Animal board invited review: Risks of zoonotic disease emergence at the interface of wildlife and livestock systems

The ongoing coronavirus disease 19s pandemic has yet again demonstrated the importance of the human-animal interface in the emergence of zoonotic diseases, and in particular the role of wildlife and livestock species as potential hosts and virus reservoirs. As most diseases emerge out of the human-animal interface, a better understanding of the specific drivers and mechanisms involved is crucial to prepare for future disease outbreaks. Interactions between wildlife and livestock systems contribute to the emergence of zoonotic diseases, especially in the face of globalization, habitat fragmentation and destruction and climate change. As several groups of viruses and bacteria are more likely to emerge, we focus on pathogenic viruses of the Bunyavirales, Coronaviridae, Flaviviridae, Orthomyxoviridae, and Paramyxoviridae, as well as bacterial species including Mycobacterium sp., Brucella sp., Bacillus anthracis and Coxiella burnetii. Noteworthy, it was difficult to predict the drivers of disease emergence in the past, even for well-known pathogens. Thus, an improved surveillance in hotspot areas and the availability of fast, effective, and adaptable control measures would definitely contribute to preparedness. We here propose strategies to mitigate the risk of emergence and/or re-emergence of prioritized pathogens to prevent future epidemics.     

Two decades of wildlife rehabilitation in Greece: Major threats,admission trends and treatment outcomes from a prominent rehabilitation centre

The ultimate goal of Wildlife Rehabilitation Centres is to release wild animals back into the wild, after providing care and treatment according to protocol. The data collected during the process though, can be an invaluable resource of information, and act as a proxy of the anthropogenic impact on wild populations. They can even help to propose mitigation and conservation measures that could reduce pressure on wildlife. In the current study, we analysed the records of ANIMA, a prominent Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in Athens, Greece, over a 17-year study period. Using a database of 54,445 animals representing 353 species from 104 families, we draw connections between the magnitude of admission causes and their predicted outcomes based on the animals admitted. We found that while many animals that are admitted as orphans or after living in captivity have good chances of being released, that is not the case for victims of electrocution or domestic animal attacks. Illegal shooting is clearly present in our data and seems to also affect wild populations negatively. We highlight the importance of Wildlife Rehabilitation Centres’ data towards understanding and defining human impact on wildlife, the importance of communicating the results to policymakers for biodiversity conservation and even proposing possible management directions. In that context, we also urge for more population monitoring field studies, so that admission data can be accurately combined and make meaningful predictions for the status of wild populations.     

Local livelihoods and institutions in managing wildlife ecosystems: The case of Babile Elephant Sanctuary in Ethiopia

This paper analyzes inherent incentives and institutional challenges in managing elephant sanctuary ecosystems, using the case of the Babile Elephant Sanctuary in Ethiopia. The study was based on the data collected from local communities experiencing different livelihood systems and experts from the local state authorities. A total of 35 interviews were conducted for an in-depth case study. Results show that historical and socio-political factors have undermined the effectiveness of state-based institutions in managing the ecosystem. The welfare loss of local communities relying on the ecosystem has resulted in a dispute between the state managing the ecosystem and those holding customary rights to the delineated land. Absence of adequate compensation for the crop damage by elephants has made the local people to regard the state intervention as unfair action. The study suggests the need to search for institutional frameworks that can transform hostile relationship into a mutually beneficial one. Such condition may ensure humans’ peaceful co-existence with the wildlife without destroying the habitat and constraining sustainable livelihoods.     

