Unsustainable production patterns and disease emergence: The paradigmatic case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1.

Current food production systems are causing severe environmental damage, including the emergence of dangerous pathogens that put humans and wildlife at risk. Several dangerous pathogens (e.g.

The global contribution of vultures towards ecosystem services and sustainability: An experts' perspective.

The ecosystem services framework is essential for biodiversity conservation, emphasizing the role of nature in achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs). This study offers a global view on vulture-associated ecosystem services and their SDG contributions, based on insights from 206 experts. The findings reveal global consensus on the importance of vultures in regulation and maintenance services, such as waste recycling and disease control.

Pacific and Atlantic sea lion mortality caused by highly pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) in South America.

We describe the evolution of the outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) in sea lions (Otaria flavescens) of South America. At least 24,000 sea lions died in Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil between January-October 2023. The most plausible route of infection is cohabiting with or foraging on infected birds.

Recent Changes in Patterns of Mammal Infection with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus Worldwide.

We reviewed information about mammals naturally infected by highly pathogenic avian influenza A virus subtype H5N1 during 2 periods: the current panzootic (2020-2023) and previous waves of infection (2003-2019). In the current panzootic, 26 countries have reported >48 mammal species infected by H5N1 virus; in some cases, the virus has affected thousands of individual animals. The geographic area and the number of species affected by the current event are considerably larger than in previous waves of infection.

Mass Mortality of Sea Lions Caused by Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus.

We report a massive mortality of 5,224 sea lions (Otaria flavescens) in Peru that seemed to be associated with highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus infection. The transmission pathway may have been through the close contact of sea lions with infected wild birds. We recommend evaluating potential virus transmission among sea lions.

Evidence-based legislation, strong institutions and consensus needed to mitigate the negative impacts of free-ranging dogs.

Dogs bring many benefits to our society but, if not properly managed, they can be detrimental for humans, livestock and wildlife. We highlight the increasing problems associated with free-ranging dogs using examples from two regions of the world where this issue is pervasive, India and South America. In these regions, free-ranging dogs spread diseases, injure people, harm biodiversity, and negatively impact human livelihoods.

Lack of accessibility and clarity in regulations concerning dog access to protected areas lowers public awareness.

While natural protected areas are conceived for nature conservation, humans and their activities must also be considered. Conflict between the public and managers of protected areas can be minimized by regulations that clearly communicate which activities are allowed. Domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) affect threatened species and impact numerous protected areas.

A 2200-year record of Andean Condor diet and nest site usage reflects natural and anthropogenic stressors.

Understanding how animals respond to large-scale environmental changes is difficult to achieve because monitoring data are rarely available for more than the past few decades, if at all. Here, we demonstrate how a variety of palaeoecological proxies (e.g.

The Influence of Age, Sex and Season on Andean Condor Ranging Behavior during the Immature Stage.

Immature individuals move from their natal area to the area where they settle and reproduce, and this may take several years. This process is essential for long-lived species such as vultures and condors, which spend long periods as immature and move extensively. We studied the movement behavior of 26 GPS-tagged immature Andean condors () from northwestern Patagonia throughout the immature stage, analyzing whether these patterns differed according to age, sex and season.

High incidence of plastic debris in Andean condors from remote areas: Evidence for marine-terrestrial trophic transfer.

Plastic pollution is an alarming environmental problem affecting diverse species worldwide. Scavenging birds are currently exposed to plastic due to contamination of their food sources. Here, we evaluated the ingestion of plastic by a threatened top scavenger, the Andean condor (Vultur gryphus), and the potential origin of the plastic.

Risk effects cascade up to an obligate scavenger.

The effects of predation risk on prey populations have been studied extensively; yet, how risk is manifested in a trophically linked guild-scavengers-has been overlooked. Risk could be particularly consequential for obligate scavengers that are vulnerable while foraging and rely on carrion provisioned by, and shared with, apex predators. We investigated whether Andean condors (Vultur gryphus) respond to predation risk in a landscape where the main source of carrion are camelids killed by pumas (Puma concolor).

Cascading effects of a disease outbreak in a remote protected area.

Disease outbreaks induced by humans increasingly threaten wildlife communities worldwide. Like predators, pathogens can be key top-down forces in ecosystems, initiating trophic cascades that may alter food webs. An outbreak of mange in a remote Andean protected area caused a dramatic population decline in a mammalian herbivore (the vicuña), creating conditions to test the cascading effects of disease on the ecological community.

Veterinary pharmaceuticals as a threat to endangered taxa: Mitigation action for vulture conservation.

Overuse and misapplication of veterinary pharmaceuticals affect the ecosystem, even at low concentrations. Vultures are mainly exposed to these compounds when feeding on improperly disposed carcasses from animals treated before death. This produces diverse negative impacts on vulture health and populations, even leading to death.

Flying wildlife may mask the loss of ecological functions due to terrestrial habitat fragmentation.

Land use change alters wildlife critical animal behaviours such as movement, becoming the main driver threatening wildlife ecological functions (WEF) and nature's contribution to people (NCP) provided by terrestrial species. Despite the negative impacts of current rates of terrestrial fragmentation on WEF, many ecological processes can be still occurring through aerial habitats. Here, we propose and discuss that the movement capabilities of aerial species, as well their functional redundancy with non-flying wildlife, are the mechanisms by which some ecological processes can be still occurring.

Functional traits driving species role in the structure of terrestrial vertebrate scavenger networks.

Species assemblages often have a non-random nested organization, which in vertebrate scavenger (carrion-consuming) assemblages is thought to be driven by facilitation in competitive environments. However, not all scavenger species play the same role in maintaining assemblage structure, as some species are obligate scavengers (i.e.

Framing of visual content shown on popular social media may affect viewers' attitudes to threatened species.

Content published on social media may affect user's attitudes toward wildlife species. We evaluated viewers' responses to videos published on a popular social medium, focusing particularly on how the content was framed (i.e.

Exposure to Anthropogenic Areas May Influence Colonization by Zoonotic Microorganisms in Scavenging Birds.

Wild bird species have commonly been implicated as potential vectors of pathogens to other species, humans included. However, the habitat where birds live could influence the probability to acquire these pathogens. Here, we evaluated if the characteristics of the environment used by obligate scavenging birds (vultures) influence their colonization by zoonotic pathogens.

Limited sexual segregation in a dimorphic avian scavenger, the Andean condor.

Sexual segregation is widely reported among sexually dimorphic species and generally attributed to intraspecific competition. Prey diversity and human activities can reinforce niche segregation by increasing resource heterogeneity. Here, we explored trophic and spatial sexual segregation in the only avian scavenger that exhibits pronounced sexual size dimorphism (up to 50% difference in body mass) and a highly despotic social system, the Andean condor (Vultur gryphus).

Global Aerial Habitat Conservation Post-COVID-19 Anthropause.

Aerial habitat is increasingly threatened. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) anthropause shows that a decrease in human mobility and goods production for even a short period reduces the global anthropogenic impact on airspace fragmentation and pollution. Economic and environmental post-COVID-19 agendas should consider the changes observed in the aerial habitat during the anthropause.