人工饲养水貂行为谱的初步构建

为了对人工饲养水貂不同生物学时期的行为进行观察,试验通过扫描取样法归纳和定义了水貂的个体行为和社会行为,包括休息行为(4种)、运动行为(5种)、采食与排泄行为(5种)、警戒行为(4种)、友好行为(3种)、繁殖行为(9种)、其他行为(5种),初步构建了人工饲养水貂的行为谱,并比较了水貂不同生物学时期各种行为的频次变化。结果表明:野生水貂性情凶猛,听觉、嗅觉发达,活动敏捷,由于驯养时间短,人工饲养条件下野性仍然较强,因此其行为主要表现为自然的天性。     

头骨形态指标鉴别水貂来源有效性的评估

人工驯养野生动物是获取野生动物产品的重要手段,但是非法盗猎的野生动物产品以人工饲养的名义进入市场,就会对野生动物的保护形成挑战。因此,准确鉴别市场上的动物产品是来自养殖场还是野外,是保护野外种群,维持养殖业正常秩序的关键。本研究以北美水貂(Neovison vison)为例,基于颧骨内侧空间(ZAS)、颧宽(ZAA和ZBA)、颅基长(BSL)、下颌长(MDL)、眶后收缩(POC)和最大面部宽度(GFB)等量度,建立了9个头骨形态计量学指标:POC/GFB、POC/BSL、POC/MDL、ZAS SQRT/BSL、ZA SSQRT/MDL、ZBA×BSL/2ZAS、ZBA×MDL/2ZAS、ZBB×BSL/2ZAS和ZBB×MDL/2ZAS。野生组(n=32,9雄23雌)和饲养组(n=45,35雄10雌)的比较表明,除POC/GFB外,所有指标对于在两组样品之间均有显著差异,整体判别正确率为73.2%—85.5%。在性别已知的情况下,雄性的整体正确率为82.4%—93.8%,雌性为41.7%—85.7%。为此,应针对不同性别、不同来源的动物建立相应的参考数据,利用似然比进行鉴别。本研究的结果不仅可用于北美水貂的鉴别,也为其他小型食肉动物的鉴别提供经验。     

第三讲 麝鼠的饲养与管理

<正> 麝鼠以植物性饲料为主,它的消化道构造与食肉性动物比较有许多不同之处,因而消化过程与食肉动物也有不同。 麝鼠具有永久齿16枚(齿式(1.0.0.3)/(1.0.0.3)),牙齿分为门齿和后臼齿,无犬齿和前臼齿。门齿发达为恒齿,适于啃咬植物的根、茎、叶。折叠式磨灭的臼齿适于咀嚼食物并将其磨成细末。舌发达,长4.4～5厘米,宽0.6～0.8厘米。表面粘膜上分布菌状、丝状和轮廓等三种乳头,乳头上味蕾发达,对味道敏感。麝鼠的唾液腺发达,其中腮腺长约3.5～3.9厘米,宽     

人工饲养条件下喜马拉雅旱獭血脂和血液流变学指标测定

测定人工饲养条件下喜马拉雅旱獭血脂及血液流变学指标,并对雌雄个体间及与野生状态下喜马拉雅旱獭相关指标进行比较。结果表明:人工饲养喜马拉雅旱獭雌、雄性个体全血黏度(ηa)、全血还原黏度(ηn)、红细胞压积(HCT)、红细胞刚性指数(IR)及血沉方程K值(KESR)差异均不显著(P0.05);野生状态与人工饲养条件下的旱獭血液流变学和血脂水平比较显示,野生成体旱獭血浆黏度(ηp)、红细胞沉降率(ESR)、全血还原黏度(ηn)、红细胞电泳指数(ES)、胆固醇水平(CHOL)、甘油三酯(TG)水平均显著高于人工条件下驯养旱獭的指标(p0.01)。以上数据的获得将为喜马拉雅旱獭作为实验动物进行应用开发提供基础资料。     

西藏马鹿亚种头骨的形态学观察

通过大体解剖学和动物学头骨测定的方法对马鹿头骨进行观察,并与牛、羊、马、鬣羚相比较。雄性马鹿头骨呈狭长的角锥性,额骨上有角突,角突长而分叉；鼻骨较短前窄后宽,前端呈水平状,边缘呈锯齿状,这与马、鬣羚鼻骨不相似；上颌骨接近颌前骨部位有一个犬齿齿槽,齿槽部位有6个臼齿齿槽,下颌骨有6.5个,因此上颌骨臼齿齿列比下颌骨臼齿齿列短；颧骨的前下方、鼻骨的侧面、泪骨的前上方及上颌骨的后上方,形成一个等边三角形缝隙；缝隙与鼻腔之间由一形状不规则的薄骨片隔开,这与牛、羊、马、鬣羚都不相似。     

斯堪的纳维亚国家的毛皮动物饲养业

<正> 1987年2—8月,笔者曾在挪威学习人工养狐技术.现将斯堪的纳维亚地区(包括芬兰、挪威、瑞典、丹麦及冰岛等国)毛皮动物饲养业的情况介绍如下:斯堪的纳维亚地区早在19世纪初,就开始驯养野生毛皮动物.挪威在1914年从加拿大引入银黑狐是该地区第一个进行人工养狐的国家.该地区从1930年开始饲养水貂,发展速度很快.1940年全区水貂皮产量为11.03万张,到1980年已达1010万张.     