Relationships between valence towards wildlife and wildlife value orientations

Research to understand human responses to wildlife and wildlife issues has predominantly focused on cognitions. Yet, as emotions are basic human responses to wildlife, emotions are important too. Integrating cognition and emotion concepts could foster the overall understanding of human-wildlife relationships. This study tested the relationships between valence (the pleasant-unpleasant dimension of emotion) regarding wildlife and wildlife value orientations (patterns of basic cognitions in the context of wildlife). Also, this study estimated the additional predictive potential of emotion next to cognition for the acceptability of lethal control and support for wildlife conservation. Analyses showed that valence was associated with wildlife value orientations. Valence had additional explanatory value next to cognition for conservation support. Valence, however, did not have additional predictive potential for acceptability of lethal control. Based on these findings, we recommend integrating cognition and emotion measurements in future research to understand human responses to wildlife issues. Also, wildlife managers could take the emotion of stakeholders into account in their communication and decision-making processes.     

Tick-borne infections of animals and humans: a common ground

A wide variety of pathogens is transmitted from ticks to vertebrates including viruses, bacteria, protozoa and helminths, of which most have a life cycle that requires passage through the vertebrate host. Tick-borne infections of humans, farm and companion animals are essentially associated with wildlife animal reservoirs. While some flying insect-borne diseases of humans such as malaria, filariasis and Kala Azar caused by Leishmania donovani target people as their main host, major tick-borne infections of humans, although potentially causing disease in large numbers of individuals, are typically an infringement of a circulation between wildlife animal reservoirs and tick vectors. While new tick-borne infectious agents are frequently recognised, emerging agents of human tick-borne infections were probably circulating among wildlife animal and tick populations long before being recognised as clinical causes of human disease as has been shown for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. Co-infection with more than one tick-borne infection is common and can enhance pathogenic processes and augment disease severity as found in B. burgdorferi and Anaplasma phagocytophilum co-infection. The role of wild animal reservoirs in co-infection of human hosts appears to be central, further linking human and animal tick-borne infections. Although transmission of most tick-borne infections is through the tick saliva, additional routes of transmission, shown mostly in animals, include infection by oral uptake of infected ticks, by carnivorism, animal bites and transplacentally. Additionally, artificial infection via blood transfusion is a growing threat in both human and veterinary medicine. Due to the close association between human and animal tick-borne infections, control programs for these diseases require integration of data from veterinary and human reporting systems, surveillance in wildlife and tick populations, and combined teams of experts from several scientific disciplines such as entomology, epidemiology, medicine, public health and veterinary medicine.     

Conflicts between humans over wildlife management: on the diversity of stakeholder attitudes and implications for conflict management

Conflicts involving wildlife are, in essence, often conflicts between human parties with differing wildlife management objectives. However, the study and management of wildlife conflicts often focuses on the ecological context without addressing disagreements between people over these objectives. This research uses quantitative approaches to examine actors’ views on a complex wildlife-related conflict: a raptor of conservation concern that impacts on game-bird management. Four dominant elements of the debate emerged from initial semi-structured interviews: perceptions of conflict related issues; perceptions of each other; perceived barriers to consensus within the debate; and assessment of proposed practical management solutions. A quantitative survey that built on these elements demonstrates the degree to which perceptions differ between groups and how local variation in these elements may be obscured in a regional or national level debate. The findings emphasise the importance of understanding the social issues involved in wildlife related conflicts if management aims are to be agreed and achieved.     

Parasite zoonoses and wildlife: One health,spillover and human activity

This review examines parasite zoonoses and wildlife in the context of the One Health triad that encompasses humans, domestic animals, wildlife and the changing ecosystems in which they live. Human (anthropogenic) activities influence the flow of all parasite infections within the One Health triad and the nature and impact of resulting spillover events are examined. Examples of spillover from wildlife to humans and/or domestic animals, and vice versa, are discussed, as well as emerging issues, particularly the need for parasite surveillance of wildlife populations. Emphasis is given to Trypanosoma cruzi and related species in Australian wildlife, Trichinella, Echinococcus, Giardia, Baylisascaris, Toxoplasma and Leishmania.     

