What Are They Thinking? Exploring Layperson Conceptualizations of Wildlife Health and Disease

Communication is an important part of wildlife management. Communication strategies based in knowledge of stakeholder understandings of key issues tend to be particularly effective. We conducted focus groups in five states across the United States to evaluate how laypersons conceptualize wildlife health and wildlife disease management. Based on insights from the focus groups, we identified building blocks of layperson mental models for wildlife health. From the layperson perspective, wildlife health was associated with absence of disease; balanced, sustainable populations; healthy animals; habitat quality; and ecosystem health. Wildlife disease was commonly viewed as a natural phenomenon. Factors influencing support for wildlife disease management included the specific methods used, cost, predicted consequences of management, level of uncertainty, and severity of the disease threat. Knowledge attained from these focus groups provides empirical evidence of beliefs and perceptions that influence public understanding and agreement with wildlife disease management.     

The Relationship Between Religion and Attitudes Toward Large Carnivores in Northern India?

Evidence suggests that religion is an important driver of peoples’ attitudes toward nature, but the link between religion and carnivore conservation is poorly understood. We examined peoples’ attitudes in Buddhist (n = 83) and Muslim communities (n = 111) toward snow leopards (Panthera uncia) and wolves (Canis lupus) in Ladakh, India. We found that the effect of religion on attitudes was statistically nonsignificant, and was tempered by gender, education, and awareness of wildlife laws. Even though religion by itself was not an indication of an individual’s attitude toward large carnivores, the extent to which he/she practiced it (i.e., religiosity) had a positive correlation with pro-carnivore attitudes in the case of Buddhist but not Muslim communities. Our findings indicate that it may be useful to integrate locally relevant religious philosophies into conservation practice. However, the emphasis of conservation messaging should vary, stressing environmental stewardship in the case of Islam, and human–wildlife interdependence in the case of Buddhism.     

What Do We Know About Clodronate Now? A Medical and Veterinary Perspective

There has recently been some controversy over the use of bisphosphonates in horses and some confusion regarding the different classes of bisphosphonates and the differences between the mechanism of actions and effects of each class. This review article explores the different bisphosphonate classes and their different effects and mechanisms of action based on research from both the human and equine veterinary fields. This collaborative review between veterinary surgeons and medical doctors describes the latest use of bisphosphonates in humans and horses, including safety aspects, and allows comparisons to be drawn between the two fields. Potential future uses of bisphosphonates are also discussed.     

Prevalence of antibodies to Brucella spp. and individual risk Factors of Infection in Traditional Cattle, Goats and Sheep Reared in Livestock–Wildlife Interface Areas of Zambia

A cross-sectional study was performed in the livestock–wildlife interface areas of Lochinvar and Blue Lagoon National Parks and the non-interface area of Kazungula to determine the prevalence of antibodies to Brucella spp. in domestic ruminants and identify individual animal risk factors of infection. A total of 1245 cattle from 124 herds and 280 goats and sheep from 29 flocks were tested sequentially for Brucella antibodies using the Rose Bengal test (RBT) and competitive ELISA. In cattle, individual seroprevalence ranged from 14.1% to 28.1%, while herd sero–prevalence ranged from 46.2% to 74.0% in the three study areas. No goat or sheep tested positive for Brucella antibodies. Three types of cattle grazing strategies were encountered: locally grazed herds (LGH), transhumantly grazed herds (TGH) and river flood plain grazed herds (FGH). Brucella seroprevalence was seen to vary according to area and grazing strategy: Lochinvar and transhumant grazed herds recorded the highest figures, respectively. Age, sex and history of abortion were found to have independent effects on individual seroprevalence. This study establishes that brucellosis is endemic in domestic animals in the livestock–wildlife interface areas of Blue Lagoon and Lochinvar national parks and the disease is also present in Kazungula. We observed that type of grazing strategy had significant impact on cattle Brucella seroprevalence and that transhumant herds were at high risk of being infected.     

Automated Animal Control: Can Discontinuous Monitoring and Aversive Stimulation Modify Cattle Grazing Behavior?

