Hematology and serum biochemistry values of free-ranging Iberian wolves (Canis lupus) trapped by leg-hold snares

Hematology and serum biochemistry are important tools in assessing the health and physiological status of wildlife populations. Nevertheless, studies on free-ranging wolves (Canis lupus) are scarce, and no reference values are available neither for Iberian wolves nor for wolves captured with leghold snares. We report 37 hematology and serum biochemistry variables obtained from 26 free-ranging Iberian wolves captured with leg-hold snares between 2007 and 2014, including variables previously not reported in the literature. The values obtained are similar to the published reference intervals for Scandinavian wolves captured by darting from a helicopter, except for higher values for mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), red blood cell distribution width (RDW), leukocyte count, creatinine kinase (CK), ?-globulins, and total bilirubin (TBIL) and lower values for alkaline phosphatase (ALP). We propose that differences in leukocyte count, CK, and TBIL are related to the method of capture, while differences in RDW, MCHC, ALP, and ?-globulins could reflect physiological adaptations to environmental conditions, sampling, or pre-analytical artifacts. Lymphocyte count was lower and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio was significantly higher in older, reproductive females, while ALP and phosphorus were higher in juvenile wolves. For the first time, we describe hematology and serum biochemistry values of free-ranging Iberian wolves captured with leg-hold snares. The data reported here is the first published reference for wolves captured with similar methods and for monitoring Iberian wolves populations’ physiological and health status.We thank Nuria Fandos and Carla Ferreira, rangers from Xunta de Galicia and Parque Nacional de los Picos de Europa, and volunteers who helped during the trapping sessions. The wolves were captured under projects financed by Associacao de Conservacao do Habitat do Lobo Iberico (ACHLI) in Portugal and by Picos de Europa National Park, Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentacion y Medio Ambiente, and Xunta de Galicia in Spain. Sara Roque benefited from grant SFRH/BD/12291/2003 from Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia. Jose V. Lopez-Bao was supported by a postdoctoral contract from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. This is the paper no. 5 from the Iberian Wolf Research Team

Animal Damage Control in South Dakota

South Dakota, like virtually all other states, is subject to economic losses from wildlife depredations. We have been in the government sponsored, animal damage control business perhaps longer than some states - our history dates back to the time of Three-toes and the Custer Wolf. In 1973 we are still in that business, perhaps more intensively than ever before, and we regard animal damage control as one of the most pervasive and difficult to solve wildlife problems facing us. The Missouri River bisects South Dakota into approximately equal East River and West River land areas. These differ ecologically, and to a lesser extent politically, in several respects. From an agricultural standpoint, we are somewhat unique in that we have both small-farm and ranching enterprises differing in size, intensity of land use, and primary crops or livestock types produced. West River areas include a diversity of geomorphic land forms including prairie, sagebrush grasslands, river breaks, badlands, and mountains. All support ranching operations and each presents unique animal damage control problems. East River farms are smaller and livestock generally is more confined. Many East River counties contain 75 or more percent cropland, but those bordering the Missouri River or in the north-eastern corner of the state are characterized by large areas mainly suitable for grazing. East and West River areas raise approximately equal numbers of sheep. Coyotes occur across the state but are much more numerous in West River. Red foxes also occur statewide and in recent years they have apparently increased markedly in northwestern South Dakota. Both the coyote and the fox prey upon sheep~ This type of wildlife inflicted damage receives by far more publicity in the state than other depredations but in dollar-loss terms it is not the most important. Removal of grassland vegetation by rodents such as prairie dogs, ground squirrels and pocket gophers far outranks predation on sheep economically and has a much greater impact on the South Dakota agricultural economy. A great deal of the energy devoted to animal damage control in South Dakota is, however, directed at protecting the sheepgrower from coyote and fox depredations

UTILITY OF MULTIPLE EQUILIBRIUM CONCEPTS APPLIED TO POPULATION DYNAMICS OF MOOSE

Despite the occurrence of several long-term studies, including the celebrated Isle Royale case history, little progress has been made in developing a general theory of natural regulation of moose numbers and much controversy still surrounds the roles of food supply and predation as they relate to moose population dynamics. Recent attempts to formulate such a theory for moose and other northern ungulates include efforts to employ models originally developed by insect and fisheries ecologists. These models include concepts of multiple equilibria in which predation has an increasingly greater impact on recruitment at lower prey densities, thus producing sinuous stock-recruitment curves with stable upper and lower equilibria. When moose numbers are reduced to low levels by hunting or other outside disturbances, the system collapses to very low densities and moose numbers stay in the vicinity of a lower equilibrium unless predators are reduced. These arguments have been used to explain recent moose population declines in Alaska and to suggest remedial management actions. This paper reviews these ideas and concludes that the multiple equilibrium models generated to date may be inappropriate models for moose population dynamics. This results from their failure to capture several important qualitative and quantitative features of moose-predator systems and from the basic inability of stock-recruitment curves to produce realistic moose recruitment functions. Validation of these models has not been possible because existing field data are inadequate

