Small cats in big trouble? Diet, activity, and habitat use of jungle cats and leopard cats in threatened dry deciduous forests, Cambodia.

Dry deciduous dipterocarp forests (DDF) cover about 15%-20% of Southeast Asia and are the most threatened forest type in the region. The jungle cat () is a DDF specialist that occurs only in small isolated populations in Southeast Asia. Despite being one of the rarest felids in the region, almost nothing is known about its ecology.

Wildlife Conservation at a Garden Level: The Effect of Robotic Lawn Mowers on European Hedgehogs ().

We tested the effects of 18 models of robotic lawn mowers in collision with dead European hedgehogs and quantified the results into six damage categories. All models were tested on four weight classes of hedgehogs, each placed in three different positions. None of the robotic lawn mowers tested was able to detect the presence of dependent juvenile hedgehogs (<200 g) and all models had to touch the hedgehogs to detect them.

Understanding wildlife crime in China: Socio-demographic profiling and motivation of offenders.

Wildlife crime presents a growing threat to the integrity of ecological communities. While campaigns have raised consumer awareness, little is known about the socio-demographic profile of wildlife offenders, or how to intervene. Using data from China Judgements Online (2014-2018), we documented 4,735 cases, involving 7,244 offenders who smuggled, hunted, transported, sold and/or purchased protected species in contravention of China's Criminal Law.

Organochlorine compounds pose health risks to the Qinling Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca qinlingensis).

To assess organochlorine compound (OC) contamination, its possible sources, and adverse health impacts on giant pandas, we collected soil, bamboo, and panda fecal samples from the habitat and research center of the Qinling panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca qinlingensis)-the rarest recognized panda subspecies. The polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) concentrations were comparatively low which suggests that moderate sources of OC pollution currently. OC levels were lower in samples from nature reserve than in those collected from pandas held in captivity, and OC levels within the reserve increased between functional areas in the order: core, buffer and experimental.

Negative density-dependent parasitism in a group-living carnivore.

Animals living at high population densities commonly experience greater exposure to disease, leading to increased parasite burdens. However, social animals can benefit immunologically and hygienically from cooperation, and individuals may alter their socio-spatial behaviour in response to infection, both of which could counteract density-related increases in exposure. Consequently, the costs and benefits of sociality for disease are often uncertain.

Estimation of environmental, genetic and parental age at conception effects on telomere length in a wild mammal.

Understanding individual variation in fitness-related traits requires separating the environmental and genetic determinants. Telomeres are protective caps at the ends of chromosomes that are thought to be a biomarker of senescence as their length predicts mortality risk and reflect the physiological consequences of environmental conditions. The relative contribution of genetic and environmental factors to individual variation in telomere length is, however, unclear, yet important for understanding its evolutionary dynamics.

Animal Research beyond the Laboratory: Report from a Workshop on Places Other than Licensed Establishments (POLEs) in the UK.

Research involving animals that occurs outside the laboratory raises an array of unique challenges. With regard to UK legislation, however, it receives only limited attention in terms of official guidelines, support, and statistics, which are unsurprisingly orientated towards the laboratory environment in which the majority of animal research takes place. In September 2019, four social scientists from the Animal Research Nexus program gathered together a group of 13 experts to discuss nonlaboratory research under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act (A(SP)A) of 1986 (mirroring European Union (EU) Directive 2010/63/EU), which is the primary mechanism for regulating animal research in the UK.

Projecting introgression from domestic cats into European wildcats in the Swiss Jura.

Hybridization between wild and domesticated organisms is a worldwide conservation issue. In the Jura Mountains, threatened European wildcats () have been demographically spreading for approximately the last 50 years, but this recovery is coupled with hybridization with domestic cats (). Here, we project the pattern of future introgression using different spatially explicit scenarios to model the interactions between the two species, including competition and different population sizes.

Population dynamics of threatened felids in response to forest cover change in Sumatra.

Habitat loss caused by deforestation is a global driver of predator population declines. However, few studies have focussed on these effects for mesopredator populations, particularly the cryptic and elusive species inhabiting tropical rainforests. We conducted camera trapping from 2009-11 and 2014-16, and used occupancy modelling to understand trends of Sumatran mesopredator occupancy in response to forest loss and in the absence of threats from poaching.

Updating the AIHTS Trapping Standards to Improve Animal Welfare and Capture Efficiency and Selectivity.

In 1999, after pressure from the European Union, an Agreement on International Humane Trapping Standards (AIHTS) that would result in the banning of the steel-jawed leghold traps in the European Community, Canada, and Russia was signed. The United States implemented these standards through an Agreed Minute with the European Community. Over the last two decades, scientists have criticized the AIHTS for (1) omitting species that are commonly trapped; (2) threshold levels of trap acceptance that are not representative of state-of-the-art trap technology; (3) excluding popular traps which are commonly used by trappers although they are known to cause prolonged pain and stress to captured animals; (4) inadequate coverage of capture efficiency and species selectivity (i.

Social effects on age-related and sex-specific immune cell profiles in a wild mammal.

Evidence for age-related changes in innate and adaptive immune responses is increasing in wild populations. Such changes have been linked to fitness, and knowledge of the factors driving immune response variation is important for understanding the evolution of immunity. Age-related changes in immune profiles may be owing to factors such as immune system development, sex-specific behaviour and responses to environmental conditions.