Infectious disease transmission and contact networks in wildlife and livestock

The use of social and contact networks to answer basic and applied questions about infectious disease transmission in wildlife and livestock is receiving increased attention. Through social network analysis, we understand that wild animal and livestock populations, including farmed fish and poultry, often have a heterogeneous contact structure owing to social structure or trade networks. Network modelling is a flexible tool used to capture the heterogeneous contacts of a population in order to test hypotheses about the mechanisms of disease transmission, simulate and predict disease spread, and test disease control strategies. This review highlights how to use animal contact data, including social networks, for network modelling, and emphasizes that researchers should have a pathogen of interest in mind before collecting or using contact data. This paper describes the rising popularity of network approaches for understanding transmission dynamics in wild animal and livestock populations; discusses the common mismatch between contact networks as measured in animal behaviour and relevant parasites to match those networks; and highlights knowledge gaps in how to collect and analyse contact data. Opportunities for the future include increased attention to experiments, pathogen genetic markers and novel computational tools.     

三江源国家公园野生动物保护与管理对策

三江源国家公园是我国首批建立的面积最大的国家公园,也是青藏高原第一个国家公园,对青藏高原乃至我国加快构建以国家公园为主体的自然保护地体系具有里程碑式意义。三江源国家公园野生动物多样性水平高且濒危物种占比大,其中兽类和鸟类受威胁比例分别为32.26%和19.90%;具有丰富的国家重点保护物种及青藏高原特有珍稀物种,包括46.77%的中国或青藏高原特有兽类和7.65%的中国特有鸟类,其生物多样性具有全国乃至全球意义的保护价值。本文简要回顾全球野生动物保护研究重要进展和取得的成果,分析三江源野生动物濒危成因,提出了加强三江源国家公园野生动物动态监测、创新栖息地保护技术、建立野生动物迁移廊道及避难所、开展草畜平衡管理、疫源疫病控制、人兽冲突研究和建立野生动物基因资源库等多项野生动物保护和管理对策,为实现三江源国家公园生态环境严格保护、人与自然和谐共生、区域可持续发展战略提供了有益的参考。     

Co-existence between the traditional societies and wildlife in western Serengeti, Tanzania: its relevancy in contemporary wildlife conservation efforts

This paper seeks to show how the traditional societies in western Serengeti have coexisted and continue to coexist with wildlife. It also recognizes the relevancy of this coexistence in furthering contemporary conservation efforts although there are practical constraints to putting this into practice. The following questions are examined: (1) How did/do traditional societies in Serengeti interact with their nature? (2) Which traditional management institutions governed/govern interaction between people and wildlife species, resources and ecosystems and, how do they operate? (3) Which factors were (or are) responsible for erosion of traditional management institutions? (4) What can the traditional practices offer to contemporary conservation efforts and what are the limitations? The paper identifies four ways in which traditional institutions and practices can contribute to current conservation efforts: regulating the overexploitation of resources; complementing the current incentives aiming at diffusing prevailing conflicts between conservation authorities and communities; minimising the costs of law enforcement and; complementing the modern scientific knowledge in monitoring and responding to ecosystem processes and functions. The practical constraints likely to limit adoption of these practices are presented as: methodological complications of acquiring indigenous knowledge; prevailing historical conflicts; human population growth; poverty and lack of appreciation among the conservation planners and managers. In conclusion the need to address the current constraints in order to achieve effective taping of the existing potentials is emphasized.     

Dietary composition,breadth, and overlap between seasonally sympatric Himalayan musk deer and livestock: Conservation implications

