Permanent stallion contact hastens onset of mares' cyclicity after winter anoestrus

The species Equus caballus is characterized as a seasonal polyoestrous herd mammal, providing continuous interactions between stallions and mares in feral herds throughout the year. Under domesticated conditions mares and stallions are stabled and kept separated mostly due to hygienic and safety concerns. Managing mares through the spring transitional phase until they show fertile cycles represents a high multifactorial challenge for horse breeders and veterinarians. The goal of this study was to examine the influence of a permanent stallion contact on the onset of cyclicity in anoestrous mares in the transition period.

Liderazgo y poder: una aproximación desde la ecología

El trabajo de grado se desarrollará a partir del análisis del liderazgo y el poder como característica de éste, desde una visión ecológica, lo cual constituye un aspecto de gran importancia en los estudios de administración. Primero, se abordará el significado de liderazgo y la importancia que este representa dentro de las organizaciones, a través de la generación de procesos que llevan a la organización a su evolución y desarrollo. Posteriormente se abordará el tema de poder en relación con la comprensión del efecto que este puede tener sobre las interacciones que se dan entre las personas de la organización. Finalmente, se estudiará también desde la ecología, como el poder ejercido por los líderes puede influir en la forma en que estos agentes, es decir personas, procesos e interacciones, interactúan para movilizar a la organización. De esta forma, se asume el poder como un aspecto importante dentro del estudio del liderazgo, en cuanto éste puede afectar la forma en que las personas son lideradas al interior de la organización.

Estimated Number of Birds Killed by House Cats (Felis catus) in Canada

Predation by house cats (Felis catus) is one of the largest human-related sources of mortality for wild birds in the United States and elsewhere, and has been implicated in extinctions and population declines of several species. However, relatively little is known about this topic in Canada. The objectives of this study were to provide plausible estimates for the number of birds killed by house cats in Canada, identify information that would help improve those estimates, and identify species potentially vulnerable to population impacts. In total, cats are estimated to kill between 100 and 350 million birds per year in Canada (> 95% of estimates were in this range), with the majority likely to be killed by feral cats. This range of estimates is based on surveys indicating that Canadians own about 8.5 million pet cats, a rough approximation of 1.4 to 4.2 million feral cats, and literature values of predation rates from studies conducted elsewhere. Reliability of the total kill estimate would be improved most by better knowledge of feral cat numbers and diet in Canada, though any data on birds killed by cats in Canada would be helpful. These estimates suggest that 2-7% of birds in southern Canada are killed by cats per year. Even at the low end, predation by house cats is probably the largest human-related source of bird mortality in Canada. Many species of birds are potentially vulnerable to at least local population impacts in southern Canada, by virtue of nesting or feeding on or near ground level, and habitat choices that bring them into contact with human-dominated landscapes where cats are abundant. Because cat predation is likely to remain a primary source of bird mortality in Canada for some time, this issue needs more scientific attention in Canada.

