Molecular identification versus local people’s information for accurate estimates of bushmeat utilization from the Serengeti ecosystem, Tanzania

Sustainable wildlife management assumes thorough knowledge of the factors of importance for species population dynamics. In this study, we examined the diversity of wildlife species that are illegally harvested in the Serengeti ecosystem, Tanzania. A total of 124 bushmeat samples were obtained from hunters, middlemen and consumers in 79 sub-villages adjacent to the protected areas in western Serengeti. The species identity was verified in 118 bushmeat samples through molecular sequencing of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) and phylogenetic assignments to established reference sequences of the respective species. The species diversity among the bushmeat samples was high with 15 identified species altogether. Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) was clearly the most common species (n = 52), but also buffalo (Syncerus caffer, n = 15), eland (Tragelaphus oryx, n = 11), zebra (Equus burchelli, n = 10), topi (Damaliscus lunatus, n = 8) and impala (Aepyceros melampus, n = 7) were relatively frequently identified. The correctness of the species identification given by the bushmeat providers was relatively low (59%) with error rates higher in consumers than in hunters and middlemen. This high error rate suggests that care should be taken in relying on local peoples’ information for accurate estimates of biodiversity of bushmeat utilization.Key words: Bushmeat, illegal hunting, species identification, cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) sequencing, western Serengeti

Thermo stability study of Temevac® I-2 Newcastle vaccine

Newcastle is a highly contagious disease of domestic poultry and wild birds and is widely regarded as the most important avian disease. Effective Newcastle vaccines are crucial for control of the disease. The objective of this study was to establish the stability of TEMEVAC® (I-2) vaccine at three different temperatures for 204 days. The study was conducted at Tanzania Vaccine Institute laboratories for the period of April-December 2017. Two vaccine batches (Batch 0068 and 0069) were subjected at 37°C for 10 days, 22-25°C for 60 days and 2-8°C for 204 days. The vaccines were 10-fold serial diluted and then inoculated into 9-days old embryonated chicken eggs and incubated for 96 hours. A virus infectivity assay and Standard mathematical technique were applied to confirm the presence and measure the amount of live Newcastle virus in the suspension. The study revealed that TEMEVAC® can maintain potency up to more than10 days, 45 days and 197 days at 37°C, 22-45°C and 2-8°C, respectively. This study underscores the importance of using TEMEVAC® vaccine which can tolerate relatively wider range of temperatures for control of the disease in rural areas.Keywords: local chickens, Thermotolerant vaccine, Newcastle diseas

Species identification of Tanzanian antelopes using DNA barcoding

Molecular Ecology Resources 2011,VoL 11:442–449Efficient tools for consistent species identification are important in wildlife conservation as it can provide information on the levels of species exploitation and assist in solving forensic-related problems. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) barcode in species identification of Tanzanian antelope species. A 470 base-pair region of the COI gene was examined in 95 specimens representing 20 species of antelopes, buffalo and domestic Bovidae. All the Tanzanian species showed unique clades, and sequence divergence within species was <1%, whereas divergence between species ranged from 6.3% to 22%. Lowest interspecific divergence was noted within the Tragelaphus genus. Neighbour-joining phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that the examined COI region provided correct and highly supported species clustering using short fragments down to 100 base-pair lengths. This study demonstrates that even short COI fragments can efficiently identify antelope species, thus demonstrating its high potential for use in wildlife conservation activities