Livestock in high altitudes of Nepal and elsewhere, frequently and freely, use potential habitat of native wildlife for foraging. Such intrusion of ecologically similar domestic species is supposed to negatively impact the resident wildlife via ‘perceived’ and/or ‘real’ competitive interactions. Hence, assessment of dietary composition and overlap between herbivores is crucial to gain insight into the potential impacts via resource exploitation by foraging livestock. Also, evaluation of dietary composition of resident wildlife across seasons is important to decipher their seasonal resource needs. Within this context, microhistological technique, that makes use of fecal pellet for identification of plant species through comparison with reference slides of plant materials in the area, was used to assess dietary composition, breadth, and overlap between seasonally sympatric Himalayan musk deer and livestock in Nepal Himalaya. Musk deer and livestock were found to have significantly different dietary consumption and that partition was contributed by different species; meaning different plant species were associated to the diets of these two groups. Of notable, however, was a considerable ‘number’ of species (i.e., species richness) shared in diets by musk deer and livestock raising a concern of unchecked number of livestock with a potential to exploit and reduce the availability of shared plant species with musk deer. Also, seasonal dietary composition of musk deer significantly varied, with increased dietary breadth in winter, suggesting a potential for intraspecific competition for forage in winter because of limited availability of resources mediated by retarded growth and harsh conditions.     

Mexico in the International Reptile Skin Trade: a Case Study

This paper examines the role of Mexico as importer, manufacturer, producer and distributor centre of reptile skins from non-native and native species, through a combination of documentary research and survey methods. A number of key findings were derived from this study. Although Mexico has adopted the “System for the Conservation, Management and Sustainable Use of Wildlife” (SUMA), the country still relies on reptile skins from non-native species. In contrast, the smaller numbers of skins used from native species mainly derive from captive breeding schemes that although biologically sustainable, provide no incentive for habitat conservation. Sustainable use of reptile skins from native species could positively encourage conservation in Mexico. However, as a megadiverse country with potential to produce wildlife, Mexico will have to implement an appropriate regulatory framework to support local communities to promote the sustainable use of native species.     

Restocking a keystone species in a biodiversity hotspot: Recovering the European rabbit on a landscape scale

Rabbit populations in Iberia remain at low densities in several areas in which their endangered predators still coexist, and the recovery of these populations is therefore urgent if the integrity of Iberian Mediterranean ecosystems is to be maintained. The enhancement of wild rabbit populations has been attempted through the use of in situ extensive rabbit captive breeding enclosures (restocking plots), which reduce mortality caused by terrestrial predators and dispersal movements and permit the breeding of young individuals which can then naturally disperse to settle in the surrounding areas. However, their effectiveness, the role of its size, the optimal habitat management that should be promoted around them and the habitat features remains uncertain. Here, we show results from a four year study of an ambitious rabbit restocking plan on a landscape scale. We measured rabbit abundance in a vast area in which thirty-two restocking plots were built to create an initial rabbit population for further dispersion, in addition to an intensive habitat management program. We also compared rabbit abundance between managed and unmanaged UTM cells of 2.5 km × 2.5 km. Our results showed that rabbit abundance was three times higher in managed cells, but four years after restocking, rabbit abundances had only reached the threshold needed to support stable Iberian lynx presence (at least 10 latrines per km^?1) in 9 of the 23 managed cells. Rabbit abundance was strongly affected by habitat treatment and scrub coverage. The increase of shelter was useful in low cover areas but ineligible in places with high scrub cover, where the increase of refuge plus scrub clearing to create pastures improve rabbit abundance more effectively. In the light of our results, restocking plots should be built only in places with suitable habitat, whereas pastures should be created in dense scrublands and refuge in low cover areas.     

Parasites and Conservation Biology: The ‘Ibex-Ecosystem’

Parasites, as organisms with a particular way of life, form an important part of biodiversity, not only regarding the number of known species, but also because of their relevant role within ecological processes. These two facts should justify conservation of parasites, at least within natural and protected areas. Little is known about such complex communities of parasites but they are often considered as pests, even out of the fields of public (human) health and animal production, that is, just in the natural environment or under natural conditions. It is increasingly assumed that wildlife diseases, including those produced by parasites, are one of the main bases for managing animal populations. Parasitic diseases may also be managed and, at this point, we can find multiple technical problems which, in certain occasions, lead into philosophical questions or true dilemmas. These considerations are illustrated by revising parasites of the Spanish ibex (Capra pyrenaica), an Iberian mountain ungulate the parasitofauna of which is relatively well known. As a big game species, its trophies become more and more appreciated. Therefore, human dimensions involved in management of its populations are considerably increased. Finally, reasons and opportunities for managing parasitic diseases affecting ibex are revised and discussed, under a global goal or perspective of conserving parasites within natural areas, particularly those that are protected.     