COVID-19, Health, Conservation, and Shared Wellbeing: Details Matter.

Many have stridently recommended banning markets like the one where coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) originally spread. We highlight that millions of people around the world depend on markets for subsistence and the diverse use of animals globally defies uniform bans. We argue that the immediate and fair priority is critical scrutiny of wildlife trade.

Spatio-temporal partitioning facilitates mesocarnivore sympatry in the Stara Planina Mountains, Bulgaria.

The top trophic level in many terrestrial food webs is typically occupied by mammalian carnivores (Order Carnivora) that broadly affect and shape ecosystems through trophic cascades. Their inter-specific interactions can further complicate effects on community dynamics as a consequence of intra-guild competition. The capacity for competitive mammalian carnivores to segregate their hunting and activity regimes is in major part a function of their similarity, in terms of body-size and dietary niche; termed the 'niche variation hypothesis'.

Wild dogs at stake: deforestation threatens the only Amazon endemic canid, the short-eared dog ().

The persistent high deforestation rate and fragmentation of the Amazon forests are the main threats to their biodiversity. To anticipate and mitigate these threats, it is important to understand and predict how species respond to the rapidly changing landscape. The short-eared dog is the only Amazon-endemic canid and one of the most understudied wild dogs worldwide.

Linking human and ecological components to understand human-wildlife conflicts across landscapes and species.

Human-wildlife conflicts (HWC) are complex conservation challenges that impair both wildlife populations and human livelihood. Research on HWC, however, has traditionally approached ecological and human components separately, hampering a broader understanding of connections between ecological drivers and human dimensions of conflicts. We developed a model that integrates ecological and human components of HWC to investigate how the amount of remaining native forest (forest cover, a key ecological variable known to influence species occurrence and abundance) affects human experiences with wildlife (contact with species and attacks on livestock) and how such experiences influence tolerance via beliefs, emotions, and attitudes.

Phenology of reproductive condition varies with age and spring weather conditions in male Myotis daubentonii and M. nattereri (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae).

We examine the extent to which intrinsic and extrinsic factors influence reproductive phenology in male bats at the population level. Using data from thirteen breeding seasons (2006-2018), encompassing the reproductive histories of 1546 Myotis daubentonii and 530 M. nattereri males, we compare rates of sexual maturation and the temporal distribution of phases of spermatogenesis between juvenile (born that season) and adult (born in previous seasons) males.

China's online parrot trade: Generation length and body mass determine sales volume via price.

The wildlife trade threatens global biodiversity and animal welfare, where parrots are among the taxa most frequently traded, supplying exotic pets and captive breeders worldwide. Using phylogenetic path analysis, we examine how biological factors interact with price to influence online protected parrot trade volumes in China, using transactions recorded for 46 species (n = 5862 individuals). Trade was greatest in smaller, faster breeding species that commanded a lower price.

Assessing the performance of index calibration survey methods to monitor populations of wide-ranging low-density carnivores.

Apex carnivores are wide-ranging, low-density, hard to detect, and declining throughout most of their range, making population monitoring both critical and challenging. Rapid and inexpensive index calibration survey (ICS) methods have been developed to monitor large African carnivores. ICS methods assume constant detection probability and a predictable relationship between the index and the actual population of interest.

What lies beneath? Population dynamics conceal pace-of-life and sex ratio variation, with implications for resilience to environmental change.

Life-history and pace-of-life syndrome theory predict that populations are comprised of individuals exhibiting different reproductive schedules and associated behavioural and physiological traits, optimized to prevailing social and environmental factors. Changing weather and social conditions provide in situ cues altering this life-history optimality; nevertheless, few studies have considered how tactical, sex-specific plasticity over an individual's lifespan varies in wild populations and influences population resilience. We examined the drivers of individual life-history schedules using 31 years of trapping data and 28 years of pedigree for the European badger (Meles meles L.

Functional adaptation rather than ecogeographical rules determine body-size metrics along a thermal cline with elevation in the Chinese pygmy dormouse (Typhlomys cinereus).

Phenotypic plasticity is crucial for how organisms respond to variation in their environment, affecting their diversity and distribution, especially in the light of rapid environmental change. Ecogeographical rules predict an association between specific adaptive morphological and physiological traits with cooler conditions due to higher latitude, elevation, or climate change. Such ecogeographical effects are often most evident in ancient species due to continuous selective adaptation occurring over long periods of time.

Consequences Matter: Compassion in Conservation Means Caring for Individuals, Populations and Species.

Human activity affecting the welfare of wild vertebrates, widely accepted to be sentient, and therefore deserving of moral concern, is widespread. A variety of motives lead to the killing of individual wild animals. These include to provide food, to protect stock and other human interests, and also for sport.

Given the Cold Shoulder: A Review of the Scientific Literature for Evidence of Reptile Sentience.

We searched a selection of the scientific literature to document evidence for, and explorations into reptile sentience. The intention of this review was to highlight; (1) to what extent reptile capability for emotions have been documented in the scientific literature; (2) to discuss the implications this evidence has for the trade in reptiles; and (3) to outline what future research is needed to maximise their captive welfare needs. We used 168 keywords associated with sentience, to search through four journal databases and one open-access journal.

Push and pull factors driving movement in a social mammal: context dependent behavioral plasticity at the landscape scale.

Understanding how key parameters (e.g., density, range-size, and configuration) can affect animal movement remains a major goal of population ecology.