水貂干蛋白粉料的可消化性和化学成分

<正> 水貂是食肉动物,对蛋白质的需要量比大多数家畜高.体蛋白的23种氨基酸中,有11种是水貂的必需氨基酸,其需要量随年龄、性别、和不同的生物学时期而有所变化.动物和植物蛋白,是水貂宝贵的蛋白质来源.动物蛋白粉料     

江苏大丰麋鹿人工驯养试验研究

麋鹿(Elaphurus Davidianus)是中国特有物种,野生种群在本土灭绝近200年,2018年大丰麋鹿国家级自然保护区开展了小麋鹿的人工驯养试验,通过合理饮食饲喂与建立条件反射、食物诱导强化训练等方式相结合,在试验场地对刚出生的小麋鹿个体开展驯养试验,总结了麋鹿驯养中饲养的日粮配比和成功驯化的技术方案,探讨了麋鹿人工驯养的关键措施和技术难点,为进一步开展人工驯养麋鹿提供技术参考和经验借鉴。     

我国毛皮动物养殖业现状及发展趋势

我国毛皮动物的饲养始于1956年,当年从原苏联引种水貂、银狐、海狸鼠、麝鼠等,分别在黑龙江省、山东省和北京市建立饲养场。1957年又对我国野生紫貂、貉子等进行引种和驯养繁殖,到1958年底全国饲养场从1956年的5个发展到72个。伴随着毛皮动物产业的发展,我国也相继建立起了一批     

金钱龟的人工饲养与繁殖

金钱龟,学名三线闭壳龟Cuoratrifasciata属国家二级保护动物,主要分布在广西、广东、海南、福建等省的深山老林里。金钱龟具有重要的药用、食用和观赏价值,市场售价很高,因此,人工饲养繁殖金钱龟是理想的开拓致富门路,也是保护自然资源的重要手段。1金钱龟种源的获得1.1野生金钱龟的捕捉与驯养在征得林业主管部门同意,取得野生动物驯养繁殖许可证的前提下,金钱龟的种源可通过捕捉野生金钱龟而解决。捕捉野生金钱龟的方法是先找洞,然后设法用手捕捉。野生捕来的龟种得驯化饲养,初来的野生龟大多数长有蜱子,要用手把它们摘去,有的不吃食物,应…     

Ecological preferences of exophilic and endophilic ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) parasitizing wild carnivores in the Iberian Peninsula

Ticks parasitizing wild carnivores and the tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) that they transmit may affect domestic carnivores and humans. Thus, investigating the role of wild carnivores as tick hosts is of relevance for understanding the life cycle of ticks in natural foci and the epidemiology of TBPs shared with domestic animals and humans. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to determine the ixodid tick fauna of wild carnivores in Peninsular Spain and the environmental factors driving the risk of wild carnivores to be parasitized by ixodid ticks. We hypothesized that the adaptation of tick species to differing climatic conditions may be reflected in a similar parasitization risk of wild carnivores by ticks between bioclimatic regions in our study area. To test this, we surveyed ixodid ticks in wild carnivores in oceanic, continental-Mediterranean, and thermo-Mediterranean bioclimatic regions of Peninsular Spain. We analyzed the influence of environmental factors on the risk of wild carnivores to be parasitized by ticks by performing logistic regression models. Models were separately performed for exophilic and endophilic ticks under the expected differing influence of environmental conditions on their life cycle. We found differences in the composition of the tick community parasitizing wild carnivores from different bioclimatic regions. Modelling results partially confirmed our null hypothesis because bioclimatic region was not a relevant factor influencing the risk of wild carnivores to be parasitized by exophilic ticks. Bioclimatic region was however a factor driving the risk of wild carnivores to be parasitized by endophilic ticks. Spanish wild carnivores are hosts to a relevant number of tick species, some of them being potential vectors of pathogens causing serious animal and human diseases. Information provided herein can be of help to understand tick ecology in Spanish wildlife, the epidemiology of tick-borne diseases, and to prevent the risks of TBPs for wildlife, domestic animals, and humans.     

