An evaluation of genetic analyses, skull morphology and visual appearance for assessing dingo purity: implications for dingo conservation

The introgression of domestic dog genes into dingo populations threatens the genetic integrity of 'pure' dingoes. However, dingo conservation efforts are hampered by difficulties in distinguishing between dingoes and hybrids in the field. This study evaluates consistency in the status of hybridisation (i.e. dingo, hybrid or dog) assigned by genetic analyses, skull morphology and visual assessments. Of the 56 south-east Queensland animals sampled, 39 (69.6%) were assigned the same status by all three methods, 10 (17.9%) by genetic and skull methods, four (7.1%) by genetic and visual methods; and two (3.6%) by skull and visual methods. Pair-wise comparisons identified a significant relationship between genetic and skull methods, but not between either of these and visual methods. Results from surveying 13 experienced wild dog managers showed that hybrids were more easily identified by visual characters than were dingoes. A more reliable visual assessment can be developed through determining the relationship between (1) genetics and phenotype by sampling wild dog populations and (2) the expression of visual characteristics from different proportions and breeds of domestic dog genes by breeding trials. Culling obvious hybrids based on visual characteristics, such as sable and patchy coat colours, should slow the process of hybridisation.

Encroachment of Echinococcus granulosus into urban areas in eastern Queensland, Australia

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of Echinococcus granulosus in wild dogs (dingos and dingo-domestic dog hybrids) living in and around human habitation on Fraser Island and in townships of the Maroochy Shire, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, Australia. Design: Wild dogs were humanely killed on Fraser Island and in the Maroochy Shire because they were deemed a potential danger to the public. Their intestines were collected and the contents examined for intestinal parasites. Procedure: Intestines were removed as soon after death as possible, packed in plastic bags and kept frozen until examination. The intestinal contents were washed, sieved and examined microscopically for the presence of helminths, which were identified and counted. Results: Intestines from 108 wild dogs, 7 foxes and 18 Fraser Island dingoes were examined. Echinococcus granulosus was only present in the wild dogs from Maroochy Shire (46.3%) with worm burdens of between 30 and 104,000. Other helminths included Spirometra erinacei, Dipylidium caninum, Taenia spp., Ancylostoma caninum and Toxocara canis. Two specimens of a trematode (Haplorchinae sp.) usually found infecting fish and seabirds were recovered from a Fraser Island dingo. Conclusion: Dingoes on Fraser Island are not infected with E. granulosus and do not pose a hydatid disease public health risk to residents or visitors. However, wild dogs examined from the Maroochy Shire do present a potential hydatid disease public health risk.

Is night-time wind direction important to best practice wild dog trapping and baiting?

We discovered a significant bias for wild dog scent station spoor (scats and scratches) to be positioned on the north-easterly side of roads and intersections. Counts of this spoor, 50 metres in each direction of north-south and east-west intersections were made in state forests near Roma in southwest Queensland, Cecil Plains on the Darling Downs and Maryborough on the coast during mating season in April/May 2007. While 51% of 190 and 83% of 120 scent station spoor were located on the north-eastern sector of the intersections at Cecil Plains and Roma respectively, spoor were more evenly distributed across all four sectors at Maryborough (n=47).

Are we focussing wild dog control the wrong time of the year and going about it the wrong way?