Technologies for biological containment of GM and Non-GM crops

International Perspective The development of GM technology continues to expand into increasing numbers of crops and conferred traits. Inevitably, the focus remains on the major field crops of soybean, maize, cotton, oilseed rape and potato with introduced genes conferring herbicide tolerance and/or pest resistance. Although there are comparatively few GM crops that have been commercialised to date, GM versions of 172 plant species have been grown in field trials in 31 countries. European Crops with Containment Issues Of the 20 main crops in the EU there are four for which GM varieties are commercially available (cotton, maize for animal feed and forage, and oilseed rape). Fourteen have GM varieties in field trials (bread wheat, barley, durum wheat, sunflower, oats, potatoes, sugar beet, grapes, alfalfa, olives, field peas, clover, apples, rice) and two have GM varieties still in development (rye, triticale). Many of these crops have hybridisation potential with wild and weedy relatives in the European flora (bread wheat, barley, oilseed rape, durum wheat, oats, sugar beet and grapes), with escapes (sunflower); and all have potential to cross-pollinate fields non-GM crops. Several fodder crops, forestry trees, grasses and ornamentals have varieties in field trials and these too may hybridise with wild relatives in the European flora (alfalfa, clover, lupin, silver birch, sweet chestnut, Norway spruce, Scots pine, poplar, elm, Agrostis canina, A. stolonifera, Festuca arundinacea, Lolium perenne, L. multiflorum, statice and rose). All these crops will require containment strategies to be in place if it is deemed necessary to prevent transgene movement to wild relatives and non-GM crops. Current Containment Strategies A wide variety of GM containment strategies are currently under development, with a particular focus on crops expressing pharmaceutical products. Physical containment in greenhouses and growth rooms is suitable for some crops (tomatoes, lettuce) and for research purposes. Aquatic bioreactors of some non-crop species (algae, moss, and duckweed) expressing pharmaceutical products have been adopted by some biotechnology companies. There are obvious limitations of the scale of physical containment strategies, addressed in part by the development of large underground facilities in the US and Canada. The additional resources required to grow plants underground incurs high costs that in the long term may negate any advantage of GM for commercial productioNatural genetic containment has been adopted by some companies through the selection of either non-food/feed crops (algae, moss, duckweed) as bio-pharming platforms or organisms with no wild relatives present in the local flora (safflower in the Americas). The expression of pharmaceutical products in leafy crops (tobacco, alfalfa, lettuce, spinach) enables growth and harvesting prior to and in the absence of flowering. Transgenically controlled containment strategies range in their approach and degree of development. Plastid transformation is relatively well developed but is not suited to all traits or crops and does not offer complete containment. Male sterility is well developed across a range of plants but has limitations in its application for fruit/seed bearing crops. It has been adopted in some commercial lines of oilseed rape despite not preventing escape via seed. Conditional lethality can be used to prevent flowering or seed development following the application of a chemical inducer, but requires 100% induction of the trait and sufficient application of the inducer to all plants. Equally, inducible expression of the GM trait requires equally stringent application conditions. Such a method will contain the trait but will allow the escape of a non-functioning transgene. Seed lethality (‘terminator’ technology) is the only strategy at present that prevents transgene movement via seed, but due to public opinion against the concept it has never been trialled in the field and is no longer under commercial development. Methods to control flowering and fruit development such as apomixis and cleistogamy will prevent crop-to-wild and wild-to-crop pollination, but in nature both of these strategies are complex and leaky. None of the genes controlling these traits have as yet been identified or characterised and therefore have not been transgenically introduced into crop species. Neither of these strategies will prevent transgene escape via seed and any feral apomicts that form are arguably more likely to become invasives. Transgene mitigation reduces the fitness of initial hybrids and so prevents stable introgression of transgenes into wild populations. However, it does not prevent initial formation of hybrids or spread to non-GM crops. Such strategies could be detrimental to wild populations and have not yet been demonstrated in the field. Similarly, auxotrophy prevents persistence of escapes and hybrids containing the transgene in an uncontrolled environment, but does not prevent transgene movement from the crop. Recoverable block of function, intein trans-splicing and transgene excision all use recombinases to modify the transgene in planta either to induce expression or to prevent it. All require optimal conditions and 100% accuracy to function and none have been tested under field conditions as yet. All will contain the GM trait but all will allow some non-native DNA to escape to wild populations or to non-GM crops. There are particular issues with GM trees and grasses as both are largely undomesticated, wind pollinated and perennial, thus providing many opportunities for hybridisation. Some species of both trees and grass are also capable of vegetative propagation without sexual reproduction. There are additional concerns regarding the weedy nature of many grass species and the long-term stability of GM traits across the life span of trees. Transgene stability and conferred sterility are difficult to trial in trees as most field trials are only conducted during the juvenile phase of tree growth. Bio-pharming of pharmaceutical and industrial compounds in plants Bio-pharming of pharmaceutical and industrial compounds in plants offers an attractive alternative to mammalian-based pharmaceutical and vaccine production. Several plantbased products are already on the market (Prodigene’s avidin, β-glucuronidase, trypsin generated in GM maize; Ventria’s lactoferrin generated in GM rice). Numerous products are in clinical trials (collagen, antibodies against tooth decay and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma from tobacco; human gastric lipase, therapeutic enzymes, dietary supplements from maize; Hepatitis B and Norwalk virus vaccines from potato; rabies vaccines from spinach; dietary supplements from Arabidopsis). The initial production platforms for plant-based pharmaceuticals were selected from conventional crops, largely because an established knowledge base already existed. Tobacco and other leafy crops such as alfalfa, lettuce and spinach are widely used as leaves can be harvested and no flowering is required. Many of these crops can be grown in contained greenhouses. Potato is also widely used and can also be grown in contained conditions. The introduction of morphological markers may aid in the recognition and traceability of crops expressing pharmaceutical products. Plant cells or plant parts may be transformed and maintained in culture to produce recombinant products in a contained environment. Plant cells in suspension or in vitro, roots, root cells and guttation fluid from leaves may be engineered to secrete proteins that may be harvested in a continuous, non-destructive manner. Most strategies in this category remain developmental and have not been commercially adopted at present. Transient expression produces GM compounds from non-GM plants via the utilisation of bacterial or viral vectors. These vectors introduce the trait into specific tissues of whole plants or plant parts, but do not insert them into the heritable genome. There are some limitations of scale and the field release of such crops will require the regulation of the vector. However, several companies have several transiently expressed products in clinical and pre-clinical trials from crops raised in physical containment.