PRODUCTIVITY ESTIMATES OF MOOSE POPULATIONS: A REVIEW AND RE-EVALUATION

Estimates of moose population productivity in North America are often obtained from herd composition surveys done with the aid of light aircraft. Timing of the surveys may be adjusted to estimate gross productivity through neonate:cow ratios, or net productivity expressed as ratios between cows and 6-month-old calves, short yearlings or long yearlings. All of these estimates are biased by numerous variables, some of them ecological. Neonate surveys must be timed to achieve an optimum balance between the progression of parturition and early calf mortality. Calf:cow ratios in November are affected by search and effort during the surveys and by the aggregation behavior of cows without calves. Pre-parturition surveys tend to overestimate the occurrence of short yearlings due to group size differences in spring between cows with calves and those without. Long yearlings are often misidentified because of their variable antler characteristics. Productivity data are often used to monitor population welfare, but such data do not necessarily forecast population trends. The long-lived nature of moose allows previous reproductive performance to determine the trajectory of a population after productivity statistics change

HARVEST YIELDS FROM MOOSE POPULATIONS SUBJECT TO WOLF AND BEAR PREDATION

A single conceptual model is presented that links several important variables based on the ratio of moose per predator at equilibrium. This ratio is determined by annual predator kill rates, the potential rate of increase of moose, and mortality of moose due to hunting. This conceptual model guided our thinking in the construction of a simulation model designed to illustrate how predation by wolves (Canis lupus) and bears (Ursus spp.) affected harvest yields for humans. A model moose population that displayed sigmoid population growth resulting from density dependent mortality and fecundity formed the heart of the model. Demographic parameters were typical of certain Alaskan moose populations. Maximum sustained yield for bull plus cow harvests fell to 40% of predator free conditions when predation by wolves or bears was intense. Under these conditions, bull only hunts provided an equivalent numerical yield to either sex hunts but had a much higher margin of safety for management errors. Prediction intensities that reduced sustained yields for humans to zero were determined; management implications are discussed

Mass-diameter regressions for moose browse on the Copper River Delta, Alaska

Regression equations were developed to predict 3 mass components of 7 browse species important to moose (Alces gigas) on the Copper River Delta in southcentral Alaska. The accuracy of model predictions was the criterion for model selection. Model accuracy was evaluated using data splitting or jackknife procedures. Annual production of twigs and leaves and available twig mass on a stem were most accurately predicted from stem basal diameter with zero intercept models, zero intercept log-linear models, or log-log models. Twig mass eaten by moose was most accurately predicted from the diameter at the point of browsing of a twig with zero intercept or full linear models. Heteroskedasticity was significant (P < 0.05) in most of the data sets and could not be significantly reduced with log transformations or use of weighted least squares models. Heteroskedasticity appeared to have a relatively minor effect on model predictions. Most of the models gave mean predictions within +/- 20% of the actual values, particularly for the most ubiquitous species that were also the most important to moose. For each species, there were few differences (P < 0.05) in model coefficients between years and among habitat types. Differences in coefficient estimates appeared to be related to differences in stem morphology that were related to both site conditions and past browsing by moose.This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries.The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information.Migrated from OJS platform August 202

Does fluctuating asymmetry of antlers in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) follow patterns predicted for sexually selected traits?

Secondary sexual characters have been hypothesized to signal male quality and should demonstrate a negative relationship between the size of the trait and degree of fluctuating asymmetry because they are costly to produce. We collected morphometric and antler data from 439 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in Oklahoma, USA, in order to determine whether measures of antler asymmetry follow the patterns predicted for sexually selected characters. Relative fluctuating asymmetry was negatively related to antler size for all deer and within age groups up to five and a half years of age. We did not detect an association between asymmetry and antler size among deer that were six and a half years or older. When categorizing deer by antler size, we found that deer with small antlers (< or = 33rd percentile) had greater levels of relative asymmetry than deer with large antlers (< or = 67th percentile). The relative asymmetry of antlers was negatively related to age and was greatest in deer that were one and a half years old. Relative asymmetry was also negatively related to carcass mass, inside spread, skull length and body length. These data suggest that asymmetry in the antlers of white-tailed deer may be a reliable signal of quality and, as such, may be important in maintaining honesty in intrasexual advertisements during the breeding season