Grazing livestock freely select landscape resources, unless they are herded or constrained by fences. Automated animal control (AAC) systems offer an alternative to physical fences by using animal-positioning technology and aversive stimuli to deter animals from staying in sensitive environments and so limit their impact. This paper reports on a replicated field experiment completed to test whether occasional stimuli (audio cue followed by a mild electric stimulus), delivered by discontinuously activated AAC collars, could suffice to modify the grazing behavior of groups of cattle. Four groups of eight steers were confined in 8-ha rectangular paddocks that had an ad libitum supplement feeder located in one end to attract cattle. The steers' positional information was recorded continuously for 3 d using a GPS receiver encased in a collar fitted around their neck. These data were used to characterize their use of the paddocks without intervention. Subsequently a restriction zone was activated on the collars. This zone contained the supplement feeders and represented approximately 10% of the paddock area. Cattle movement was again monitored during a second 3-d period, in which the steers were subjected to discontinuous aversive stimuli (5 min of stimulation followed by a random 0–30 min interval without stimulation) if they were located inside or moved into the restriction zone. Cattle visits to the restriction zone were shorter and the return interval longer when steers were subjected to discontinuous stimulation. Overall, there was a 97% reduction in the use of the restriction zone between the first and second deployments. These results suggest that grazing impact can be drastically reduced by making a zone less desirable through discontinuous aversive stimulation. Such a discontinuous (25% of the time on) AAC system can reduce power consumption in collars and so help overcome energy supply limitations that hinder commercial AAC applications.     

Water Quantity and Water Quality Issues: Who Has the Right to Use Water?

All of the indicators are in place for water quantity to become a major issue in the coming years. Just as water quality has surfaced on many agendas, water quantity could possibly be a larger subject. Water quantity and water quality will become almost synonymous in concern and attention in most parts of the United States and the world. As water quantity issues surface, the dreaded question, "Who owns the water rights?” will have to be answered.     

How to Evaluate and Quantify the Influence of Coincidence on Fertility and Herd Health Parameters? A Practical Overview of Frequently Used and Abused Statistical Techniques in Research and Practice

In this article, frequently encountered statistical questions and methods used both in research and in daily practice are described and explained. First, the concepts of variability and uncertainty are explained and illustrated. From this, it is explained how variation can be quantified and how the limits of what can be expected as a result of normal variation are determined both for continuous and binary data. Based on the basic concepts of probability theory, an introduction to risk assessment was given. Finally it is explained how to test whether individual observations lie outside the normal range or the test whether populations are different from each other. All these are carried out avoiding theory and formulas as much as possible and illustrated with real examples from reproduction and herd health.     

Is Willingness to Pay for Non-Consumptive Wildlife Watching Falling? Evidence From Three Rounds of the National Survey of Fishing,Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation

Since 1955, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service has conducted the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Association Recreation (FHWAR) with the purpose of evaluating outdoor recreation. Using the socioeconomic, activity, and contingent valuation data collected from the last three rounds of this national survey (2001, 2006, 2011), econometric modeling demonstrates that variables such as age, income, gender, and type of land visited (public/private) explain variation in wildlife watching willingness to pay (WTP) and consumer surplus (CS). Although not having been fully investigated in the previous FHWAR contingent valuation literature, results suggest that distinguishing between in-state and out-of-state wildlife watching is important. Additionally, analyses indicate that CS for out-of-state wildlife watching along with CS and WTP for in-state wildlife watching are temporarily reliable. Given the study period overlaps the recent recession, this outcome suggests that welfare is stable across time and in the face of business cycles.     

Does Clinical Treatment with Phenylbutazone and Meloxicam in the Pre‐ovulatory Period Influence the Ovulation Rate in Mares?

The presence of anovulatory haemorrhagic follicles during the oestrous cycle of mares causes financial impacts, slowing conception and increasing the number of services per pregnancy. Non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as meloxicam and phenylbutazone are used in the treatment of several disorders in mares, and these drugs can impair the formation of prostaglandins (PGs) and consequently interfere with reproductive activity. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of treatment with NSAIDs on the development of pre‐ovulatory follicles in mares. In total, 11 mares were studied over three consecutive oestrous cycles, and gynaecological and ultrasound examinations were performed every 12 h. When 32‐mm‐diameter follicles were detected, 1 mg of deslorelin was administered to induce ovulation. The first cycle was used as a control, and the mares received only a dose of deslorelin. In the subsequent cycles, in addition to receiving the same dose of deslorelin, each mare was treated with NSAIDs. In the second cycle, 4.4 mg/kg of phenylbutazone was administered, and in the third cycle, 0.6 mg/kg of meloxicam was administered once a day until ovulation or the beginning of follicular haemorrhage. All of the mares ovulated between 36 and 48 h after the induction in the control cycle. In the meloxicam cycle, 10 mares (92%) did not ovulate, while in the phenylbutazone cycle, nine mares (83%) did not ovulate. In both treatments, intrafollicular hyperechoic spots indicative of haemorrhagic follicles were observed on ultrasound. Thus, our results suggested that treatment with meloxicam and phenylbutazone at therapeutic doses induced intrafollicular haemorrhage and luteinization of anovulatory follicles.