Spatial and Behavioral Patterns of Captive Coyotes

Environmental enrichment is a technique used at many captive animal facilities that can improve the well-being of their animals. It seeks to enhance habitat features and promote natural behavior by providing a variety of practical ways for captive animals to control their environmental settings, especially during stressful circumstances. Enclosure features, such as shelter structures, are one tool that promotes wild behavior by adding complexity to an enclosure’s physical environment. Enrichment efforts for captive wildlife are most effective when they are specialized to the biological needs of the animals. Human activity may alter captive animal behavior and utility of enclosure features, and there is concern that human presence can negatively impact the welfare of some captive animals. Captive coyotes (Canis latrans) at the USDA-National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC) Predator Research Facility in Millville, UT, USA, are maintained for research on biology, ecology, physiology and behavior. Coyotes at the research facility are routinely noticed utilizing shelter structures to hide, rest, and display vigilant behavior. Because they regularly use these simple structures, new and more complex enrichment shelter structures were installed to be evaluated. Specific research objectives aimed to assess (1) coyote enclosure utilization and shelter structure preferences, and (2) coyote spatial and behavioral responses to human activity. Using 32 mated coyote pairs rotated through eight 1.5-acre enclosures for 28-day trials over the winter months (January – March) of 2015 and 2016, spatial and behavioral patterns were monitored via the implementation of GPS-collars and live behavioral observations. Coyotes showed preference for shelter structure designs, but still spent most of their time at the perimeter and open areas of their enclosures. Complex structures were preferred over simple structures. Coyotes most often demonstrated inactive and vigilant behavior without human activity, but showed increased vigilance when there was human activity. Human activity also stimulated coyotes to become more active than inactive and reduce their utilization of enrichment structures. Although there was no clear preference for one specific type of enrichment structure, composite evidence from GPS-collars and behavioral data suggest the ramp may have heightened biological suitability. This study advances the knowledge of captive coyote spatial patterns and helps improve environmental enrichment planning for captive animals by exploring effective methods of adding complexity to animal enclosures

Are Four-Year Universities Better Than Two-Year Colleges at Preparing Students to Pass the FAA Aircraft Mechanic Certification Written Examinations?

This study evaluates differences between two-year and four-year schools offering a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part 147 aviation maintenance technician program. The actual average test scores were analyzed to determine whether students from four-year university programs were better prepared for the test than students from two-year college or technical school programs. Test scores can be viewed as a direct indication of the quality of the aviation maintenance programs at these schools. The study found that there was no statistically significant difference in the test scores between two-year college and four-year university students taking the FAA examinations. These results support previous studies that found the learning outcomes of two-year and four-year students on general subjects to be comparable

Wildlife responses to livestock guard dogs and domestic sheep on open range

Domestic sheep (Ovis aries) are an attractant to carnivores; however, sheep are often accompanied by humans and livestock guardian dogs (LGDs; Canis familiaris), which defend sheep from depredation. Sheep also compete directly with wildlife for grazing resources. Although practiced for millennia in much of the world outside North America, the effect that transhumance has on wildlife is poorly understood. To test the effect of sheep bands (sheep, humans, and LGDs) on wildlife, we modeled the detection probability of wild mammals relative to the presence of sheep bands in the Northwestern United States. Sheep band presence was associated with a reduction of about half in the likelihood of detecting large carnivores (Ursus americanus, Ursus arctos, Canis lupus, and Puma concolor, p \u3c 0.05) and deer (Odocoileus spp., p \u3c 0.01), both while the band was present and after it left the area. Contrastingly, coyotes (Canis latrans) were more than three times as likely to be detected when sheep bands were present (p \u3c 0.001), and twice as likely after sheep bands left (p \u3c 0.01). Coyotes were the only species we modeled that was more likely to be detected when a sheep band was present. It is unclear how long these effects persist after a sheep band has moved through an area, but our results suggest that transhumance temporarily displaces many large mammals, which results in mesopredator release of coyotes. This study suggests there is a tradeoff between the conservation benefits provided by LGDs and humans protecting sheep and the costs of displacement to some wild mammals

Social Learning of Avoidance Behaviors: Trap Aversion in Captive Coyotes

Social learning can help animals gain knowledge rapidly and may enhance survival. In species that are subjected to capture in foothold traps and then lethally removed, such as the coyote (Canis latrans), learning to avoid traps is critical to survival. Here, we tested social learning of trap avoidance behavior in three experimental scenarios with captive coyotes. In the first experiment, coyotes observed an unfamiliar coyote get captured in a foothold trap (i.e., demonstrator) or did not observe a demonstrator and were therefore naïve to traps. The coyotes that observed a demonstrator showed similar latencies to approach the trap and be captured as coyotes without a demonstrator. In the second experiment, coyotes observed their trap-naïve mate get captured in a foothold trap while housed together. These coyotes had longer latencies to approach the trap and be captured than their mates. In the third experiment, demonstrator coyotes were housed separately in an enclosure adjacent to two other enclosures – one housing their mate and one housing an unfamiliar coyote. Here, unfamiliar coyotes had longer latencies to approach the trap and get captured than the mates of the demonstrator coyotes. These results suggest that coyotes have limited ability to socially learn avoidance behavior, with familiarity and proximity of the demonstrator influencing the ability of coyotes to use social learning. Thus, the different results emerging from this study may reflect behaviors related to territoriality and pair-bonds

