Although game meat quality has been under the spotlight in numerous studies, the quality of brown bear () meat is still unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of sex and age on the proximate chemical composition, fatty acid profile, and lipid indices of brown bear meat. Nine ( = 9) females and nine ( = 9) males were hunted during the Croatian spring hunting period in 2018. Based on age, bears were divided into two groups: <3 years ( = 9; five females and four males) and 4-6 years ( = 9; four females and five males). For analysis purposes, samples of were collected. Age was shown to have an effect on the traits analyzed, while sex-related differences were not found. Brown bear meat has a high fat content (average 6.12%), especially in older bears (~9%). The contents of protein, dry matter, and ash were similar to those of other game species. Monounsaturated fatty acids made up approximately 50% of all fatty acids, with the most abundant being C18:1n-9. More favorable profiles of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids were found in younger bears. The ratio of polyunsaturated and saturated fatty acids was closer to the recommended ratio than the ratio of n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, and lipid indices were favorable. Further research is needed to determine seasonal changes in brown bear meat quality.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/foods10010036 | DOI Listing |
PLoS One
January 2025
Alaska Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Anchorage, AK, United States of America.
Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA) is a common method of estimating the composition of prey species in the diets of consumers from polar and temperate ecosystems in which lipids are an important source of energy. A key characteristic of QFASA is that the large number of fatty acids that typically comprise lipids permits the dietary contributions of a correspondingly large number of prey types to be estimated. Several modifications to the original QFASA methods have been suggested in the literature and a significant extension of the original model published in 2017 allows simultaneous estimation of both diet proportions and calibration coefficients, which are metabolic constants in the model whose values must otherwise be estimated in independent feeding experiments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVet Parasitol Reg Stud Reports
January 2025
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, 180 E. Green Street, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA; Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, Department of Population Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Wildlife Health Building, 589 D. W. Brooks Drive, Athens, GA 30602, USA; Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, 140 E. Green Street, Odum School of Ecology, Athens, GA 30602, USA. Electronic address:
American black bears (Ursus americanus) admitted to a Virginia rehabilitation center were tested for Ursicoptes americanus. From 2014 to 2023, 23 of 150 (15.3 %) bears were positive with higher prevalence in juveniles and females.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExp Appl Acarol
January 2025
Laboratorio de Vectores y Enfermedades Transmitidas, Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, CENUR Litoral Norte, Universidad de la República, Salto, Uruguay.
Babesia species (Piroplasmida) are hemoparasites that infect erythrocytes of mammals and birds and are mainly transmitted by hard ticks (Acari: Ixodidae). These hemoparasites are known to be the second most common parasites infecting mammals, after trypanosomes, and some species may cause malaria-like disease in humans. Diagnosis and understanding of Babesia diversity increasingly rely on genetic data obtained through molecular techniques.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFConserv Physiol
January 2025
Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Science Lab, Department of Biology, Northern Michigan University, 1401 Presque Isle Ave, Marquette, MI 49855-5301, USA.
Faecal cortisol metabolites (FCMs) are increasingly used to index physiological stress in wildlife. Cortisol and other stress hormones act to mobilize glucose, providing energy for the organism to respond to environmental perturbations. Cortisol, the predominant glucocorticoid (GC) in most mammals, is metabolized by the liver and excreted as FCMs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEcology
January 2025
Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong, China.
Understanding the patterns and drivers of species range shifts is essential to disentangle mechanisms driving species' responses to global change. Here, we quantified local extinction and colonization dynamics of giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) using occurrence data collected by harnessing the labor of >1000 workers and >60,000 worker days for each of the three periods (TP1: 1985-1988, TP2: 1998-2002, and TP3: 2011-2014), and evaluated how these patterns were associated with (1) protected area, (2) local rarity/abundance, and (3) abiotic factors (i.e.
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