Trichinella spiralis in wild animals, cats, mice, rats and farmed fur animals in Finland

A total of 1 399 samples of wild animals, cats, mice, rats and fur animals were examined for Trichinella larvae during the period 1.1.1982-30.6.1984. Samples were obtained both from the problem area, were Trichinella larvae had been found in pigs, and for comparison from the rest of Finland. The frequency of the infection in wild carnivores, badgers, pine martens, raccoon dogs, foxes and wild mink was significantly higher in the problem area than in the rest of Finland.     

Serosurvey of pathogens in domestic dogs on the border of No?l Kempff Mercado National Park, Bolivia.

The threat of disease transmission from domestic animals to wildlife has become recognized as an increasing concern within the wildlife community in recent years. Domestic dogs pose a significant risk as reservoirs for infectious diseases, especially for wild canids. As part of a multifaceted ecologic study of maned wolves and other canids in the large, remote No?l Kempff Mercado National Park (NKMNP) in northeastern Bolivia, 40 domestic dogs in two villages and at two smaller settlements bordering the national park were sampled for exposure to canine diseases. High levels of exposure were found to canine distemper virus and canine parvovirus, both of which are known to cause mortality in maned wolves and other carnivores. Moderate to high levels of exposure were found to rabies virus, Ehrlichia canis, and Toxoplasma gondii, as well as significant levels of infection with Dirofilaria immitis. This study reports evidence of exposure to several diseases in the domestic dogs bordering the park. Contact between wild carnivores and dogs has been documented in the sampled villages, therefore dogs likely pose a substantial risk to the carnivores within and near NKMNP. Further measures should be undertaken to decrease the risk of spillover infection from domestic animals into the wild species of this region.     

Brain and spinal cord lesions in encephalitozoonosis in mink

Central nervous system lesions were studied by light microscopy in 43 farmed mink, aged 5 months to 2 1/2 years, with spontaneous encephalitozoonosis and showing cataractous eye changes. Lesions were found in the brain and spinal cord of all animals examined but were generally mild and chronic. The lesions were consistent with those previously described in spontaneous encephalitozoonosis in other carnivores. Parasites in parasitophorous vacuoles and free or phagocytosed in necrotic and granulomatous lesions were demonstrated in animals aged 5 months to 1 year. The occurrence of arterial lesions of the polyarteritis nodosa type found in the youngest animals probably indicates fetal infection. In animals aged 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 years active lesions were usually lacking and the changes were characterized by arterial sclerosis, sometimes with aneurysmal formations, small perivascular lympho-plasmacytic cuffings and focal gliosis.     

Food transit time,nutrient digestibility and nitrogen retention in farmed and feral American mink (Neovison vison) – a comparative analysis

The aim of this study was to determine whether farming leads to changes in gastrointestinal function and nitrogen metabolism in farmed mink (FA), as compared with their wild‐living counterparts. Three digestibility and balance trials were carried out. Experiment I was performed in May, and experiments II and III were conducted in September 2011. Farmed mink with the standard coat colour were purchased from a production farm in south‐eastern Poland. Feral mink were harvested using cages in the hunting grounds of the Polish Hunting Association, Branch in Olsztyn. The experimental materials comprised of the following: trial I – adult males (eight animals per group), trial II – young females (six animals per group), trial III–young animals (five males and five females per group). Food transit time was measured during digestibility trials, on 10 consecutive days. The coefficients of nutrient and energy digestibility and daily nitrogen balance values were compared between groups in each experiment. It was found that farming contributed to changes in gastrointestinal function and nitrogen metabolism in mink. Farmed animals were characterized by a longer bowel transit time, a tendency towards higher nutrient digestibility and higher nitrogen retention, which resulted from selection for higher productivity.     

Aleutian mink disease virus in furbearing mammals in Nova Scotia,Canada

Background

Aleutian mink disease virus (AMDV) is widespread among ranched and free-ranging American mink in Canada, but there is no information on its prevalence in other wild animal species. This paper describes the prevalence of AMDV of 12 furbearing species in Nova Scotia (NS), Canada.

Methods

Samples were collected from carcasses of 462 wild animals of 12 furbearing species, trapped in 10 NS counties between November 2009 and February 2011. Viral DNA was tested by PCR using two primer pairs, and anti-viral antibodies were tested by counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIEP) on spleen homogenates.

Results

Positive PCR or CIEP samples were detected in 56 of 60 (93.3%) American mink, 43 of 61 (70.5%) short-tailed weasels, 2 of 8 (25.0%) striped skunks, 2 of 11 (18.2%) North American river otters, 9 of 85 (10.6%) raccoons, and 2 of 20 (10.0%) bobcats. Samples from six fishers, 24 coyotes, 25 red foxes, 58 beavers, 45 red-squirrels and 59 muskrats were negative. Antibodies to AMDV were detected by CIEP in 16 of 56 (28.6%) mink and one of the 8 skunks (12.5%). Thirteen of the mink were positive for PCR and CIEP, but three mink and one skunk were CIEP positive and PCR negative. Positive CIEP or PCR animals were present in all nine counties from which mink or weasel samples were collected.

Conclusions

The presence of AMDV in so many species across the province has important epidemiological ramifications and could pose a serious health problem for the captive mink, as well as for susceptible wildlife. The mechanism of virus transmission between wildlife and captive mink and the effects of AMDV exposure on the viability of the susceptible species deserve further investigation.     

Monitoring chronic infection with a field strain of Aleutian mink disease virus

Aleutian mink disease virus (AMDV) readily spread within farmed mink and causes chronic infections with significant impacts for welfare and economy. In the present study a currently circulating Danish AMDV strain was used to induce chronic experimental infection of farmed mink.PCR was used to detect viral DNA in full blood, organs, faeces and oro-nasal swabs weekly for the first 8 weeks and then biweekly for another 16 weeks after AMDV challenge inoculation of wild type mink. The mink (n = 29) was infected and seroconverted 2–3 weeks after AMDV inoculation and AMDV antibodies persisted during the maximum experimental period of 24 weeks. Viraemia and faecal excretion of viral DNA was detected in the mink (n = 29) at various and intermittent time intervals. Excretion of viral DNA in oro-nasal swabs was detected for 1–8 weeks in 21 mink. This highlights the risk of transmitting AMDV between infected farms.PCR was successfully used to detect viral DNA in organs 8, 16 and 24 weeks after AMDV inoculation with only minor differences between these weeks which is of diagnostic interest.This AMDV challenge model was also used to mimic natural infection of susceptible sapphire mink. Four of 6 sapphire mink were infected indirectly via the AMDV inoculated wild type mink whereas the other 2 sapphire mink remained uninfected.     

SARS-CoV-2 in animals: potential for unknown reservoir hosts and public health implications

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, previously 2019-nCoV) is suspected of having originated in 2019 in China from a coronavirus infected bat of the genus Rhinolophus. Following the initial emergence, possibly facilitated by a mammalian bridge host, SARS-CoV-2 is currently transmitted across the globe via efficient human-to-human transmission. Results obtained from experimental studies indicate that animal species such as cats, ferrets, raccoon dogs, cynomolgus macaques, rhesus macaques, white-tailed deer, rabbits, Egyptian fruit bats, and Syrian hamsters are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and that cat-to-cat and ferret-to-ferret transmission can take place via contact and air. However, natural infections of SARS-CoV-2 have been reported only in pet dogs and cats, tigers, lions, snow leopards, pumas, and gorillas at zoos, and farmed mink and ferrets. Even though human-to-animal spillover has been reported at several instances, SARS-CoV-2 transmission from animals-to-humans has only been reported from mink-to-humans in mink farms. Following the rapid transmission of SARS-CoV-2 within the mink population, a new mink-associated SARS-CoV-2 variant emerged that was identified in both humans and mink. The increasing reports of SARS-CoV-2 in carnivores indicate the higher susceptibility of animal species belonging to this order. The sporadic reports of SARS-CoV-2 infection in domestic and wild animal species require further investigation to determine if SARS-CoV-2 or related Betacoronaviruses can get established in kept, feral or wild animal populations, which may eventually act as viral reservoirs. This review analyzes the current evidence of SARS-CoV-2 natural infection in domestic and wild animal species and their possible implications on public health.     

Response of mink, skunk, red fox and raccoon to inoculation with mink virus enteritis, feline panleukopenia and canine parvovirus and prevalence of antibody to parvovirus in wild carnivores in Ontario.

Mink virus enteritis, feline panleukopenia and canine parvovirus-2 were inoculated separately into groups of raccoon, mink, red fox and striped skunk. Raccoons were highly susceptible to mink virus enteritis and feline panleukopenia, with animals developing clinical illness, and several dying within six to ten days of inoculation with lesions typical of parvovirus infection. Both viruses were shed in high titre in the feces of infected raccoons, and high antibody titres were stimulated. Raccoons inoculated with canine parvovirus-2 showed no signs; shedding of virus was sporadic though moderate titres of antibody developed. Mink inoculated with mink virus enteritis and feline panleukopenia developed signs and lesions of early parvovirus infection. No signs or significant lesions followed canine parvovirus-2 inoculation. Shedding of virus was heavy (mink virus enteritis) or sporadic (feline panleukopenia and canine parvovirus-2), though good serological responses were elicited to all three viruses. Red fox showed no signs of infection, shed all three viruses only sporadically, and the serological response was strong only to feline panleukopenia. Skunks developed low antibody titres, but no signs, and did not shed virus. Antibody to parvovirus was found in 79.2% of 144 wild red foxes; 22.3% of 112 wild raccoons; 1.3% of 157 wild skunks and 6/7 coyotes in southern Ontario. The likely significance of these viruses to wild and captive individuals and populations of these carnivores is discussed.