Techniques to assist conservation breeding of the babirusa (Babyrousa celebensis)

With the current rate of loss of biological diversity worldwide estimated at 100- 1000x the natural background rate, solutions are urgently needed to avoid a catastrophic and irreversible loss of species. Conservation breeding is a tool now widely used to assist in maintaining populations in a safe environment until such time as they can be released back into their natural habitat. The babirusa (Babyrousa celebensis) is a threatened species for which conservation breeding is an integral part of its conservation management. Native to a few Indonesian islands, the babirusa is under threat from habitat destruction and hunting and is estimated to have a wild population of only a few thousand. Conservation breeding was established in 1972 with the translocation of animals from Sulawesi to the Surabaya Zoo in Java, Indonesia. It is thought that 1.2 animals founded what is now a worldwide ex-situ population of around 200 individuals. With concerns mounting regarding likely levels of inbreeding and reduced reproductive success, particularly within the European population, this thesis aimed to utilise a number of techniques to assist the conservation breeding programme. Extensive studbook analysis was used to assess typical reproductive parameters for the babirusa in a captive setting; genetic analysis using microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA markers was used to clarify some aspects of the studbook and to estimate the level of variation within and between populations in different geographical areas; and faecal steroid analysis has been used to shed light on the physiological processes underpinning female reproduction. The combined output from these studies has added to our knowledge of this species and its performance in an ex-situ setting, and has now been used to inform future management of the conservation breeding programme

Investigating the origins of ivory recovered in the United Kingdom

Over recent years, mounting pressure has been placed on countries to assess their role in the ivory trade, with a view to tackling the rapidly declining numbers of elephants, due to poaching. The United Kingdom has been identified as a large re-exporter of ivory. Despite much of this trade being reported as legal or antique ivory, such provision of ivory to meet demand is known to fuel illegal markets and provide trade routes for modern ivory sales. Aside from ivory species and age, further analysis to evaluate geographic provenance, can inform where an elephant had lived, and so identify a source region or population where poaching occurred. The purpose of this study was to determine the age and species of ivory objects surrendered or seized in the UK and assess their likely geographic provenance through comparison of results from mitochondrial DNA and stable isotope analysis to publicly accessible georeferenced African elephant databases. The results demonstrated that the objects tested from an airport seizure were modern and matched existing haplotypes allowing for regional geographic inferences (supported by both techniques) to be obtained for most of these objects. In contrast, antique and modern ivory was detected amongst the amnesty objects, and several new mtDNA haplotypes were identified. Regional geographic inferences were achieved for some but not all of the objects tested. Our findings show this combination of methods provides a wealth of information which, could provide insight into targeted elephant populations and assist in disrupting international wildlife trade networks

Stakeholder mental model analysis supports focused conservation policy and actions for Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) reintroduction

Eurasian beaver, Castor fiber has been restored to England's natural fauna following a trial reintroduction located in the country's southwestern region. Beavers characteristically generate profound and frequently beneficial shifts to river dynamics, nutrient cycling, biodiversity, and human cultural experience, but can also be associated with unwanted human interactions, impacts and costs. Consequently, an important objective of the trial design was to ensure conservation leadership, monitoring and mitigation for problems such as burrowing, damming and flooding, and damage to valued trees. To understand how these developments are perceived and accepted, implicated key stakeholder mental models were elicited and explored, using fuzzy cognitive map techniques. Analysis showed broad alignment of ecological understanding between stakeholders. Social perspectives showed marked divergence, a focus of concern as social conflict can undermine otherwise ecologically viable conservation benefits. To investigate perceived effectiveness of trial conservation measures, stakeholder models with and without conservation actions were experimentally compared under dynamic analysis. Overall, the findings indicate that actions taken are sustaining beaver acceptance and limiting persecution. Of stakeholder groups examined, farming appeared most susceptible to model divergence, but also strongly protected by mitigation. This is important as reconciling mental model differences is considered a necessary element in building socio-ecological system resilience. These findings highlight mental model analysis as a valuable aid to assessment of social dimensions of conservation policies. Further, mental modelling could help to focus how farm payment reform in the U.K. and similar economies might be used to support leadership and mitigation designed to improve human-beaver ecosystem resilience

Emotionally augmented mental models, connectivity and beaver reintroduction in Southwest England

