DNA Analysis Indicates That Asian Elephants Are Native to Borneo and Are Therefore a High Priority for Conservation

The origin of Borneo's elephants is controversial. Two competing hypotheses argue that they are either indigenous, tracing back to the Pleistocene, or were introduced, descending from elephants imported in the 16th–18th centuries. Taxonomically, they have either been classified as a unique subspecies or placed under the Indian or Sumatran subspecies. If shown to be a unique indigenous population, this would extend the natural species range of the Asian elephant by 1300 km, and therefore Borneo elephants would have much greater conservation importance than if they were a feral population. We compared DNA of Borneo elephants to that of elephants from across the range of the Asian elephant, using a fragment of mitochondrial DNA, including part of the hypervariable d-loop, and five autosomal microsatellite loci. We find that Borneo's elephants are genetically distinct, with molecular divergence indicative of a Pleistocene colonisation of Borneo and subsequent isolation. We reject the hypothesis that Borneo's elephants were introduced. The genetic divergence of Borneo elephants warrants their recognition as a separate evolutionary significant unit. Thus, interbreeding Borneo elephants with those from other populations would be contraindicated in ex situ conservation, and their genetic distinctiveness makes them one of the highest priority populations for Asian elephant conservation

Public health aspects of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis in deer and venison : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment (75%) of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Veterinary Public Health at Massey University

A study was conducted to determine the possible carriage of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and related species from faeces of farmed Red deer presented for slaughter and the contamination of deer carcase meat and venison products with these organisms. Experiments were conducted to study the growth patterns of Y.pseudotuberculosis in vacuum-packed venison stored at chilling and freezing temperatures. The serological status of slaughtered deer in regards to Y.pseudotuberculosis serogroups 1, 2 and 3 was assessed by Microplate Agglutination Tests. Forty sera were examined comprising 19 from positive and 20 from negative intestinal carriers. Included in this study was one serum from an animal that yielded carcase meat from which Y.pseudotuberculosis was isolated. Caecal contents were collected from 360 animals, and cold-enriched for 3 weeks before being subjected to bacteriological examination for Yersinia spp. A total of 345 and 321 carcases surface samples for bacteriological examination for Yersiniae were collected at the Deer Slaughter Premises (DSP) and meat Packing House respectively. A total of 70 venison sausages were purchased from local supermarkets. Direct plating and plating after 21 days cold-enrichment were carried out to examine for Yersiniae. Venison samples were obtained from the DSP and seeded with a known approximate number of Y.pseudotuberculosis organisms. The samples were vacuum-packed and stored at temperatures of +10°C, +4°C, -1°C, -10°C, -13 ±2 °C,and -20°C; recovery and enumeration of the test organism was made at predetermined times. The results of the Microplate Agglutination Tests showed that deer presented for slaughter at this DSP had low (1:10) or undetectable antibody titres to Y.pseudotuberculosis. The prevalence of Yersinia spp, in faeces was 5.3% (19/360) of Ypseudotuberculosis, 2.6% (9/360) of Y.enterocolitica. 3.6% (13/360) of Y.kristensenii, 20.5% (74/360) of Y.frederiksenii. 0.6% (2/360) of Y.intermedia and 0.6% (2/360) of Y.rohdei. Five of nine strains of Y.enterocolitica isolated were found to be potentially pathogenic by means of the virulence marker tests. Two of them were identified as biotype 3 serovar 0:5,27. There was only one isolation (0.3%) of Y.pseudotuberculosis from 321 carcases sampled at the Packing House. The prevalence of Yersinia spp, in venison sausages was 11.4% (8/70) Y.enterocolitica. 1.4% (1/70) Y.kristensenii and 5.7% (4/70) Y intermedia. Y.pseudotuberculosis grew very well in vacuum-packed venison stored at chilling temperature although a long lag phase was observed at -1°C. When frozen, the organisms remained viable for a long period of time and recovered and multiplied rapidly when transferred to chill temperature. The study showed that there was no serological evidence of yersiniosis in deer presented for slaughter during the study period despite the fact that 5.3% of the animals were carrying Y.pseudotuberculosis in their faeces. While there was a low prevalence of Y.pseudotuberculosis on carcase meat their presence could be a source of cross contamination of other carcases especially during deboning. The finding of Yersiniae in venison sausages showed that there was contamination during their preparation. The multiplication of the bacteria in vacuum-packed venison and their long survival in frozen venison are of public health concern while its presence may affect export markets

The impact of ecological conditions on the prevalence of malaria among orangutans.

Contemporary human land use patterns have led to changes in orangutan ecology, such as the loss of habitat. One management response to orangutan habitat loss is to relocate orangutans into regions of intact, protected habitat. Young orangutans are also kept as pets and have at times been a valuable commodity in the illegal pet trade. In response to this situation, government authorities have taken law enforcement action by removing these animals from private hands and attempted to rehabilitate and release these orangutans. In relocating free-ranging orangutans, the animals are typically held isolated or with family members for &lt;48 h and released, but during the course of rehabilitation, orangutans often spend some time in captive and semicaptive group settings. Captive/semicaptive groups have a higher density of orangutans than wild populations, and differ in other ways that may influence susceptibility to infectious disease. In order to determine the impact of these ecological settings on malaria, the prevalence of malaria was compared between 31 captive and semicaptive orangutans in a rehabilitation program at the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre and 43 wild orangutans being moved in a translocation project. The prevalence of malaria parasites, as determined by blood smear and Plasmodium genus-specific nested-polymerase chain reaction, was greater in the captive/semicaptive population (29 of 31) than in the wild population (5 of 43) even when accounting for age bias. This discrepancy is discussed in the context of population changes associated with the management of orangutans in captive/semicaptive setting, in particular a 50-fold increase in orangutan population density. The results provide an example of how an ecological change can influence pathogen prevalence.</p

Network of Asian Elephant Haplotypes Based on Statistical Parsimony

<p>Grey circles with letters denote haplotypes unique to the Sunda region (BD: Borneo; BQ, BV: peninsular Malaysia; BR, BS, BT, BU: Sumatra). White circles with letters denote haplotypes found in mainland Asia (excluding peninsular Malaysia) and Sri Lanka. The small open circles denote hypothetical haplotypes. Haplotypes beginning with the letters A and B belong to the two clades α and β, respectively.</p

A Neighbour-Joining Phylogram of Asian Elephant Haplotypes Rooted with an African Elephant Out-Group

<p>Sunda Region haplotypes are in bold.</p

Asian Elephant Range and Sampling Locations

<p>Central sampling locations denote the countries sampled and represent a number of actual sampling locations within each country. 1. Sri Lanka, 2. India, 3. Bhutan, 4. Bangladesh, 5. Thailand, 6. Laos, 7. Vietnam, 8. Cambodia, 9. Peninsular Malaysia, 10. Sumatra (Indonesia) 11. Borneo (Sabah–Malaysia).</p