Genomic DNA Sequences from Mastodon and Woolly Mammoth Reveal Deep Speciation of Forest and Savanna Elephants

PLoS Biology: Genomic DNA Sequences from Mastodon and Woolly Mammoth Reveal Deep Speciation of Forest and Savanna Elephants: "To elucidate the history of living and extinct elephantids, we generated 39,763 bp of aligned nuclear DNA sequence across 375 loci for African savanna elephant, African forest elephant, Asian elephant, the extinct American mastodon, and the woolly mammoth. Our data establish that the Asian elephant is the closest living relative of the extinct mammoth in the nuclear genome, extending previous findings from mitochondrial DNA analyses. We also find that savanna and forest elephants, which some have argued are the same species, are as or more divergent in the nuclear genome as mammoths and Asian elephants, which are considered to be distinct genera, thus resolving a long-standing debate about the appropriate taxonomic classification of the African elephants. Finally, we document a much larger effective population size in forest elephants compared with the other elephantid taxa, likely reflecting species differences in ancient geographic structure and range and differences in life history traits such as variance in male reproductive success."

Another one bites the dust: faecal silica levels in large herbivores correlate with high-crowned teeth — Proceedings B

Another one bites the dust: faecal silica levels in large herbivores correlate with high-crowned teeth — Proceedings B: "Hypsodonty is usually linked to diet abrasiveness, either from siliceous phytoliths (monocotyledons) or from grit (dusty environments). In this study, faecal silica content was quantified as acid detergent insoluble ash and used as proxy for silica ingested by large African herbivores of different digestive types, feeding strategies and hypsodonty levels. Separate sample sets were used for the dry (n = 15 species) and wet (n = 13 species) season. Average faecal silica contents were 17–46 g kg⁻¹ dry matter (DM) for browsing and 52–163 g kg⁻¹ DM for grazing herbivores. "

Improving Food Security by Lester R. Brown

REVE - Regulación Eólica con Vehículos Eléctricos -: "From 1950 to 1990, world grainland productivity increased by 2.2 percent per year, but from 1990 until 2009 it went up by only 1.3 percent annually. Despite some impressive local advances, the global loss of momentum in expanding food production is forcing us to think more seriously about reducing demand by stabilizing population, moving down the food chain, and reducing the use of grain to fuel cars."

Behavioral response races, predator-prey shell gam... [Ecology. 2010] - PubMed result

Behavioral response races, predator-prey shell gam... [Ecology. 2010] - PubMed result: "The predator-prey shell game predicts random movement of prey across the landscape, whereas the behavioral response race and landscape of fear models predict that there should be a negative relationship between the spatial distribution of a predator and its behaviorally active prey. Additionally, prey have imperfect information on the whereabouts of their predator, which the predator should incorporate in its patch use strategy. I used a one-predator-one-prey system, puma (Puma concolor)-mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) to test the following predictions regarding predator-prey distribution and patch use by the predator. (1) Pumas will spend more time in high prey risk/low prey use habitat types, while deer will spend their time in low-risk habitats."

Ancient DNA reveals late survival of mammoth and horse in interior Alaska — PNAS

Ancient DNA reveals late survival of mammoth and horse in interior Alaska — PNAS: "recovery of ancient DNA from perennially frozen and securely dated sediments (sedaDNA). In such contexts, sedaDNA can reveal the molecular presence of species that appear absent in the macrofossil record. We show that woolly mammoth and horse persisted in interior Alaska until at least 10,500 yr BP, several thousands of years later than indicated from macrofossil surveys. These results contradict claims that Holocene survival of mammoths in Beringia was restricted to ecologically isolated high-latitude islands. More importantly, our finding that mammoth and horse overlapped with humans for several millennia in the region where people initially entered the Americas challenges theories that megafaunal extinction occurred within centuries of human arrival or were due to an extraterrestrial impact in the late Pleistocene."