Using ecological niche modelling to infer past, present and future environmental suitability for Leiopelma hochstetteri, an endangered New Zealand native frog

Leiopelma hochstetteri is an endangered New Zealand frog now confined to isolated populations scattered across the North Island. A better understanding of its past, current and predicted future environmental suitability will contribute to its conservation which is in jeopardy due to human activities, feral predators, disease and climate change. Here we use ecological niche modelling with all known occurrence data (N = 1708) and six determinant environmental variables to elucidate current, pre-human and future environmental suitability of this species. Comparison among independent runs, subfossil records and a clamping method allow validation of models. Many areas identified as currently suitable do not host any known populations. This apparent discrepancy could be explained by several non exclusive hypotheses: the areas have not been adequately surveyed and undiscovered populations still remain, the model is over simplistic; the species` sensitivity to fragmentation and small population size; biotic interactions; historical events. An additional outcome is that apparently suitable, but frog-less areas could be targeted for future translocations. Surprisingly, pre-human conditions do not differ markedly highlighting the possibility that the range of the species was broadly fragmented before human arrival. Nevertheless, some populations, particularly on the west of the North Island may have disappeared as a result of human mediated habitat modification. Future conditions are marked with higher temperatures, which are predicted to be favourable to the species. However, such virtual gain in suitable range will probably not benefit the species given the highly fragmented nature of existing habitat and the low dispersal ability of this species. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Caracterização in situ e diversidade genética de algodoeiros mocós (Gossypium hissutum raça marie galante) da Região Nordeste do Brasil

Brazil is one of the major centers of diversity for polyploid cotton plants; these plants belong to the genus Gossypium, which has three known species: G. hirsutum, G. barbadense and G. mustelinum. The Northeast is the only region where the three species occur, the last group being endemic. Northeast s cotton plants can be important sources of variability for genetic breeding. It is believed that great part of local diversity is being lost, due to economic, political, cultural and agricultural problems. In an attempt to mitigate this loss and delineate conservation strategies it is necessary to know how the species are found where they occur. The objective was to characterize and determine how plants are maintained in situ in the states of Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte and Paraíba at the beginning of the XXI century. The in situ characterization of G. hirsutum and G. barbadense was conducted through structured interviews with the cotton plants owners and through the analysis of the environment. The data were collected during expeditions undertaken between the years 2004 to 2005. Twenty-two plants were collected in the state of Paraíba, forty-four in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, one hundred and forty-six in the state of Ceará, forty in the state of Maranhão and ninety-one plants in the state of Piauí. All plants collected in the states of Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte belonged to moco type. Moco cotton plants also predominated in the other states, representing 92%, 62% and 78% of plants collected in Ceará, Piauí and Maranhão, respectively. The other cotton plants collected belong to the species G. barbadense. The cotton plants were found in situ as dooryard plants, roads side, feral populations, cultivation or local varieties. Great part were dooryard plants (45.2%), being major in Piauí and Maranhão. Cultivation predominated in Ceará; in Rio Grande do Norte feral populations were the most frequent and, in Paraíba, local varieties. The maintenance of moco plants is related, mainly, to the phytotherapic domestic use (20.9%) and to confection of lamp wicks (29.7%). Few inhabitants in Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte, Piauí and none in Maranhão used harvest the plants, storage the seeds or gin; however, in Ceará, 40.5% of owners affirmed that they harvested and commercialized the fiber. It was found that the maintenance of species is dependent of the fragile cultural habits of local inhabitants, therefore the maintenance in situ is not a suitable way to conservation of genetic resources. The efforts must be directed to the continuity of collections, maintenance and characterization ex situ

O Agon na poética aristofânica: diversidade da forma e do conteúdo

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Parâmetros oftálmicos em espécimes de Cuniculus paca criadas em cativeiro