Understanding the psychology of human-wildlife interactions has grown beyond cognitive frameworks to include appreciation of roles played by emotion in human responses to wildlife. From its beginnings as an essentially cognitively framed proposition, mental modeling has been shown readily applicable to representing and interpreting stakeholder perspectives on combined social and natural systems, but lacks an integrated approach to emotion. This is an important knowledge gap. To commence an investigation into the relationship focused on the requirements of wildlife conservation, we carried out a case study of perspectives toward a free-living Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) reintroduction in Southwest England, ecologically significant as a generator of highvalue wetland habitat while interacting strongly with local human interests. Using fuzzy cognitive mapping techniques, we report predictive relationships between model measurements and subjective emotional valence elicited in relation to stakeholder conceptual content. Significant interactions were identified between three measures of concept connective influence within mental models and associated emotional valence intensity: single model concept connective salience, aggregated model concept connective salience, and aggregated model predictive inferences made by dynamic analysis. A possible explanation for these findings is outlined in which we propose that criteria-based evaluations suggested by appraisal theory of emotion are sensitive to the strength and distribution of connective influences within mental models. Apart from its theoretical significance, the evidence presented in this paper highlights the importance of attending to conservation stakeholder emotional experiences, and may assist in new approaches to mitigation where conservation objectives require human adjustment

Synchronous diversification of Sulawesis iconic artiodactyls driven by recent geological events.

The high degree of endemism on Sulawesi has previously been suggested to have vicariant origins, dating back to 40 Ma. Recent studies, however, suggest that much of Sulawesis fauna assembled over the last 15 Myr. Here, we test the hypothesis that more recent uplift of previously submerged portions of land on Sulawesi promoted diversification and that much of its faunal assemblage is much younger than the island itself. To do so, we combined palaeogeographical reconstructions with genetic and morphometric datasets derived from Sulawesis three largest mammals: the babirusa, anoa and Sulawesi warty pig. Our results indicate that although these species most likely colonized the area that is now Sulawesi at different times (14 Ma to 2-3 Ma), they experienced an almost synchronous expansion from the central part of the island. Geological reconstructions indicate that this area was above sea level for most of the last 4 Myr, unlike most parts of the island. We conclude that emergence of land on Sulawesi (approx. 1-2 Myr) may have allowed species to expand synchronously. Altogether, our results indicate that the establishment of the highly endemic faunal assemblage on Sulawesi was driven by geological events over the last few million years

Data from: Synchronous diversification of Sulawesi's iconic artiodactyls driven by recent geological events

The high degree of endemism on Sulawesi has previously been suggested to have vicariant origins, dating back 40 Myr ago. Recent studies, however, suggest that much of Sulawesi’s fauna assembled over the last 15 Myr. Here, we test the hypothesis that more recent uplift of previously submerged portions of land on Sulawesi promoted diversification, and that much of its faunal assemblage is much younger than the island itself. To do so, we combined palaeogeographical reconstructions with genetic and morphometric data sets derived from Sulawesi’s three largest mammals: the Babirusa, Anoa, and Sulawesi warty pig. Our results indicate that although these species most likely colonized the area that is now Sulawesi at different times (14 Myr ago to 2-3 Myr ago), they experienced an almost synchronous expansion from the central part of the island. Geological reconstructions indicate that this area was above sea level for most of the last 4 Myr, unlike most parts of the island. We conclude that emergence of land on Sulawesi (~1–2 Myr) may have allowed species to expand synchronously. Altogether, our results indicate that the establishment of the highly endemic faunal assemblage on Sulawesi was driven by geological events over the last few million years

Materials and Methods, Supplementary Tables and Supplementary Figures from Synchronous diversification of Sulawesi's iconic artiodactyls driven by recent geological events

The high degree of endemism on Sulawesi has previously been suggested to have vicariant origins, dating back 40 Ma. Recent studies, however, suggest that much of Sulawesi's fauna assembled over the last 15 Myr. Here, we test the hypothesis that more recent uplift of previously submerged portions of land on Sulawesi promoted diversification and that much of its faunal assemblage is much younger than the island itself. To do so, we combined palaeogeographical reconstructions with genetic and morphometric datasets derived from Sulawesi's three largest mammals: the Babirusa, Anoa and Sulawesi warty pig. Our results indicate that although these species most likely colonized the area that is now Sulawesi at different times (14 Ma to 2–3 Ma), they experienced an almost synchronous expansion from the central part of the island. Geological reconstructions indicate that this area was above sea level for most of the last 4 Myr, unlike most parts of the island. We conclude that emergence of land on Sulawesi (approx. 1–2 Myr) may have allowed species to expand synchronously. Altogether, our results indicate that the establishment of the highly endemic faunal assemblage on Sulawesi was driven by geological events over the last few million years