Wildlife forensic DNA and lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris) poaching

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Human Accessibility Modelling Applied to Protected Areas Management

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Modelling post-release survival of reintroduced Red-billed Curassows Crax blumenbachii

Modelling post-release survival probabilities of reintroduced birds can help inform 'soft-release' strategies for avian reintroductions that use captive-bred individuals. We used post-release radiotelemetry data to estimate the survival probabilities of reintroduced captive-bred Red-billed Curassow Crax blumenbachii, a globally threatened Cracid endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest. Between August 2006 and December 2008, 46 radiotagged Curassows from the Crax Brazil breeding centre were reintroduced to the Guapiacu Ecological Reserve (REGUA), Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, in seven different cohorts. Reintroduced birds were most vulnerable during the first 12 months post-release from natural predation, domestic dogs and hunting. Annual post-release survival probability was high (75%) compared with published estimates for other Galliform species. However, when considering survival in all birds transported to REGUA (some birds died before release or were retained in captivity) and not only post-release survival, phi in this study was closer to estimates for other species (60%). The duration of the pre-release acclimatization period within the soft-release enclosure and the size of the released cohorts both positively influenced post-release survival of reintroduced Curassows. Our results are relevant to future Cracid reintroductions and highlight the importance of utilizing post-release monitoring data for evidence-based improvements to soft-release strategies that can significantly enhance the post-release survival of captive-bred birds.

Foraging by Polybia (Trichothorax) ignobilis (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) on flies at animal carcasses

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Circadian pattern of Bothrops moojeni in captivity (Serpentes: Viperidae)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Richards growth model and viability indicators for populations subject to interventions

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Food partitioning between breeding White-tailed Kites (Elanus leucurus; Aves; Accipitridae) and Barn Owls (Tyto alba; Aves; Tytonidae) in southern Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Mamíferos do município de Fênix, Paraná, Brasil: etnozoologia e conservação

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Síndrome da cauda flácida em cão da raça labrador retriever: primeiro relato no Brasil

A síndrome da cauda flácida é uma enfermidade que acomete cães de caça, principalmente Labradores Retriever e do grupo Pointer. Embora sua etiologia não esteja totalmente definida, sabe-se que sua ocorrência é precedida de esforço físico extenuante, exposição ao frio ou água fria e confinamento em caixas de transporte. O presente trabalho descreve o caso de um cão da raça Labrador Retriever, macho não castrado, de quatro anos de idade que apresentou súbita dor e flacidez da cauda após banho frio. Fratura vertebral, síndrome da cauda eqüina, outras enfermidades da medula espinhal ou de glândulas adanais e afecções prostáticas foram descartadas após exames auxiliares. A divulgação deste relato é relevante uma vez que esta síndrome ainda não foi descrita no Brasil.

Aspectos morfológicos do fígado do cervo-do-pantanal (Blastocerus dichotomus)

A descrição macroscópica do fígado do Cervo do Pantanal foi realizada com ênfase à forma, localização, meios de fixação, disposição e lobação. Foram utilizados os órgãos de animais provenientes do Projeto Cervo do Pantanal de Porto Primavera, que morreram no período de quarentena, mediante inspeção visual e posterior dissecação. Foi constatado que o fígado do Cervo do Pantanal localiza-se na porção cranial da cavidade abdominal, à direita do plano mediano, possui coloração castanho-avermelhado e apresenta duas faces, quatro bordas, quatro lobos e cinco ligamentos. A principal característica que o difere dos fígados dos outros ruminantes é a ausência de vesícula biliar.

Retroflexão de bexiga: relato de caso em Blastocerus dichotomus (Cervo-do-Pantanal)

A retroflexão de bexiga foi objeto de estudo em cervídeo atendido no Hospital Veterinário da FCAV-Unesp-Jaboticabal-SP. Uma fêmea gestante do criatório da Faculdade apresentou prolapso de bexiga e de reto. A cesariana foi efetuada, porém sem sucesso para ambos. Após esse procedimento, o animal foi sacrificado devido ao comprometimento total da bexiga.