Pós-graduação em Cirurgia Veterinária - FCAV

Detecção de anticorpos contra Leptospira spp. em animais de vida livre do Pantanal do Mato Grosso do Sul

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Wildlife-Cattle Interactions in Northern Michigan: Implications for the Transmission of Bovine Tuberculosis

Bovine tuberculosis (Mycobacterium bovis) was discovered in northern Michigan white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in 1994, and has been known to exist in Michigan cattle herds since 1998. Despite efforts to eradicate the disease in cattle, infection and re-infection of farms continues to occur, suggesting transmission among cattle, deer, or other wildlife reservoirs. The goals of this study were to document wildlife activity on farms and evaluate the possible role wildlife play in the ecology of bovine tuberculosis (TB) in Michigan. Visual observations were conducted on farms in a 5-county area of northern Michigan to document direct wildlife-cattle interactions (i.e., <5 m between individuals) and indirect interactions (e.g., wildlife visitations to food stores and areas accessible to cattle). Observations were conducted primarily during evening and early morning hours between January and August, 2002, and on a 24-hour schedule between January and August, 2003. Total observation time accumulated through the duration of the study was 1,780 hours. Results indicated that direct interaction between deer and cattle was a rare event; no direct interactions were observed during the first year, and only one direct interaction was observed during the second year. However, through the duration of the study 21 direct interactions were documented between cattle and turkey, and 11 direct interactions were documented between cattle and mammals other than deer. In total, 273 indirect interactions by deer, 112 indirect interactions by turkeys, and 248 indirect interactions by mammals other than deer were observed during the 2 field seasons combined. These data supported the hypothesis that indirect interactions among wildlife and cattle are a potential mechanism for the transmission of TB in Michigan. If direct interactions were important mechanisms of TB transmission to cattle in northern Michigan, my data suggested that feral cats were the species of most concern, even though there were more observations between turkey and cattle. Unlike cats, which can become infected with and transmit TB, there is no evidence for such pathogenesis in turkey.

SCWDS Briefs: Volume 25, Number 4 (January 2010)

Table of Contents: White Nose Syndrome News CWD Found in Virginia Serosurveys of Feral Swine AI Serology in Wild Birds Chagas Disease Studies SCWDS Bont Tick Surveillance Brain Tumor in Deer Exotic Animal Imports and Public Health Loss of Two SCWDS Friends

Health Assessment of Weddell Seals, Leptonychotes weddellii, in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica

The demography of Weddell seals in eastern McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, has been well studied during the past three decades (e.g. Stirling 1971; Siniff et al. 1977; Testa and Siniff 1987; Hastings and Testa 1998; Gelatt et al. 2001). Detailed life-history data are available on thousands of seals tagged as pups in McMurdo Sound, making this population a rich resource for wildlife health studies because health parameters can be evaluated in the light of reproductive histories and genetic relationships of several generations of tagged seals. Recently, evidence of exposure to diseases generally associated with domestic animals and feral wildlife has been detected in Antarctic wildlife (Austin and Webster 1993; Olsen et al. 1996; Gardner et al. 1997; Retamal et al. 2000; Foster et al. 2002) and this has generated concern and debate regarding the risks of disease introduction to Antarctic wildlife. Antibodies to viruses that have caused large die-offs in phocids in other areas of the world have been detected in Weddell seals (Bengtson et al. 1991), and there is a historical report of a mass die-off of crabeater seals that may have had a viral etiology (Laws and Taylor 1957).

Taking an Endemically Infected Bovine Tb Area Through to Livestock Clearance. A Case Study of West Taupo, New Zealand

The Pest Management Strategy for Bovine Tuberculosis (Tb) in New Zealand aims to achieve efficient freedom from Tb by 2013 and to eradicate the disease from livestock and wildlife. The West Taupo area, in the central North Island of New Zealand, was chronically infected with Tb in both domestic livestock herds (cattle and deer) and within wildlife populations (brushtail possum, ferret, feral deer and pigs). Through the development and implementation of a technically innovative management plan, this area is now approaching Tb free status. The case study / management plan reported here discusses the operational techniques and strategies that were implemented to achieve Tb clearance in the livestock herds and the possibilities of eradication from wildlife species. It particularly identifies the variations in control strategies that are required as population densities reduce and the challenges of maintaining strong effective control at low densities of some wildlife species, whilst not needing to control other species that were initially clinically diagnosed with Tb control. Use of diagnostic tools and education as an area moves through the cycle towards Tb freedom are as essential as the physical control activities. The use of intensive monitoring of both livestock and wildlife species as trend and performance indicators and the need to educate farmers, hunters and other land use groups become increasingly important.