Our evaluation of the predation of calves by wild dogs in the 1990s found that the number of calves killed and frequency of years that calf losses occurred, is higher in baited areas compared to adjoining, non-baited areas of similar size. Calf losses were highest with poor seasonal conditions, low prey numbers and where baited areas were re-colonised by wild dogs soon after baiting. We monitored wild dog ���activity��� before and after 35 baiting programs in southwest, central west and far north Queensland between 1994 and 2006 and found change in activity depends on the timing of the baiting. Baiting programs conducted between October and April show an increase in dog activity post-baiting (average increase of 219.1%, SEM 100.9, n=9, for programs conducted in October and November; an increase of 82.5%, SEM 54.5, n=7 for programs conducted in March and April; and a decrease in activity of 46.5%, SEM 10.2, n=19 for programs conducted between May and September). We monitored the seasonal activity and dispersal of wild dogs fitted with satellite transmitters 2006 to present. We have found that: ��� Activity of breeding males and females, whilst rearing and nurturing pups, is focussed around the den between July to September and away from areas of human activity. Activity of breeding groups appears to avoid locations of human activity until juveniles become independent (around late November). ��� While independent and solitary yearlings often have unstable, elliptically-shaped territories in less favourable areas, members of breeding groups have territories that appear seasonally stable and circular located in more favourable habitats. ��� Extra-territorial forays of solitary yearlings can be huge, in excess of 200 km. The largest forays we have monitored have occurred when the activity of pack members is focussed around rearing pups and juveniles (August to November). ��� Where wild dogs have dispersed or had significant territorial expansion, it has occurred within days of baiting programs and onto recently baited properties. ��� The wild dogs we have tracked have followed netting barrier fences for hundreds of kilometres and lived adjacent to or bypassed numerous grids in the barrier. Based on these studies, we conclude that a proportion of the perceived decline in dog activity between May and September, post baiting, is due to a decline in dog activity in areas associated with human activity. The increase in dog activity post-baiting between October and May (and increased calf predation on baited properties) is likely caused by wild dogs dispersing (juveniles and yearlings) or expanding (adults) their territory into baited, now ���vacant���, areas. We hypothesise that baiting programs should be focussed in summer and autumn commencing late November as soon as juveniles become independent of adults. We also hypothesise that instead of large, annual or semi-annual baiting programs, laying the same number of baits over 4-6 weeks may be more effective. These hypotheses need to be tested through an adaptive management project.

Post capture necrosis of the feet caused by soft-catch traps ��� incidents, cause and prevention.

When recapturing satellite collared wild dogs that had been trapped one month previous in padded foothold traps, we noticed varying degrees of pitting on the pads of their trapped paw. Veterinary advice, based on images taken of the injuries, suggests that the necrosis was caused by vascular compromise. Five of six dingoes we recaptured had varying degrees of necrosis restricted only to the trapped foot and ranging from single 5 mm holes to 25% sections of the toe pads missing or deformed, including loss of nails. The traps used were rubber-padded, two���coiled, Victor Soft Catch #3 traps. The springs are not standard Victor springs but were Beefer springs; these modifications slightly increase trap speed and the jaw pressure on the trapped foot. Despite this modification the spring pressure is still relatively mild in comparison to conventional long spring or four-coiled wild dog traps. The five wild dogs developing necrosis were trapped in November 2006 at 5-6 months of age. Traps were checked each morning so the dogs were unlikely to have been restrained in the trap for more than 12 hours. All dogs exhibited a small degree of paw damage at capture which presented itself as a swollen paw and compression at the capture point. In contrast, eight wild dogs, 7-8 month-old, were captured two months later in February. Upon their release, on advice from a veterinarian, we massaged the trapped foot to get blood flow back in to the foot and applied a bruise treatment (Heparinoid 8.33 mg/ml) to assist restoring blood flow. These animals were subsequently recaptured several months later and showed no signs of necrosis. While post-capture foot injuries are unlikely to be an issue in conventional control programs where the animal is immediately destroyed, caution needs to be used when releasing accidentally captured domestic dogs or research animals captured in rubber-padded traps. We have demonstrated that 7-8 month old dogs can be trapped and released without any evidence of subsequent necrosis following minimal veterinary treatment. We suspect that the rubber padding on traps may increase the tourniquet effect by wrapping around the paw and recommend the evaluation of offset laminated steel jaw traps as an alternative. Offset laminated steel jaw traps have been shown to be relatively humane producing as few foot injuries as rubber-jawed traps.

