Antibiotic profiling of multidrug resistant pathogens in one-day-old chicks imported from Belgium to benin.

Background: Little data exist on the presence of resistant pathogens in day-old chicks imported into Benin. The occurrence of pathogenic bacteria was assessed in 180 one-day-old chicks imported from Belgium and received at the Cardinal Bernardin Gantin International Airport in Cotonou (Benin). The samples included swabbing the blisters of 180 chicks, followed by 18 pools of 10 swabs for bacterial isolation.

Can DNA help trace the local trade of pangolins? Conservation genetics of white-bellied pangolins from the Dahomey Gap (West Africa).

Background: African pangolins are currently experiencing unprecedented levels of harvesting, feeding both local demands and the illegal international trade. So far, the lack of knowledge on the population genetics of African pangolins has hampered any attempts at assessing their demographic status and tracing their trade at the local scale. We conducted a pioneer study on the genetic tracing of the African pangolin trade in the Dahomey Gap (DG).

Ethnozoological and commercial drivers of the pangolin trade in Benin.

Background: Pangolins are trafficked in unsustainable volumes to feed both local and global trade networks for their meat and the medicinal properties of their derivatives, including scales. We focus on a West African country (Benin) to assess the medicinal and spiritual values of pangolins among different ethnic groups and identify the cohort of buyers involved in the pangolin trade and related economic values along the chain, notably from local diasporas.

Methods: We organised 54 focus groups in villages surrounding occurrence habitats of pangolins across Benin and conducted 35 individual interviews with vendors from five major traditional medicine markets (TMMs).

Insecticide residues in bats along a land use-gradient dominated by cotton cultivation in northern Benin, West Africa.

Many regions in Africa are currently being converted from subsistence to cash crop farming such as cotton. Agricultural intensification is usually accompanied by increased use of pesticides, which can have an impact on non-target organisms. Bats are particularly sensitive to insecticide loads while providing substantial ecosystem services as predators of herbivorous insects.