Why the leopard got its spots: relating pattern development to ecology in felids — Proceedings B

Why the leopard got its spots: relating pattern development to ecology in felids — Proceedings B: "A complete explanation of the diversity of animal colour patterns requires an understanding of both the developmental mechanisms generating them and their adaptive value. However, only two previous studies, which involved computer-generated evolving prey, have attempted to make this link. This study examines variation in the camouflage patterns displayed on the flanks of many felids. After controlling for the effects of shared ancestry using a fully resolved molecular phylogeny, this study shows how phenotypes from plausible felid coat pattern generation mechanisms relate to ecology."

Black rhino numbers expand in Kenya

Black rhino numbers expand in Kenya - Story - World - 3 News: "The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) is undertaking a major population study and relocation exercise at Lake Nakuru National Park in Kenya's Rift Valley as rhino numbers there expand.
The park is crucial to Kenya's efforts to revive numbers of the endangered, but once plentiful, black rhino.
In addition to relocating some animals, the undertaking includes ear-notching, census and transmitter-fitting exercises, performed by officers from the elite force."

Costs and Benefits of Sociality Differ Between Female Guanacos Living in Contrasting Ecological Conditions - Marino - 2010 - Ethology - Wiley Online Library

Costs and Benefits of Sociality Differ Between Female Guanacos Living in Contrasting Ecological Conditions - Marino - 2010 - Ethology - Wiley Online Library: "According to current theory, anti-predator benefits promote group formation in open-dwelling ungulates. An inverse relationship between vigilance effort and group size has been documented frequently and thought to reflect the consequent decrease in perceived predation risk as group size increases. In contrast, competition costs are supposed to set the upper limit to the number of individuals that can forage together. As anti-predator behavior is no longer functional in the absence of predation and competition costs might be affected by resource distribution, the net benefit of aggregation will depend on the particular combination of predation risk and habitat structure experienced by the individual"

Move it or lose it? The ecological ethics of relocating species under climate change

ESA Online Journals - Move it or lose it? The ecological ethics of relocating species under climate change: "Managed relocation (also known as assisted colonization, assisted migration) is one of the more controversial proposals to emerge in the ecological community in recent years. A conservation strategy involving the translocation of species to novel ecosystems in anticipation of range shifts forced by climate change, managed relocation (MR) has divided many ecologists and conservationists, mostly because of concerns about the potential invasion risk of the relocated species in their new environments. While this is indeed an important consideration in any evaluation of MR, moving species across the landscape in response to predicted climate shifts also raises a number of larger and important ethical and policy challenges that need to be addressed."

Group dynamics of zebra and wildebeest in a woodland...

Group dynamics of zebra and wildebeest in a woodla... [PLoS One. 2010] - PubMed result: "Distribution patterns of wildebeest and zebra groups at the landscape level directly support the theoretical and empirical evidence from a range of taxa predicting that grouping is favored in open habitats and when predation risk is high. Group composition reflected species-specific social, physiological and foraging constraints, as well as the importance of predation risk. Avoidance of high resource open scrub habitat by females can lead to loss of foraging opportunities, which can be particularly costly in areas such as KGR, where this resource is limited. Thus, landscape-level grouping dynamics are species specific and particular to the composition of the group, arising from a tradeoff between maximizing resource selection and minimizing predation risk."

ESA Online Journals - Phylogeny and metabolic scaling in mammals

ESA Online Journals - Phylogeny and metabolic scaling in mammals: "The scaling of metabolic rates to body size is widely considered to be of great biological and ecological importance, and much attention has been devoted to determining its theoretical and empirical value. Most debate centers on whether the underlying power law describing metabolic rates is 2/3 (as predicted by scaling of surface area/volume relationships) or 3/4 (“Kleiber's law”). Although recent evidence suggests that empirically derived exponents vary among clades with radically different metabolic strategies, such as ectotherms and endotherms, models, such as the metabolic theory of ecology, depend on the assumption that there is at least a predominant, if not universal, metabolic scaling exponent. Most analyses claimed to support the predictions of general models, however, failed to control for phylogeny."

IUCN - Antelope Specialist Group

IUCN - Antelope Specialist Group: "IUCN/SSC Antelope Specialist Group (ASG). ASG is one of more than 120 Specialist Groups that are part of the Species Survival Commission of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
ASG is the world's leading body of scientific and practical expertise on the status and conservation of all antelope species. It is a global network of specialists concerned with the conservation, monitoring, management, and study of antelopes.
The overall aim of ASG is to promote the long-term conservation of antelopes and their habitats worldwide, and the recovery or restoration of antelope species, populations and communities where feasible."

