegetation (p < 0.05). The results indicated that sodicity, quantified by SAR, had a significant impact on DOC and DON leaching from senesced vegetation and could be a potential mechanism to explain the observed increases in surface water DOC.