Contrafreeloading in maned wolves: Implications for their management and welfare

Contrafreeloading occurs when animals spend time and effort to obtain food in the presence of freely available food. There are several interpretations for such an apparent contradiction to optimal foraging models, with an emphasis either on the need to gather and update information about the environment or on the value of performing species-typical responses. Evidence suggests that both gathering information about the environment and the expression of species-typical behaviour are important for the welfare of captive animals. The aim of the present study was to assess the existence of contrafreeloading in maned wolves (Chrysocyon brachyurus), in a situation where animals could get food directly from a "free" source and/or search and handle hidden food items, an alternative that requires more effort and is probably more similar to natural foraging conditions. Eight captive, pair-housed maned wolves were given weekly choice tests in which they could obtain food either by approaching the usual food tray in one section of the enclosure (Tray), and/or by searching for food at variable sites amongst the vegetation in the other section of the enclosure (Scattered). Results indicate that maned wolves spent more time in the Scattered than in the Tray section of the enclosure (P = 0.02) and that they obtained about half of the food from that section (48.54% +/- SE 0.69). Our results, the first to demonstrate contrafreeloading in maned wolves, have implications for the husbandry and welfare of this endangered species. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Blackwater chronicle : a narrative of an expedition into the land of Canaan, in Randolph county, Virginia, a country flowing with wild animals, such as panthers, bears, wolves, elk, deer, otter, badger, &c., &c., with innumerable trout--by five adventurous gentlemen, without any aid of government, and solely by their own resources, in the summer of 1851 /

Generally attributed to John Pendleton Kennedy, brother of the author. cf. H.T. Tuckerman, Life of J.P. Kennedy, 1871, p. 26 and 421.

Reintroduction and management of wolves in Yellowstone National Park and the Central Idaho Wilderness Area : a report to the United States Congress /

Shipping list no.: 91-508-P.

Human wolves; seventeen years of war on crime, in which is told, for the first time, the dramatic story of the rebuilding of Kansas City's police department--and the return of law and order to the heart of America.

Mode of access: Internet.

The wild life of Lake Superior : past and present; the habits of deer, moose, wolves, beavers, muskrats, trout, and feathered woodfolk studied with camera and flashlight.

Mode of access: Internet.

Christ's warning to the churches, to beware of false prophets, who come as wolves in sheep's clothing, and the marks by which they are known : illustrated in two discourses : with an appendix /

Shaw & Shoemaker

The last Vendée; or, The she-wolves of Machecoul.

A translation of "Les louves de Machecoul".

Animal heroes : being the histories of a cat, a dog, a pigeon, a lynx, two wolves & a reindeer and in elucidation of the same over 200 drawings /

Full page ill. on p. 11, 27, 43, 71, 83, 105, 109, 119, 131, 145, 161, 167, 175, 189, 201, 205, 225, 252, 257, 265, 283, 287, 293, 305, 321, 339 and 363, some signed by Ernest Thompson Seton. Incidental illustrations throughout.

The she-wolves of Machecoul, to which is added, the Corsican brothers.

Mode of access: Internet.

MHC promoter polymorphism in grey wolves and domestic dogs

A functional immune system requires a tight control over major histocompatibility complex (MHC) gene transcription, as the abnormal MHC expression patterns of severe immunodeficiency and autoimmune diseases demonstrate. Although the regulation of MHC expression has been well documented in humans and mice, little is known in other species. In this study, we detail the level of polymorphism in wolf and dog MHC gene promoters. The promoter regions of the DRB, DQA and DQB locus were sequenced in 90 wolves and 90 dogs. The level of polymorphism was high in the DQB promoters, with variation found within functionally relevant regions, including binding sites for transcription factors. Clear associations between DQB promoters and exon 2 alleles were noted in wolves, indicating strong linkage disequilibrium in this region. Low levels of polymorphism were found within the DRB and DQA promoter regions. However, a variable site was identified within the T box, a TNF-alpha response element, of the DQA promoter. Furthermore, we identified a previously unrecognised 18-base-pair deletion within exon 1 of the DQB locus.

When wolves cry: long distance calling by wild maned wolves

The maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus Illiger 1815) is the biggest canid in South America and it is considered a “near threatened” species by IUCN. Because of its nocturnal, territorial and solitary habits, there are still many understudied aspects of their behavior in natural environments, including acoustic communication. In its vocal repertoire, the wolf presents a longdistance call named “roar-bark” which, according to literature, functions for spacing maintenance between individuals and/or communication between members of the reproductive pair inside the territory. In this context, this study aimed: 1) to compare four methods for detecting maned wolf’s roar-barks in recordings made in a natural environment, in order to elect the most efficient one for our project; 2) to understand the night emission pattern of these vocalizations, verifying possible weather and moon phases influences in roarbark’s emission rates; and 3) to test Passive Acoustic Monitoring as a tool to identify the presence of maned wolves in a natural environment. The study area was the Serra da Canastra National Park (Minas Gerais, Brazil), where autonomous recorders were used for sound acquisition, recording all night (from 06pm to 06am) during five days in December/2013 and every day from April to July/2014. Roar-barks’ detection methods were tested and compared regarding time needed to analyze files, number of false positives and number of correctly identified calls. The mixed method (XBAT + manual) was the most efficient one, finding 100% of vocalizations in almost half of the time the manual method did, being chosen for our data analysis. By studying roarbarks’ temporal variation we verified that the wolves vocalize more in the early hours of the evening, suggesting an important social function for those calls at the beginning of its period of most intense activity. Average wind speed negatively influenced vocalization rate, which may indicate lower sound reception of recorders or a change in behavioral patterns of wolves in high speed wind conditions. A better understanding of seasonal variation of maned wolves’ vocal activity is required, but our study already shows that it is possible to detect behavioral patterns of wild animals only by sound, validating PAM as a tool in this species’ conservation.

X-Secure: protecting users from big bad wolves

In 2014 over 70% of people in Great Britain accessed the Internet every day. This resource is an optimal vector for malicious attackers to penetrate home computers and as such compromised pages have been increasing in both number and complexity. This paper presents X-Secure, a novel browser plug-in designed to present and raise the awareness of inexperienced users by analysing web-pages before malicious scripts are executed by the host computer. X-Secure was able to detect over 90% of the tested attacks and provides a danger level based on cumulative analysis of the source code, the URL, and the remote server, by using a set of heuristics, hence increasing the situational awareness of users browsing the internet.

Meninos e lobos: trajetórias de saída do tráfico na cidade do Rio de Janeiro

O tema desta tese é compreender trajetórias de indivíduos que atuaram no tráfico de drogas e de armas na região metropolitana do Rio de Janeiro. Discuto as motivações que ensejaram a entrada destes indivíduos na atividade criminosa e os efeitos que a passagem pelo sistema prisional causou na constituição de suas identidades pessoais. O objetivo principal é examinar as condições que propiciaram o abandono do tráfico e detectar as mediações que serviram de suporte na tentativa de reinserção no mundo formal e lega. Procurei analisar as atividades do tráfico de drogas a partir das diversas interações entre seus participantes, reconstituídas por entrevistas com indivíduos que exerceram tal atividade. As formas sociais de conexão entre o lícito e o ilícito é examinada neste trabalho a partir das motivações individuais face à forças estruturais que induzem a produção de um jogo de identidades que não toma o indivíduo como um "locus " empírico dotado de encerramento da análise sociológica.