Diplomacy on dangerous ground: Aristocratic hunts in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Nepal

Abstract

Aristocratic hunts in nineteenth and twentieth century in Nepal which yielded valuable products for the two aristocratic Gorkha families, the Ranas and the Shahs of Nepal. The Ranas and Shahs eliminated troublesome animals which ate crops and livestock, and more generally a source of legitimacy for the aristocratic class. Aristocratic hunting in Nepal dates from the very beginning of the Gorkha state. Tiger was from the start the most highly-prized big game animal. The technique used to hunt rhinoceros, leopard, wild boar, bear and water buffalo was a little different. Hunting tigers, rhinoceros and other large game animals was undoubtedly one of the most exciting and exhilarating activities open to the aristocrats of Nepal, and provided the Ranas and Shahs with a welcome respite from the routines and pressures of administrative life in Kathmandu. The big game hunts in which Nepalese and British participated were almost always exciting, dangerous and ultimately successful affairs.

Scopus preview - Scopus - Document details

Scopus preview - Scopus - Document details

 

The retention of ingesta in the digestive tract is a major characteristic of herbivorous animals. We measured particle and fluid mean retention times (MRT) in 13 lowland tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) and 5 Malayan tapirs (Tapirus indicus) from five zoological institutions on their usual zoo diet and 2 lowland and 4 Malayan tapirs additionally on roughage-only diets (total n of trials = 24) with cobalt-EDTA as fluid and chromium-mordanted fibre (< 2. mm) as particle markers. MRT for fluid and particles averaged 42 ± 16. h and 55 ± 18. h in lowland and 40 ± 13. h and 56 ± 14. h in Malayan tapirs. In a General Linear Model, neither Tapir species, body mass or diet (characterised by the proportion of roughage) was significantly related to MRT, but dry matter intake was, with a steep decline in MRT with higher intake levels. Compared to other hindgut fermenters, tapirs have a low defecation frequency, which might be linked to their comparatively low food intake. Their gastrointestinal capacity (in dry matter: 1.63 ± 0.63% of body mass) is similar to that calculated for horses. A comparison of the difference in fluid and particle MRT in large hindgut fermenters (horses, rhinoceroses, elephants, and the tapirs of this study) shows that longer absolute particle MRT are linked to shorter relative fluid MRT, possibly indicating a more thorough 'washing' of particulate ingesta with digestive fluids at longer particle MRT. The only outlier to this general pattern, with an exceptionally high difference between fluid and particle MRT, indicating a particularly efficient ingesta washing, is the white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum). If possible, results of this study should be compared to findings in tapirs on natural diets

Scopus preview - Scopus - Document details

SpringerLink - Conservation Genetics, Volume 11, Number 3

Molecular sexing of African rhinoceros
Peppin, L., McEwing, R., Ogden, R., Hermes, R., Harper, C., Guthrie, A., Carvalho, G.R.
Conservation Genetics
Abstract
We report the development of a fast and reliable PCR-based method for sex identification of African Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum and Diceros bicornis) that could easily be incorporated into fluorescent short tandem repeat (STR) profiling. A single primer pair, consisting of a fluorescently labelled forward primer and an unlabelled reverse primer, is used to co-amplify homologous fragments of a zinc finger (ZF) protein intron which exhibits size polymorphism between the X and Y chromosomes. In both species, the amplified ZFX and ZFY amplicons differ in size by 7 bp and can thus be differentiated by capillary electrophoresis. Blood, tissue, horn, and faecal samples were correctly sexed using this method. Cross species testing also demonstrated that this method could be used to sex Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) samples

SpringerLink - Conservation Genetics, Volume 11, Number 3

Extinction of the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) and woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) in Eurasia: Review of chronological and environmental issues - KUZMIN - 2009 - Boreas - Wiley Online Library

 

Kuzmin, Y. V. 2009: Extinction of the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) and woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) in Eurasia: Review of chronological and environmental issues. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502-3885.2009.00122.x. ISSN 0300-9483.