Assessing the taxonomic status of dingoes Canis familiaris for conservation

1. The conservation status of the dingo Canis familiaris dingo is threatened by hybridization with the domestic dog C. familiaris familiaris. A practical method that can estimate the different levels of hybridization in the field is urgently required so that animals below a specific threshold of dingo ancestry (e.g. 1/4 or 1/2 dingoes) can reliably be identified and removed from dingo populations. 2. Skull morphology has been traditionally used to assess dingo purity, but this method does not discriminate between the different levels of dingo ancestry in hybrids. Furthermore, measurements can only be reliably taken from the skulls of dead animals. 3. Methods based on the analysis of variation in DNA are able to discriminate between the different levels of hybridization, but the validity of this method has been questioned because the materials currently used as a reference for dingoes are from captive animals of unproven genetic purity. The use of pre-European materials would improve the accuracy of this method, but suitable material has not been found in sufficient quantity to develop a reliable reference population. Furthermore, current methods based on DNA are impractical for the field-based discrimination of hybrids because samples require laboratory analysis. 4. Coat colour has also been used to estimate the extent of hybridization and is possibly the most practical method to apply in the field. However, this method may not be as powerful as genetic or morphological analyses because some hybrids (e.g. Australian cattle dog �� dingo) are similar to dingoes in coat colour and body form. This problem may be alleviated by using additional visual characteristics such as the presence/absence of ticking and white markings.

A strategic approach to mitigating the impacts of wild canids: proposed activities of the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre

Wild canids (wild dogs and European red foxes) cause substantial losses to Australian livestock industries and environmental values. Both species are actively managed as pests to livestock production. Contemporaneously, the dingo proportion of the wild dog population, being considered native, is protected in areas designated for wildlife conservation. Wild dogs particularly affect sheep and goat production because of the behavioural responses of domestic sheep and goats to attack, and the flexible hunting tactics of wild dogs. Predation of calves, although less common, is now more economically important because of recent changes in commodity prices. Although sometimes affecting lambing and kidding rates, foxes cause fewer problems to livestock producers but have substantial impacts on environmental values, affecting the survival of small to medium-sized native fauna and affecting plant biodiversity by spreading weeds. Canid management in Australia relies heavily on the use of compound 1080-poisoned baits that can be applied aerially or by ground. Exclusion fencing, trapping, shooting, livestock-guarding animals and predator calling with shooting are also used. The new Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre has 40 partners representing private and public land managers, universities, and training, research and development organisations. One of the major objectives of the new IACRC is to apply a strategic approach in order to reduce the impacts of wild canids on agricultural and environmental values in Australia by 10%. In this paper, the impacts, ecology and management of wild canids in Australia are briefly reviewed and the first cooperative projects that will address IACRC objectives for improving wild dog management are outlined.

Dogs.

On spine: Naturalist's library: Annals v. 5.

When do export subsidies have a redistributional role? Reply

Our differences are three. The first arises from the belief that "... a nonzero value for the optimally chosen policy instrument implies that the instrument is efficient for redistribution" (Alston, Smith, and Vercammen, p. 543, paragraph 3). Consider the two equations: (1) o* = f(P3) and (2) = -f(3) ++r h* (a, P3) representing the solution to the problem of maximizing weighted, Marshallian surplus using, simultaneously, a per-unit border intervention, 9, and a per-unit domestic intervention, wr. In the solution, parameter ot denotes the weight applied to producer surplus; parameter p denotes the weight applied to government revenues; consumer surplus is implicitly weighted one; and the country in question is small in the sense that it is unable to affect world price by any of its domestic adjustments (see the Appendix). Details of the forms of the functions f((P) and h(ot, p) are easily derived, but what matters in the context of Alston, Smith, and Vercammen's Comment is: Redistributivep referencest hatf avorp roducers are consistent with higher values "alpha," and whereas the optimal domestic intervention, 7r*, has both "alpha and beta effects," the optimal border intervention, r*, has only a "beta effect,"-it does not have a redistributional role. Garth Holloway is reader in agricultural economics and statistics, Department of Agricultural and Food Economics, School of Agriculture, Policy, and Development, University of Reading. The author is very grateful to Xavier Irz, Bhavani Shankar, Chittur Srinivasan, Colin Thirtle, and Richard Tiffin for their comments and their wisdom; and to Mario Mazzochi, Marinos Tsigas, and Cal Turvey for their scholarship, including help in tracking down a fairly complete collection of the papers that cite Alston and Hurd. They are not responsible for any errors or omissions. Note, in equation (1), that the border intervention is positive whenever a distortion exists because 8 > 0 implies 3 - 1 + 8 > 1 and, thus, f((P) > 0 (see Appendix). Using Alston, Smith, and Vercammen's definition, the instrument is now "efficient," and therefore has a redistributive role. But now, suppose that the distortion is removed so that 3 - 1 + 8 = 1, 8 = 0, and consequently the border intervention is zero. According to Alston, Smith, and Vercammen, the instrument is now "inefficient" and has no redistributive role. The reader will note that this thought experiment has said nothing about supporting farm incomes, and so has nothing whatsoever to do with efficient redistribution. Of course, the definition is false. It follows that a domestic distortion arising from the "excess-burden argument" 3 = 1 + 8, 8 > 0 does not make an export subsidy "efficient." The export subsidy, having only a "beta effect," does not have a redistributional role. The second disagreement emerges from the comment that Holloway "... uses an idiosyncratic definition of the relevant objective function of the government (Alston, Smith, and Vercammen, p. 543, paragraph 2)." The objective function that generates equations (1) and (2) (see the Appendix) is the same as the objective function used by Gardner (1995) when he first questioned Alston, Carter, and Smith's claim that a "domestic distortion can make a border intervention efficient in transferring surplus from consumers and taxpayers to farmers." The objective function used by Gardner (1995) is the same objective function used in the contributions that precede it and thus defines the literature on the debate about borderversus- domestic intervention (Streeten; Yeh; Paarlberg 1984, 1985; Orden; Gardner 1985). The objective function in the latter literature is the same as the one implied in another literature that originates from Wallace and includes most notably Gardner (1983), but also Alston and Hurd. Amer. J. Agr. Econ. 86(2) (May 2004): 549-552 Copyright 2004 American Agricultural Economics Association This content downloaded on Tue, 15 Jan 2013 07:58:41 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 550 May 2004 Amer. J. Agr. Econ. The objective function in Holloway is this same objective function-it is, of course, Marshallian surplus.1 The third disagreement concerns scholarship. The Comment does not seem to be cognizant of several important papers, especially Bhagwati and Ramaswami, and Bhagwati, both of which precede Corden (1974, 1997); but also Lipsey and Lancaster, and Moschini and Sckokai; one important aspect of Alston and Hurd; and one extremely important result in Holloway. This oversight has some unfortunate repercussions. First, it misdirects to the wrong origins of intellectual property. Second, it misleads about the appropriateness of some welfare calculations. Third, it prevents Alston, Smith, and Vercammen from linking a finding in Holloway (pp. 242-43) with an old theorem (Lipsey and Lancaster) that settles the controversy (Alston, Carter, and Smith 1993, 1995; Gardner 1995; and, presently, Alston, Smith, and Vercammen) about the efficiency of border intervention in the presence of domestic distortions.

Challenging the production function approach to assess the developmental effects of FDI

From a theoretical point of view, it is traditionally assumed that foreign firms possess a centrally accumulated firm-specific technological advantage over domestic firms (see, for example, Findlay, 1978; Dunning, 1979). Given a sufficient level of absorptive capacity and human capital, domestic firms in host economies are able to benefit from various externalities stimulated by the presence of foreign firms.

Genetic evidence for an East Asian origin of domestic dogs

The origin of the domestic dog from wolves has been established, but the number of founding events, as well as where and when these occurred, is not known. To address these questions, we examined the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence variation among 654

The pace of life under artificial selection : personality, energy expenditure, and longevity are correlated in domestic dogs

The domestic dog has undergone extensive artificial selection resulting in an extreme diversity in body size, personality, life���history, and metabolic traits among breeds. Here we tested whether proactive personalities (high levels of activity, boldness, and aggression) are related to a fast “pace of life” (high rates of growth, mortality, and energy expenditure). Data from the literature provide preliminary evidence that artificial selection on dogs (through domestication) generated variations in personality traits that are correlated with life histories and metabolism. We found that obedient (or docile, shy) breeds live longer than disobedient (or bold) ones and that aggressive breeds have higher energy needs than unaggressive ones. These correlations could result from either human preference for particular trait combinations or, more likely, correlated responses to artificial selection on personality. Our results suggest the existence of a general pace���of���life syndrome arising from the coevolution of personality, metabolic, and life���history traits.