Publications by authors named "Linda L Kerley"

Although considerable conservation resources have been committed to develop and use law enforcement monitoring and management tools such as SMART, measures of success are ill-defined and, to date, few reports detail results post-implementation. Here, we present 4 case studies from protected areas with Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica) in Russia, in which indicators of success were defined and evaluated at each. The ultimate goal was an increase in tiger numbers to 1 individual/100 km(2) at each site.

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Prey availability is one of the principal drivers of tiger distribution and abundance. Therefore, formulating effective conservation strategies requires a clear understanding of tiger diet. We used scat analysis in combination with data on the abundance of several prey species to estimate Amur tiger diet and preference at 3 sites in the Russian Far East.

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Wild Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica, n=44) from the Russian Far East were tested for antibodies to feline leukemia virus, feline corona virus (FCoV), feline immunodeficiency virus, feline parvovirus (FPV), canine distemper virus (CDV), Toxoplasma gondii, and Bartonella henselae. Antibodies to FCoV, CDV, FPV, and T. gondii were detected in 43, 15, 68, and 42% of tigers, respectively.

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This paper is a review of the history, development and efficacy of using dogs in wildlife studies and considers the use of dogs in the research and conservation of wild tigers (Panthera tigris Linnaeus, 1758). Using scat detection dogs, scent-matching dogs, law enforcement detection dogs and protection dogs are proven methods that can be effectively used on tigers. These methods all take advantage of the dog's extremely evolved sense of smell that allows them to detect animals or animal byproducts (often the focus of tiger studies).

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Understanding the effects of human disturbance on endangered wildlife populations is critical to their conservation. We examined the effects of roads and human disturbance on the survivorship and foraging efficiency of Amur tigers (  Panthera tigris altaica) on and near Sikhote-Alin State Biosphere Zapovednik, Primorye Krai ( province), Russia. To evaluate the effects of roads, we estimated survivorship of radiocollared tigers and their cubs living in three types of areas: (1) areas with primary roads, (2) areas containing secondary roads, and (3) areas with minimal or no road access.

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