The current evidence for date and environmental preferences of the extinction of two middle–late Pleistocene megafaunal species, the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius Blum.) and woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis Blum.), is presented in this review. It is suggested that extinction of these large herbivores in Eurasia was closely related to landscape changes near the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary (c. 12 000–9000 uncalibrated radiocarbon years ago, yr BP), mainly involving the widespread forest formations in the temperate and arctic regions of northern Eurasia and the loss of grasslands crucial to the existence of woolly mammoth and rhinoceros. However, some woolly mammoth populations survived well into the Holocene (up to c. 3700 yr BP), showing that the process of final extinction was fairly complex, with delays in some regions of up to several millennia. The possible role of Palaeolithic humans in the extinction of Late Pleistocene megafauna is also considered.

Extinction of the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) and woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) in Eurasia: Review of chronological and environmental issues - KUZMIN - 2009 - Boreas - Wiley Online Library

The relationship between forage cell wall content and voluntary food intake in mammalian herbivores - MEYER - 2010 - Mammal Review - Wiley Online Library

The relationship between forage cell wall content and voluntary food intake in mammalian herbivores - MEYER - 2010 - Mammal Review - Wiley Online Library: "We suggest that a colonic separation mechanism coupled with coprophagy, in order to minimize metabolic faecal losses, is necessary below a body size threshold where an anticipatory strategy (living off body reserves, migration) is not feasible. Future studies aimed at investigating fine-scale differences, for example between equids and bovids, should focus on non-domesticated species."

HOT SPOTS OF GENETIC DIVERSITY DESCENDED FROM MULT... [Evolution. 2010] - PubMed result

HOT SPOTS OF GENETIC DIVERSITY DESCENDED FROM MULT... [Evolution. 2010] - PubMed result: "ABSTRACT Species that inhabit naturally fragmented environments are expected to be spatially structured and exhibit reduced genetic diversity at the periphery of their range. Patterns of differentiation may also reflect historical processes such as recolonization from glacial refugia. We examined the relative importance of these factors in shaping the spatial patterns of genetic differentiation across the range of an alpine specialist, the North American mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus). Contrary to fossil evidence which suggests a single southern refugium, we detected evidence for additional refugia in northern British Columbia and the Alaskan coast using both mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA. A core area of elevated genetic diversity characterized both regions, and molecular dating suggested a recent Pleistocene split was followed by demographic expansion."

Shelter Competition, Caveman, Giant Cave Bear Extinction | Megafauna, Humanity-Caused Extinction | LiveScience

Shelter Competition, Caveman, Giant Cave Bear Extinction | Megafauna, Humanity-Caused Extinction | LiveScience: "Giant cave bears thought to have once dined on each other might have been driven to extinction by the advance of humanity, scientists now suggest."

Wildlife thrive because of hunting | Greeley Tribune

Wildlife thrive because of hunting | Greeley Tribune: "Some African countries have tried bans on hunting. There are two examples of this: Kenya and Tanzania. Tanzania closed hunting in 1973 and reopened it in 1978 after poaching reduced its elephant population by more than half. Once hunting reopened, the elephant rebounded to a current population of about 125,000.

In 1977, Kenya banned hunting and has never reopened it. The costs have been staggering. According to the African Conservation Foundation, 70 percent of Kenya's wildlife outside national parks has been poached out. Kenya's elephants fared even worse: Between 1979 and 1989, the elephant population fell from 130,000 to 17,000.

In the 2007 hunting season in South Africa, 16,394 foreign hunters spent $91 million, according to the South African Professional Hunters Association. The association estimates that 70,000 jobs are created by South Africa's game-ranching industry.

In 2010, district councils in Tanzania will receive $600,000 as their share of hunting license revenues from the 2009 season."

Red List Overview

Red List Overview: "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ is widely recognized as the most comprehensive, objective global approach for evaluating the conservation status of plant and animal species. From its small beginning, the IUCN Red List has grown in size and complexity and now plays an increasingly prominent role in guiding conservation activities of governments, NGOs and scientific institutions."

