Comparing Lung Cancer Risks in Sweden, USA, and Japan

Objective. To develop a conceptual model for lung cancer rates to describe and quantify observed differences between Sweden and USA contra Japan. Method. A two-parameter lognormal distribution was used to describe the lung cancer rates over time after a 1-year period of smoking. Based on that risk function in combination with smoking prevalence, the calculated age-standardized rates were adjusted to fit reported data from Japan, Sweden, and the USA by parameter variation. Results. The risk of lung cancer is less in Japan than in Sweden and in the USA at the same smoking prevalence and intensity. Calculated age-specific rates did also fit well to reported rates without further parameter adjustments. Conclusions. This new type of cancer model appears to have high degree of predictive value. It is recommended that data from more countries are studied to identify important life-style factors related to lung cancer

Unveiling the ghost of the mountains

The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) has remained an enigma – one of the most recognised yet least understood of the large carnivores. The lack of knowledge about the species’ basic ecology causes conservation and management plans to be largely built on conjecture. The main aim of this thesis is to provide solid information on some of the key aspects of snow leopard ecology. The studies are primarily based on individual GPS-location data from collared snow leopards in the Tost Mountains of southern Mongolia. To increase our understanding of how large solitary carnivores adjust their home range utilisation to seasonal changes in key resources, data from GPS-collared pumas (Puma concolor) in the Cascade Mountains, USA were included in one chapter. In the last chapter photographic data from zoos across Europe were used to evaluate a critical assumption of one the most commonly employed survey methods for snow leopards. In this study, snow leopards were found to have killed more wild prey than livestock, despite livestock number being at least an order of magnitude higher. Choice of wild prey followed the spatial and seasonal distribution of the prey. Male snow leopards had larger home ranges than females. Both males and females displayed intrasexual territoriality. Only between three and 22% of the protected areas in the snow leopard distribution range were large enough to have a 90% probability of harbouring 15 adult females. Puma and snow leopard males did not monopolise females by encompassing their home ranges. Contrarily, males of both species decreased monthly home range size in the mating season or peak mating time period, showing that they employed a mate guarding strategy. Snow leopards were crepuscular and facultative nocturnal, their activity peaks changed seasonally, occurring during dusk in the cold season and dawn during the warm season. Activity patterns of snow leopards appear to be driven by a combination of needs facilitating hunting (cover and visibility) and thermoregulation whereas no support was found for the common explanation that large carnivores mirror the activity of their prey. The critical assumption in abundance estimates based on capture – recapture calculations, that individuals are correctly identified, was severely violated in a test using known individuals. In our test the classifiers overestimated the number of individuals in the sample, which could have serious consequences for a threatened species

Guidelines for Telemetry Studies on Snow Leopards

Simple Summary Satellite collars and other tracking (telemetry) devices fitted on wild animals can provide insights into species' habitat requirements, movements, space and resource use, thermoregulation, life history, and demographics. Such information is particularly important for the conservation and management of elusive and threatened species like the snow leopard (Panthera uncia). Deploying tracking devices, however, exposes targeted and non-targeted animals to non-trivial risks-for example, trapping-induced injuries or death, adverse reactions to immobilizing drugs, and physiological and behavioral impacts from inappropriately-sized collars. The implicit ethical considerations and tradeoffs are not always obvious, and are often underappreciated by researchers and managers responsible for conducting or approving proposed telemetry projects. Here, we aim to (1) help researchers, managers, and permitting agencies better understand if and when the risks inherent in telemetry studies are ethically justifiable; and (2) help researchers develop efficient and ethical procedures for planning telemetry studies and associated capturing and handling protocols for snow leopards. Telemetry studies that are undertaken with clearly-articulated purpose, well-vetted and comprehensive protocols, and a sustained commitment of resources can play a vital role in conservation. Animal-borne tracking devices have generated a wealth of new knowledge, allowing us to better understand, manage and conserve species. Fitting such tracking devices requires that animals are captured and often chemically immobilized. Such procedures cause stress and involve the risk of injuries and loss of life even in healthy individuals. For telemetry studies to be justifiable, it is vital that capture operations are planned and executed in an efficient and ethical way. Project objectives must be clearly articulated to address well-defined knowledge gaps, and studies designed to maximize the probability of achieving those goals. We provide guidelines for how to plan, design, and implement telemetry studies with a special emphasis on snow leopards that are typically captured using foot snares. We also describe the necessary steps to ensure that captures are conducted safely, and with minimal stress to animals

Apparent decreases in Swedish public health indicators after 1997-Are they due to improved diagnostics or to environmental factors?

Abstract The object of this work was to review recent trends in public health in Sweden. Data on different adverse health indicators were collected from official Swedish registries. We found that population health generally improved during the early 1990s but suddenly started to deteriorate from 1997 onwards. This quite dramatic change is not likely to be explained only by improved diagnostics but physical causes need immediately to be searched for. A connection with the increasing exposure of the population to GHz radiation from mobile phones, base stations and other communication technologies cannot be ruled out

Risky business: red foxes killed when scavenging from snow leopard kills

Scavenging of foods is a common but potentially dangerous behavior that exposes animals to risk of injury and even death from other animals. Here we report on two observations of red foxes that were killed when scavenging from snow leopard kills that illustrates the risks associated with scavenging for red foxes and other small and medium-sized predators

Detection and Genetic Characterization of Viruses Present in Free-Ranging Snow Leopards Using Next-Generation Sequencing

Snow leopards inhabit the cold, arid environments of the high mountains of South and Central Asia. These living conditions likely affect the abundance and composition of microbes with the capacity to infect these animals. It is important to investigate the microbes that snow leopards are exposed to detect infectious disease threats and define a baseline for future changes that may impact the health of this endangered felid. In this work, next-generation sequencing is used to investigate the fecal (and in a few cases serum) virome of seven snow leopards from the Tost Mountains of Mongolia. The viral species to which the greatest number of sequences reads showed high similarity was rotavirus. Excluding one animal with overall very few sequence reads, four of six animals (67%) displayed evidence of rotavirus infection. A serum sample of a male and a rectal swab of a female snow leopard produced sequence reads identical or closely similar to felid herpesvirus 1, providing the first evidence that this virus infects snow leopards. In addition, the rectal swab from the same female also displayed sequence reads most similar to feline papillomavirus 2, which is the first evidence for this virus infecting snow leopards. The rectal swabs from all animals also showed evidence for the presence of small circular DNA viruses, predominantly Circular Rep-Encoding Single-Stranded (CRESS) DNA viruses and in one case feline anellovirus. Several of the viruses implicated in the present study could affect the health of snow leopards. In animals which are under environmental stress, for example, young dispersing individuals and lactating females, health issues may be exacerbated by latent virus infections

The timing of breeding and independence for snow leopard females and their cubs

Significant knowledge gaps persist on snow leopard demography and reproductive behavior. From a GPS-collared population in Mongolia, we estimated the timing of mating, parturition and independence. Based on three mother-cub pairs, we describe the separation phase of the cub from its mother as it gains independence. Snow leopards mated from January-March and gave birth from April-June. Cubs remained with their mother until their second winter (20-22 months of age) when cubs started showing movements away from their mother for days at a time. This initiation of independence appeared to coincide with their mother mating with the territorial male. Two female cubs remained in their mothers' territory for several months after initial separation, whereas the male cub quickly dispersed. By comparing the relationship between body size and age of independence across 11 solitary, medium-to-large felid species, it was clear that snow leopards have a delayed timing of separation compared to other species. We suggest this may be related to their mating behavior and the difficulty of the habitat and prey capture for juvenile snow leopards. Our results, while limited, provide empirical estimates for understanding snow leopard ecology and for parameterizing population models

Seasonal variation in daily activity patterns of snow leopards and their prey

The daily and seasonal activity patterns of snow leopards (Panthera uncia) are poorly understood, limiting our ecological understanding and hampering our ability to mitigate threats such as climate change and retaliatory killing in response to livestock predation. We fitted GPS-collars with activity loggers to snow leopards, Siberian ibex (Capra sibirica: their main prey), and domestic goats (Capra hircus: common livestock prey) in Mongolia between 2009 and 2020. Snow leopards were facultatively nocturnal with season-specific crepuscular activity peaks: seasonal activity shifted towards night-sunrise during summer, and day-sunset in winter. Snow leopard activity was in contrast to their prey, which were consistently diurnal. We interpret these results in relation to: (1) darkness as concealment for snow leopards when stalking in an open landscape (nocturnal activity), (2) low-intermediate light preferred for predatory ambush in steep rocky terrain (dawn and dusk activity), and (3) seasonal activity adjustments to facilitate thermoregulation in an extreme environment. These patterns suggest that to minimise human-wildlife conflict, livestock should be corralled at night and dawn in summer, and dusk in winter. It is likely that climate change will intensify seasonal effects on the snow leopard's daily temporal niche for thermoregulation in the future

Increasing risks for emerging infectious diseases within a rapidly changing High Asia

The cold and arid mountains and plateaus of High Asia, inhabited by a relatively sparse human population, a high density of livestock, and wildlife such as the iconic snow leopard Panthera uncia, are usually considered low risk for disease outbreaks. However, based on current knowledge about drivers of disease emergence, we show that High Asia is rapidly developing conditions that favor increased emergence of infectious diseases and zoonoses. This is because of the existing prevalence of potentially serious pathogens in the system; intensifying environmental degradation; rapid changes in local ecological, socio-ecological, and socio-economic factors; and global risk intensifiers such as climate change and globalization. To better understand and manage the risks posed by diseases to humans, livestock, and wildlife, there is an urgent need for establishing a disease surveillance system and improving human and animal health care. Public health must be integrated with conservation programs, more ecologically sustainable development efforts and long-term disease surveillance