Transmission of Salmonella between wildlife and meat-production animals in Denmark

Aims: To investigate the transmission of Salmonella spp. between production animals (pigs and cattle) and wildlife on production animal farms in Denmark. Methods and Results: In the winter and summer of 2001 and 2002, 3622 samples were collected from Salmonella-infected and noninfected herds of pigs and cattle and surrounding wildlife. Salmonella was detected in wildlife on farms carrying Salmonella-positive production animals and only during the periods when Salmonella was detected in the production animals. The presence of Salmonella Typhimurium in wild birds significantly correlated to their migration pattern and food preference. Conclusions: Salmonella was transmitted from infected herds of production animals (cattle and pigs) to wildlife that lived amongst or in close proximity to them. Significance and Impact of the Study: Salmonella in animal food products is associated with the occurrence of Salmonella in primary animal production. Strategies to control the introduction and spread of infection should include wildlife management, as the nearby wildlife may act as reservoirs for Salmonella spp. and/or may be passive carriers of the bacteria.     

多学科视角下的野生动物消费需求和消费行为研究进展

全球持续扩张的野生动物消费需求和相关非法贸易是生物多样性保护的重要威胁之一。近期新冠肺炎疫情暴发, 野生动物贸易和食用的公共卫生安全风险也引起了社会各界的关注。本文从社会学、心理学、行为科学等多学科的视角分析和理解我国野生动物消费的需求动因, 提出科学的行为改变对策。从我国野生动物消费现状来看, 功能性、社会性和体验性等非生活必需性需求凸显, 并受复杂因素影响。基于对需求动因的理解, 运用合适的行为改变框架, 以及宣传教育、社会影响、法律规范和行为助推等多种行为改变方法, 通过科学系统的阶段和步骤, 可有效地影响和改变野生动物消费行为。行为改变对策的实施需在具体情境下加强合作, 重视多学科运用、多主体合作和多尺度考虑。     

Wildlife harvesting guidelines for community-based wildlife management: a southern African perspective

African wildlife populations and their habitats are dwindling outside ofstate-protected areas due to escalating human demands on natural resources,while the effective enforcement of conservation legislation is impracticableacross most of the continent. A particular conservation crisis is looming insouthern Africa, where extensive wildlife areas are rapidly giving way tosubsistence agropastoralism. The concept of community-based wildlife management(CBWM) has been embraced by donor agencies as a hopeful solution in areas whereadequate wildlife resources persist and agricultural potential is marginal. Theconservation value of CBWM depends, however, on communities having specificinformation to evaluate the sustainable benefits of wildlife in comparison withalternative landuse options. Furthermore, simple but scientifically soundmonitoring procedures are required to ensure that the offtake from wildlifepopulations is kept within sustainable limits. This paper draws together keyecological issues of relevance to CBWM in southern African savannas andidentifies topics requiring further attention from ecologists. The aim is toassist conservation and development agencies in providing prompt and appropriatetechnical support to communities in areas where opportunities for CBWM stillexist but could soon be foreclosed.     

Site and landscape features ruling the habitat use and occupancy of the polecat (Mustela putorius) in a low density area: a multiscale approach

We studied the habitat of the polecat at different scales in a low density area. For this purpose we gathered data on the presence of the species and characterised them by location, home range and landscape scales. Polecats selected areas of high diversity close to, but not in, streams whilst avoiding intensively managed conifer plantations and dense urban areas. Variables determining the presence/absence of the species were found at home range scales, which implies that management and conservation practices for the species should be aimed mainly at this scale. Finally, our results agree with previously published works, which validate GIS-based approaches as a tool for carnivore management in areas with scarce data or in cases of rare species.