The relationship between forage cell wall content and voluntary food intake in mammalian herbivores - MEYER - 2010 - Mammal Review - Wiley Online Library

The relationship between forage cell wall content and voluntary food intake in mammalian herbivores - MEYER - 2010 - Mammal Review - Wiley Online Library: "It is generally assumed that animals compensate for a declining diet quality with increasing food intake. Differences in the response to decreasing forage quality in herbivores have been postulated particularly between cattle (ruminants) and horses (hindgut fermenters). However, empirical tests for both assumptions in herbivorous mammals are rare."

The management of wild large herbivores to meet economic, conservation and environmental objectives - GORDON - 2004 - Journal of Applied Ecology - Wiley Online Library

The management of wild large herbivores to meet economic, conservation and environmental objectives - GORDON - 2004 - Journal of Applied Ecology - Wiley Online Library: "Wild large herbivores provide goods and income to rural communities, have major impacts on land use and habitats of conservation importance and, in some cases, face local or global extinction. As a result, substantial effort is applied to their management across the globe. To be effective, however, management has to be science-based. We reviewed recent fundamental and applied studies of large herbivores with particular emphasis on the relationship between the spatial and temporal scales of ecosystem response, management decision and implementation.
Long-term population dynamics research has revealed fundamental differences in how sex/age classes are affected by changes in density and weather. Consequently, management must be tailored to the age and sex structure of the population, rather than to simple population counts."

Evolution and function of horns and hornlike organs in female ungulates - KILTIE - 2008 - Biological Journal of the Linnean Society - Wiley Online Library

Evolution and function of horns and hornlike organs in female ungulates - KILTIE - 2008 - Biological Journal of the Linnean Society - Wiley Online Library: "Here I examine (1) the taxonomic distribution of horns and hornlike organs in females and evidence on the evolutionary history of the trait; (2) behavioural evidence on the uses of horns and hornlike organs by females and socio-ecological correlations with female hornedness or hornlessness; and (3) evidence on the role of genes and hormones in controlling the expression of female horns"

Nutrition integrates environmental responses of ungulates - Parker - 2009 - Functional Ecology - Wiley Online Library

Nutrition integrates environmental responses of ungulates - Parker - 2009 - Functional Ecology - Wiley Online Library: "Nutrition influences most aspects of animal ecology: juvenile growth rates and adult mass gain, body condition, probability of pregnancy, over-winter survival, timing of parturition, and neonatal birth mass and survival. We provide an overview among ungulates of the extent of these influences resulting from interactions among bioenergetics, foraging, and nutritional demands."

Hypsodonty in ungulates: an adaptation for grass consumption or for foraging in open habitat? - Mendoza - 2007 - Journal of Zoology - Wiley Online Library

Hypsodonty in ungulates: an adaptation for grass consumption or for foraging in open habitat? - Mendoza - 2007 - Journal of Zoology - Wiley Online Library: "Hypsodont (i.e. high-crowned) teeth have been interpreted as an indicator of feeding preferences and habitat selection in ungulates. For this reason, the degree of hypsodonty has been used for estimating the diet of ancient taxa and in palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. The goal of this study is to elucidate the relative importance of grass consumption and open habitat foraging in the development of hypsodont teeth, using novel computer techniques of knowledge discovery applied to a dataset of 134 species of artiodactyls and perissodactyls distributed among thirteen families."

EVOLUTION OF HORNS IN UNGULATES: ECOLOGY AND PALEOECOLOGY - JANIS - 2008 - Biological Reviews - Wiley Online Library

EVOLUTION OF HORNS IN UNGULATES: ECOLOGY AND PALEOECOLOGY - JANIS - 2008 - Biological Reviews - Wiley Online Library: "The savanna ungulate faunas of the North American Miocene were broadly similar to those of present-day East Africa in terms of overall morphological and taxonomic diversity. However, the predominant ungulates of the African faunas are bovids, which possess bony horns that are primitively sexually dimorphic in their occurrence. The predominant ungulates of the North American Tertiary were equids, camelids and oreodonts, which all lacked horns. A limited number of horned ruminants were present, but these were largely Miocene immigrants from Eurasia. Horns were also absent from the large-bodied herbivores in the endemic faunas of South America and Australia."