Behavioral and Spatial Responses of Captive Coyotes to Human Activity

Human interactions can alter an animal’s behavior and utilization of its surroundings, and how this impacts the welfare of some captive wild animals is of growing concern. Structural enrichment shelters offer weather protection, reprieve space from other animals or humans, or resting space. Perimeter or open space may be important during periods of activity, such as foraging or play. This study addressed the effects of human activity on coyote behavioral budgeting and enclosure utilization. We predicted that human activity would affect coyote behavior and spatial utilization of enclosure space. Specifically, we hypothesized that human activity would prompt vigilant and other active behavior at enclosure perimeters, thereby reducing inactive behavior at shelter structures. Thirty male-female coyote pairs were observed while experimentally exposed to one hour of human activity and one hour with no human activity for 16 observation days over the course of a 28-day test period. Behavior was categorized (vigilant, not active, active) and enclosure features were identified as three discrete areas (perimeter, open area, enrichment structure). A log-linear model using scan data showed that behavior significantly varied by enclosure feature (P \u3c 0.01), and human activity significantly affected captive coyote behavior (P \u3c 0.01) and enclosure feature utilization (P \u3c 0.01). Non-parametric Mann-Whitney U tests using observed proportions at each condition of human activity showed that human activity increased vigilant behavior (P \u3c 0.01) while reducing inactive behavior (P \u3c 0.01). Additionally, during periods of human activity, coyotes decreased utilization of open areas (P \u3c 0.01) and enrichment structures (P \u3c 0.01) and increased perimeter use (P \u3c 0.01). This study illustrates that captive animals may switch activity levels in the presence of humans and may not choose more complex environments when active behaviors are stimulated. Thus, wild animals in captivity may benefit from having the choice to utilize multiple types of habitat, depending upon their natural biological tendencies

An Algorithm for the Syntactic Analysis in the R2 Information System

Coordinated Science Laboratory was formerly known as Control Systems LaboratoryJoint Services Electronics Program / DAAB-07-67-C-0199Office of Education / OE C-1-7-071213-455

Integrating robotics into wildlife conservation: testing improvements to predator deterrents through movement

Background Agricultural and pastoral landscapes can provide important habitat for wildlife conservation, but sharing these landscapes with wildlife can create conflict that is costly and requires managing. Livestock predation is a good example of the challenges involving coexistence with wildlife across shared landscapes. Integrating new technology into agricultural practices could help minimize human-wildlife conflict. In this study, we used concepts from the fields of robotics (i.e., automated movement and adaptiveness) and agricultural practices (i.e., managing livestock risk to predation) to explore how integration of these concepts could aid the development of more effective predator deterrents. Methods We used a colony of captive coyotes as a model system, and simulated predation events with meat baits inside and outside of protected zones. Inside the protected zones we used a remote-controlled vehicle with a state-of-the art, commercially available predator deterrent (i.e., Foxlight) mounted on the top and used this to test three treatments: (1) light only (i.e., without movement or adaptiveness), (2) predetermined movement (i.e., with movement and without adaptiveness), and (3) adaptive movement (i.e., with both movement and adaptiveness). We measured the time it took for coyotes to eat the baits and analyzed the data with a time-to-event survival strategy. Results Survival of baits was consistently higher inside the protected zone, and the three movement treatments incrementally increased survival time over baseline except for the light only treatment in the nonprotected zone. Incorporating predetermined movement essentially doubled the efficacy of the light only treatment both inside and outside the protected zone. Incorporating adaptive movement exponentially increased survival time both inside and outside the protected zone. Our findings provide compelling evidence that incorporating existing robotics capabilities (predetermined and adaptive movement) could greatly enhance protection of agricultural resources and aid in the development of nonlethal tools for managing wildlife. Our findings also demonstrate the importance of marrying agricultural practices (e.g., spatial management of livestock at night) with new technology to improve the efficacy of wildlife deterrents

Inactivation of the Bacterial Pathogens \u3cem\u3eStaphylococcus pseudintermedius\u3c/em\u3e and \u3cem\u3eAcinetobacter baumannii\u3c/em\u3e By Butanoic Acid

Aims This study was performed to evaluate the efficacy of butanoic acid against bacterial pathogens including Acinetobacter baumannii and Staphylococcus pseudintermedius. Methods and Results Vegetative bacteria were exposed to butanoic acid in vitro and log reduction was quantified using viable count assays. The maximum (8 and 9) log inactivation was determined by qualitatively assaying for growth/no-growth after a 48-h incubation (37°C). Membrane integrity after exposure to butanoic acid was determined by propidium iodide staining, scanning electron microscopy, membrane depolarization and inductively coupled plasma analysis. Cytosolic pH was measured by 5-(6-)carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester. Conclusions Inhibitory concentrations of butanoic acid ranged between 11 and 21 mmol l−1 for Gram-positive and Gram-negative species tested. The maximum log reduction of A. baumannii was achieved with a 10-s exposure of 0·50 mol l−1 of butanoic acid. Staphylococcus pseudintermedius required 0·40 mol l−1 of butanoic acid to achieve the same level of reduction in the same time period. Inactivation was associated with membrane permeability and acidification of the cytosol. Significance and Impact of the Study Antibiotic resistance among bacterial pathogens necessitates the utilization of novel therapeutics for disinfection and biological control. These results may facilitate the development of butanoic acid as an effective agent against a broad-spectrum of antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens