The continuum of care as a unifying framework for intergenerational and interspecies health equity

IntroductionUnlocking the full potential of different people and organizations to address existential health threats requires shared goals and frameworks that allow people to see themselves contributing to a common and shared continuum of care. A new narrative to help people implement collective action for collective problems is needed.MethodsThis paper is draw from the co-authors experience working from the local to international level on planetary health problems.ResultsThe proposed conceptual framework expands the socioecological model of health to help formulate multilevel approaches that foster healthier circumstances for all by revealing the mutual benefits that emerge from pooling expertise, funding, and political will to solve multiple problems with coordinated investment of resources and effort. It is intended to support program planning and communication. This framework is a response to the absence of systematic attempts to concurrently counteract the social and environmental conditions leading to disease, dysfunction and deficits which is increasingly seen as being problematic, especially as the root causes of health problems and solutions converge across species, sectors, and generations. The framework is embedded in the idea of interspecies and intergenerational health equity.DiscussionEnsuring interspecies and intergenerational health equity requires each actor to fulfill their roles along the continuum while supporting the needs of others. A socio-ecological continuum of care provides bundled options that combine knowledge from different sectors, disciplines and perspectives to guide interventions over time across a comprehensive array of services and support spanning all levels of needs, species and generations

Testing predictions on body mass and gut contents: dissection of an African elephant Loxodonta africana Blumenbach 1797

The values reported in the literature for the total gastrointestinal tract (GIT) content mass of elephants are lower than expected from interspecific mammalian regression. This finding agrees with theoretical considerations that elephants should have less capacious GITs than other herbivorous mammals, resulting in short ingesta retention times. However, the data on elephants was so far derived from either diseased zoo specimens or free-ranging animals subjected to an unknown hunting stress. In this study, we weighed the wet contents of the GIT segments of a captive African elephant that was euthanased because of a positive serological tuberculosis test, but that was clinically healthy, did not show a reduced appetite, and ingested food up to the time of euthanasia. The animal weighed 3,140kg and its total gut contents were 542kg or 17% of body mass. This is in close accord with the published mammalian herbivore regression equation of Parra (Comparison of foregut and hindgut fermentation in herbivores. In: Montgomery GG (ed) The ecology of arboreal folivores. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC, pp205-230, 1978) and contradicts the notion that elephants have comparatively less capacious gastrointestinal tracts. Data on the individual gut segments, however, do support earlier suspicions that elephants have a comparatively less capacious caecum and a disproportionally capacious colo

Capture and Anaesthesia of the Mongolian Wild Ass (\u3ci\u3eE. hemionus\u3c/i\u3e)

Science-based conservation efforts in general and wide-ranging equid conservation specifically, often require capture and subsequent handling of the subject animal. Safe and animal-welfare appropriate wild equid capture and anesthesia is a complex operation necessitating a multitude of skills that require appropriate veterinary training. In order to develop management plans for the Mongolian wild ass (Equus hemionus), which range over vast areas the use of radiotelemetry, is an essential tool. Radio-telemetry allows the researchers to better understand the habitat requirements and to delineate the areas of potential wildlife-human conflicts. To date we have successfully captured 16 wild ass in the Gobi regions of Mongolia. The agent of choice for wild ass capture and anesthesia is the potent opiate ethorphine in combination with specific opiate antagonists that allow for the complete reversal of the anesthetic effects. The recommended dosage for healthy, adult wild ass procedures anesthesia is a combination of 4.4 mg ethorphine, 10 mg buthorphanol and 10 mg detomidine. Anesthesia was reversed with the opioid antagonist-agonist diprenorphine or a combination of 200 mg naltrexone and the alpha2-antagonist 20 mg atipamezole. All wild asses were standing and alert approximately two minutes following administration of the antagonists

Water Use by Khulan in the Dzungarian Gobi in SW Mongolia

Water is the lifeline for the world’s drylands and the key for the distribution of water-dependent equids like khulan. We developed a simple algorithm using khulan tracks from GPS telemetry to identify waterpoints. This approach allowed us to obtain the first landscape-scale information on the use of waterpoints by khulan in Great Gobi B SPA. We discuss the merits and limitations of the algorithm and the implication for landscape level conservation

First Experience with a Camera Collar in a Free-Ranging Przewalski’s Horse Group in the Mongolian Gobi

Remote sensing and satellite telemetry have allowed to greatly expanding the understanding of how species use various landscapes, even in remote settings. However, remotely collecting data also harbors the risk of losing “touch with the ground.” We explore the possibility of the additional insight cameras integrated in GPS-satellite collars can provide for the behavior and ecology of free-ranging Przewalski’s horse in the remote Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area in southeastern Mongolia. Over a 91-day period, the camera collected 1,080 images. 62% of the images showed Przewalski’s horses and provided insights into behavior and grouping patterns and can supplement indirect measures of behavior from acceleration sensors. Other images provided first information on insect harassment and show the potential of images for ground-truthing environmental conditions, for example, the occurrence of rainfall. The potential for camera collars as an additional tool to study large-bodied ungulates in remote ecosystems seems really promising, although this relatively new technology seems still prone to technical failures

Post-release Movement Behaviour and Survival of Kulan Reintroduced to the Steppes and Deserts of Central Kazakhstan

Asiatic wild ass, or kulan (Equus hemionus kulan) were once a key species of the Eurasian steppes and deserts. In Kazakhstan they went extinct by the 1930s. Early reintroductions have reestablished the species in two protected areas, but the species has reclaimed <1% of their former range and remained absent from central Kazakhstan. To initiate restoration in this vast region, we captured and transported a first group of nine wild kulan to a large pre-release enclosure in the Torgai region in 2017, and two more in 2019. We used direct observations and post-release movement data of four kulan equipped with GPS-Iridium collars to document their adaptation process in a vast novel habitat without conspecifics. For comparison with movements in the source populations, we additionally equipped two kulan in Altyn Emel National Park and six in Barsa Kelmes State Nature Reserve. The nine transported kulan formed a cohesive group with very high movement correlation in the enclosure. After release, the group initially stayed tightly together but started to break up by mid-May and all kulan travelled independently by mid-August. With 48,680–136,953 km2, the 95% Autocorrelated Kernel Density Estimation ranges of the reintroduced kulan were huge and about 10–100 times larger than those in the source populations. The reintroduced mares never reconnected, there was no evidence of successful reproduction, and two of the four collared mares were killed by poachers and one died of natural causes. At least one stallion survived in the wild, but the fate of the other uncollared animals remains unclear. We speculate that the fission-fusion dynamics and low movement correlation of kulan societies and the need for migratory movements harbours the risk that animals released into a novel environment loose contact with each other. This risk is likely enhanced in steppe habitats where movement constraining factors are absent. Further kulan reintroductions to the steppes and deserts of central Kazakhstan should aim to release larger groups and build up the free-ranging population quickly to reach a critical mass, increasing the chance of kulan encountering conspecifics to successfully breed and increase their chances of survival.publishedVersio

Current status and future challenges for khulan (Equus hemionus) conservation in China

publishedVersio

A First Y-Chromosomal Haplotype Network to Investigate Male-Driven Population Dynamics in Domestic and Wild Bactrian Camels

Polymorphic markers on the male-specific part of the Y chromosome (MSY) provide useful information for tracking male genealogies. While maternal lineages are well studied in Old World camelids using mitochondrial DNA, the lack of a Y-chromosomal reference sequence hampers the analysis of male-driven demographics. Recently, a shotgun assembly of the horse MSY was generated based on short read next generation sequencing data. The haplotype network resulting from single copy MSY variants using the assembly as a reference revealed sufficient resolution to trace individual male lines in this species. In a similar approach we generated a 3.8 Mbp sized assembly of the MSY of Camelus bactrianus. The camel MSY assembly was used as a reference for variant calling using short read data from eight Old World camelid individuals. Based on 596 single nucleotide variants we revealed a Y-phylogenetic network with seven haplotypes. Wild and domestic Bactrian camels were clearly separated into two different haplogroups with an estimated divergence time of 26,999 ± 2,268 years. Unexpectedly, one wild camel clustered into the domestic Bactrian camels’ haplogroup. The observation of a domestic paternal lineage within the wild camel population is concerning in view of the importance to conserve the genetic integrity of these highly endangered species in their natural habitat

Genomic signatures of domestication in Old World camels

Domestication begins with the selection of animals showing less fear of humans. In most domesticates, selection signals for tameness have been superimposed by intensive breeding for economical or other desirable traits. Old World camels, conversely, have maintained high genetic variation and lack secondary bottlenecks associated with breed development. By re-sequencing multiple genomes from dromedaries, Bactrian camels, and their endangered wild relatives, here we show that positive selection for candidate genes underlying traits collectively referred to as 'domestication syndrome' is consistent with neural crest deficiencies and altered thyroid hormone-based signaling. Comparing our results with other domestic species, we postulate that the core set of domestication genes is considerably smaller than the pan-domestication set - and overlapping genes are likely a result of chance and redundancy. These results, along with the extensive genomic resources provided, are an important contribution to understanding the evolutionary history of camels and the genomic features of their domestication. Robert R. Fitak et al. investigate the genetic basis for domestication in camels. They found that the positive selection of candidate domestication genes is consistent with neural crest deficiencies and altered thyroid hormone-based signaling. Their work provides insights to the evolutionary history of camels and genetics of domestication.Peer reviewe