AFP: World's 103 wild mountain antelopes face extinction: Kenya

AFP: World's 103 wild mountain antelopes face extinction: Kenya: "NAIROBI — Wildlife officials in Kenya warned Thursday that an antelope species, whose entire global wild population of 103 exists only in the east African country, was on the verge of extinction.
Habitat loss, genetic factors, predation and disease were threatening to wipe out the mountain bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus isaaci), the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said in a statement.
The elusive mountain bongo is the largest mountain antelope and weighs up to 300 kilogrammes (660 pounds). It has white stripes against a chestnut brown hide and both males and females have twisted horns."

BioOne Online Journals - Tapirus pinchaque (Perissodactyla: Tapiridae)

BioOne Online Journals - Tapirus pinchaque (Perissodactyla: Tapiridae): "Tapirus pinchaque (Roulin, 1829), the mountain tapir, is considered the smallest and least specialized of the 4 species of Tapirus. It is restricted to parts of temperate areas from Colombia and Ecuador to extreme northwestern Peru."

BioOne Online Journals - Procapra picticaudata (Artiodactyla: Bovidae)

BioOne Online Journals - Procapra picticaudata (Artiodactyla: Bovidae): "Procapra picticaudata Hodgson, 1846, is commonly called the Tibetan gazelle, goa (=Tibetan), or zang yuan ling (= Chinese) and is monotypic. It is a high-elevation specialist endemic to the Tibetan Plateau where it prefers alpine meadow and alpine steppe but uses other lower-elevation plains and valleys."

Phylogenetic diversity does not capture body size variation at risk in the world's mammals — Proceedings B

Phylogenetic diversity does not capture body size variation at risk in the world's mammals — Proceedings B: "Mammals contribute to important ecosystem processes and services, but many mammalian species are threatened with extinction. We compare how global patterns in three measures of mammalian diversity—species richness, phylogenetic diversity (PD) and body mass variance (BMV)—would change if all currently threatened species were lost."

World Environment News - Woolly Mammoth Hunters Helped Change Climate - Planet Ark

World Environment News - Woolly Mammoth Hunters Helped Change Climate - Planet Ark: "Ancient hunters who stalked the world's last woolly mammoths likely helped warm the Earth's far northern latitudes thousands of years before humans began burning fossil fuels, according to a study of prehistoric climate change.

The demise of the leaf-chomping woolly mammoths contributed to a proliferation of dwarf birch trees in and around the Arctic, darkening a largely barren, reflective landscape and accelerating a rise in temperatures across the polar north, researchers at the Carnegie Institution for Science concluded"

ScienceDirect - Current Biology : Hyena societies

Current Biology : Hyena societies: "Although the family Hyaenidae contains only four living species, and is therefore one of the smallest among mammalian carnivores, it is remarkable for its ecological and social diversity, which surpasses that of much larger families such as canids and felids. The four extant hyena species represent the last remnants of a family that was once large and diverse"

2nd carcass of endangered rhino found in Indonesia

The Associated Press: 2nd carcass of endangered rhino found in Indonesia: "JAKARTA, Indonesia — Authorities have recovered the carcass of a Javan Rhinoceros, world's most endangered mammal, in a national park in Indonesia, the second found dead in less than a month, a conservationist said Tuesday.
The remains were discovered Monday in Ujung Kulon National Park on Java island,"

CBC News - World - Rare rhinos victims of Nepal's instability

CBC News - World - Rare rhinos victims of Nepal's instability: "Eight rhinos have been killed in less than a month, according to the Times of India, which reported that dozens of school children attended a gathering in Kathmandu on Sunday, bearing placards demanding action against poachers. Twenty-eight rhinos have been killed in the past 11 months.

The animals are poached for their horn which is believed to have medicinal value and is coveted as an ornamental dagger handle.

At their most critical point, there were only 200 left in the wild. Stronger and better-enforced conservation laws over the last few years have helped increase their numbers to just under 500 in Nepal's tall grasslands and its forests in the Himalayan foothills. Another 2,000 live in the adjacent jungles of India."