Report on ticks collected in the Southeast and Mid-West regions of Brazil: analyzing the potential transmission of tick-borne pathogens to man

Foram coletados espécimes de carrapatos em 1993, 1996, 1997, e 1998, principalmente de animais selvagens e domésticos, nas Regiões Sudeste e Centro-oeste do Brasil. Nove espécies de Amblyommidae foram identificadas: Anocentor Nitens, Amblyomma cajennense, Amblyomma ovale, Amblyomma fulvum, Amblyomma striatum, Amblyomma rotundatum, Boophilus microplus, Boophilus annulatus e Rhipicephalus sanguineus. Analisou-se o potencial destas nove espécies de carrapatos como transmissores de patógenos para o homem. Um Flaviviridade Flavivirus foi isolado de espécimes de Amblyomma cajennense coletados de um capivara doente (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris). Amblyomma cajennense é o transmissor principal da Rickettsia rickettsii (=R. rickettsi), o agente causador da febre maculosa no Brasil. Os mamíferos selvagens, principalmente capivaras e veados infestados por carrapatos vivem em próximo contato com gado, cavalos e cachorros, com quem compartilham os mesmos carrapatos, oferecendo risco de transmissão destas zoonoses silvestres aos animais domésticos e ao homem.

Genetic structure of Blastocerus dichotomus populations in the Parana River basin (Brazil) based on protein variability

The population structure of 147 marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus) from three areas in the Parana River basin, Brazil, was studied by observing protein polymorphism at 17 loci. Six loci were polymorphic and 11 monomorphic. The proportion of polymorphic loci (P) was 35.29% and the average heterozygosity (H) was 6.31%. Wright's F-ST indicated that only 4.9% of the total variation in allelic frequencies was due to genetic differences between the three groups. The high value of F-IS (0.246) indicated inbreeding in the marsh deer. Genetic distance values (D = 0.014-0.051) showed little divergence between the three areas. We suggest that probable mechanisms accounting for the genetic structure are female phylopatry and polygyny and also that inbreeding has resulted from decreasing areas of wetland leading to isolation, overhunting, and diseases transmitted by cattle.

Ticks (Acari : Ixodidae) parasitizing humans in an Atlantic rainforest reserve of Southeastern Brazil with notes on host suitability

While conducting projects on ticks from deer and on tick ecology in animal trails in an Atlantic rainforest reserve in Southeastern Brazil, researchers of our group were bitten by ticks several times. Some of these episodes were recorded. Three species of adult ticks attached to humans: Amblyomma brasiliense Aragauo, Amblyomma incisum Neumann, and Amblyomma ovale Koch. Eight nymphal attachments with engorgement on humans were recorded. From these, six molted to adults of A. incisum, one to an adult of A. brasiliense, and one had an anomalous molting, therefore the adult tick could not be properly identified. Local reactions to tick attachment varied among individual hosts from almost imperceptible to intense. Especially itching, but hyperemia and swelling as well, were prominent features of the reaction. Overall it can be affirmed that human beings can be a physiologically suitable host species for ticks in the Atlantic rainforest and that itching was an important if not the major component of the resistance to tick bite.

Radiative properties of the skin and haircoat of cattle and other animals

Radiative properties (reflectance rho, transmittance tau, and absorptance alpha) were determined for wavelengths from 300 to 850 nm in the haircoat and the skin of water buffalo, deer (Pantanal deer, Blastocerus dichotomus), and cattle of the Holstein, Simmental, Canchim, Brangus, and Nelore breeds. The results showed that white hairs have higher rho (0.60 to 0.67) than the other coat colors, but the gray coats (mixed white and dark hair) of the Nelore cattle presented higher rho than that of the white coats of the European breeds at wavelengths lower than 600 nm. The light gray colored skin of the Canchim cattle had higher rho (0. 66) than the non-pigmented skin of Holstein (0.53). Red skins presented rho values higher than those of dark gray and black skins. Buffalo skin (dark gray) presented an average rho of 0.23+/-0.02 and alpha of 0.77+/-0.02. The red haircoat of the deer presented rho lower (0.37) than that of cattle of the same color (0.58). However, there was little difference between deer and cattle with respect to reflectance and absorptance of the skin. As for the spectral transmittance of the skin, it was very low and about the same for both species, until 600 nm. In the range 600 to 850 nm, the tau values for cattle rose to 0. 17, while those for deer increased only to 0.12.