The Probe, Issue 171 – November 1996

Park Service Thwarts Cat Allies, by Marilyn Davis, Native Species Network, Bodega Bay, California Jim Miller Elected VP of Wildlife Society ADC Aerial Hunting Accident Kills 2 Obituary: Carl R. Gustavson HSUS Former Employee File Lawsuits Rats Shut Down Internet at Stanford Call for Papers: A Symposium on Mammal Trapping August 1997 in Edmonton, Alberta Fur in Cyberspace: The Fur Institute of Canada announces it has established a site on the World Wide Web, at the following address: http://www.fur.ca. Book Review: Beaver and Otter: Open Water Techniques, by Charles Dobbins 1992. Beaver Pond Publishing and Printing, P.O. Box 224, Greenville, Pennsyulvania, 16125. 114 pages. American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians: Resolution on Management of Feral Cats Use of Zinc Phosphide for Marmot Control, by Mark Collinge, NADCA Northern Rockies Region Director, USDA-APHIS-ADC Cat Colony Ordinance Adopted by Santa Clara County, California

OPENING REMARKS - THIRD VERTEBRATE PEST CONFERENCE

To open this Third Vertebrate Pest Conference is a real privilege. It is a pleasure to welcome all of you in attendance, and I know there are others who would like to be meeting with us, but, for one reason or another cannot be. However, we can serve them by taking back the results of discussion and by making available the printed transactions of what is said here. It has been the interest and demand for the proceedings of the two previous conferen- ces which, along with personal contacts many of you have with the sponsoring committee, have gauged the need for continuing these meetings. The National Pest Control Association officers who printed the 1962 proceedings still are supplying copies of that conference. Two reprintings of the 1964 conference have been necessary and repeat orders from several universities indicate that those proceedings have become textbooks for special classes. When Dr. Howard mentioned in opening the first Conference in 1962 that publication of those papers would make a valuable handbook of animal control, he was prophetic, indeed. We are pleased that this has happened, but not surprised, since to many of us in this specialized field, the conferences have provided a unique opportunity to meet colleagues with similar interests, to exchange information on control techniques and to be informed by research workers of problem solving investigations as well as to hear of promising basic research. The development of research is a two-way street and we think these conferences also identify areas of inadequate knowledge, thereby stimulating needed research. We have represented here a number of types of specialists—animal ecologists, public health and transmissible disease experts, control methods specialists, public agency administration and enforcement staffs, agricultural extension people, manufacturing and sale industry representatives, commercial pest control operators, and others—and in addition to improving communications among these professional groups an equally important purpose of these conferences is to improve understanding between them and the general public. Within the term general public are many individuals and also organizations dedicated to appreciation and protection of certain animal forms or animal life in general. Proper concepts of vertebrate pest control do not conflict with such views. It is worth repeating for the record the definition of "vertebrate pest" which has been stated at our previous conferences. "A vertebrate pest is any native or introduced, wild or feral, non-human spe- cies of vertebrate animal that is currently troublesome locally or over a wide area to one or more persons either by being a general nuisance, a health hazard or by destroying food or natural resources. In other words, vertebrate pest status is not an inherent quality or fixed classification but is a circumstantial relationship to man's interests." I believe progress has been made in reducing the misunderstanding and emotion with which vertebrate pest control was formerly treated whenever a necessity for control was stated. If this is true, I likewise believe it is deserved, because control methods and programs have progressed. Control no longer refers only to population reductions by lethal means. We have learned something of alternate control approaches and the necessity for studying the total environment; where reduction of pest animal numbers is the required solution to a problem situation we have a wider choice of more selective, safe and efficient materials. Although increased attention has been given to control methods, research when we take a close look at the severity of animal damage to so many facets of our economy, particularly to agricultural production and public health, we realize it still is pitifully small and slow. The tremendous acceleration of the world's food and health requirements seems to demand expediting vertebrate pest control to effectively neutralize the enormous impact of animal damage to vital resources. The efforts we are making here at problem delineation, idea communication and exchange of methodology could well serve as both nucleus and rough model for a broader application elsewhere. I know we all hope this Third Conference will advance these general objectives, and I think there is no doubt of its value in increasing our own scope of information.