Lessons Learned from Human Dimensions of Chronic Wasting Disease Research - Human Dimensions of Wildlife: An International Journal

Lessons Learned from Human Dimensions of Chronic Wasting Disease Research - Human Dimensions of Wildlife: An International Journal: "Although the human dimensions (HD) of chronic wasting disease (CWD) research is relatively new, at least 38 journal articles have been published in the last seven years. This article synthesizes seven lessons learned from HD of CWD research (e.g., hunters vary in their behavioral response to CWD and perceived human health risks; agency trust can influence behavior and acceptance of management actions; not all management actions are equally acceptable and/or effective)"

Protector of African Elephants Awarded Top Animal Conservation Prize | Africa | English

Protector of African Elephants Awarded Top Animal Conservation Prize | Africa | English: "A man who’s devoted his life to saving Africa’s elephants is the winner of this year’s Indianapolis Prize. Iain Douglas-Hamilton receives $100,000 for “outstanding achievement in animal conservation.”

Scientists Rebuild Wooly Mammoth Blood

FOXNews.com - Scientists Rebuild Wooly Mammoth Blood: "The lumbering, shaggy-haired woolly mammoth once thrived in the frigid Arctic plains despite having originally migrated from a more tropical climate. A new study has found tiny genetic mutations that changed the way oxygen was delivered by its blood could be responsible for its tolerance to the cold climate.

The woolly mammoth was an elephantid species and most closely related to today's Asian elephants. It went extinct around 13,000 years ago.� But because the mammoth lived in the Arctic, many remains of the species have been found preserved in the permafrost.

Ancestors of both the mammoth and Asian elephant originated in Africa around 6.7 million to 7 million years ago and stayed for about 4 million years before moving up into Southern Europe and then farther up into what is now Siberia and the northern plains of Canada around a million years later.

At around the same time 'a cataclysmic event occurred on Earth -- the Ice Ages,' said Kevin Campbell of the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, who led the study into the ancient animal's blood, which is detailed in the May 2 online issue of the journal Nature Genetics."

Wildlife Production Systems

http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521349147

This book, first published in 1989, examines the controversial position of commercial utilisation in relation to wildlife conservation. Production of large mammals has earned respectability as an agricultural strategy and its evaluation has been listed as a priority requirement in the World Conservation Strategy. However, many authorities question whether wildlife production is a viable economic and environmental strategy, and suggest that it runs counter to its claimed purpose. This book evaluates this controversy by chronicling the changing role of wildlife and by reflecting on the implications of these trends. The book should be of interest to people both applauding and deploring the use of wildlife in this economic role.

Book to be published celebrating renowned UBC zoologist's life

Book to be published celebrating renowned UBC zoologist's life 

By Larry Pynn, Vancouver SunApril 20, 2010

• Story
• Photos ( 2 )

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Ian McTaggart-Cowan in 2001. One of Canada's preeminent zoologists and early conservationists, he died Sunday just short of his 100th birthday.

Photograph by: ..., Vancouver Sun files

METRO VANCOUVER -- Wayne Campbell remembers Ian McTaggart-Cowan as the professor who kept him out of jail.

The retired curator of birds for the Royal B.C. Museum was just out of high school and busy at his hobby of egg collecting one June day in 1964. He was rummaging about for the common yellowthroat warbler when he found one at Deer Lake, next to Oakalla Prison Farm in Burnaby.

"I saw a female fly into a clump of sedges," Campbell recounted from his Victoria home on Tuesday. "The prisoners had finished their farming and had gone back to their cells.

"I was about 300 to 400 yards into the prison property. I crept, it was damp...and there was the nest.

"I collected it and the eggs and when I got back to the shore, guess what, there were two RCMP waiting for me. What do you do?"

Campbell hadn't brought his scientific egg-collecting permit, issued by the federal government. So he called McTaggart-Cowan, whom he'd met only once a few months earlier, in hopes a good reference might bail him out of trouble.

"He said he was very grateful I'd found the eggs and nest of this bird because they weren't well represented in the UBC collection."

It also didn't hurt that one of the Mounties took his zoology 101 course from McTaggart-Cowan.

Book to be published celebrating renowned UBC zoologist's life