All Outputs (31)

Dolphin-WET—Development of a Welfare Evaluation Tool for Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) under Human Care (2024)
Journal Article

Ensuring high standards of animal welfare is not only an ethical duty for zoos and aquariums, but it is also essential to achieve their conservation, education, and research goals. While for some species, animal welfare assessment frameworks are alre... Read More about Dolphin-WET—Development of a Welfare Evaluation Tool for Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) under Human Care.

Incorporating biodiversity responses to land use change scenarios for preventing emerging zoonotic diseases in areas of unknown host-pathogen interactions (2023)
Journal Article

The need to reconcile food production, the safeguarding of nature, and the protection of public health is imperative in a world of continuing global change, particularly in the context of risks of emerging zoonotic disease (EZD). In this paper, we ex... Read More about Incorporating biodiversity responses to land use change scenarios for preventing emerging zoonotic diseases in areas of unknown host-pathogen interactions.

Relationships between soil and badger elemental concentrations across a heterogeneously contaminated landscape (2023)
Journal Article

Understanding the links between environmental and wildlife elemental concentrations is key to help assess ecosystem functions and the potential effects of legacy pollutants. In this study, livers from 448 European badgers (Meles meles) collected acro... Read More about Relationships between soil and badger elemental concentrations across a heterogeneously contaminated landscape.

Cryo-scanning electron microscopy demonstrates that ice morphology is not associated with the post-thaw survival of domestic boar (Sus domesticus) spermatozoa: A comparison of directional and conventional freezing methods (2022)
Journal Article

Directional freezing (in 2 or 10 ml hollow glass tubes) has been reported to improve post-thaw sperm survival parameters compared to conventional methods (in 0.5 ml straws). However, the biophysical properties that increase post-thaw survival are poo... Read More about Cryo-scanning electron microscopy demonstrates that ice morphology is not associated with the post-thaw survival of domestic boar (Sus domesticus) spermatozoa: A comparison of directional and conventional freezing methods.

Behaviour and Welfare Impacts of Releasing Elephants from Overnight Tethers: A Zimbabwean Case Study (2022)
Journal Article

Within the southern African elephant tourism industry, chaining or tethering elephants is still a relatively routine practice, despite the known negative impacts. Cited reasons for chaining include fear of aggressive interactions between elephants wh... Read More about Behaviour and Welfare Impacts of Releasing Elephants from Overnight Tethers: A Zimbabwean Case Study.

Human health implications from consuming eggs produced near a derelict metalliferous mine: a case study (2022)
Journal Article

Lead pollution from metalliferous mines can have major environmental and health effects long after the mines have closed. Animals living near derelict mine sites can inadvertently ingest lead-contaminated soils, causing them to accumulate lead and po... Read More about Human health implications from consuming eggs produced near a derelict metalliferous mine: a case study.

How can mating systems inform future biobanking strategies? An illustration using two Indonesian bovids, banteng (Bos javanicus) and lowland anoa (Bubalus depressicornis) (2022)
Journal Article

Storing cryopreserved spermatozoa in a genome resource bank safeguards against the loss of heterozygosity in endangered species and provides opportunities to reincorporate genes into populations through the application of assisted reproductive techno... Read More about How can mating systems inform future biobanking strategies? An illustration using two Indonesian bovids, banteng (Bos javanicus) and lowland anoa (Bubalus depressicornis).

Method development to characterise elephant tail hairs by LA-ICP-MS to reflect changes in elemental chemistry (2022)
Journal Article

This paper evaluated analytical methods used to generate time-series data from elephant tail hairs, which can be used to reflect changing exposure to environmental geochemistry. Elephant tail hairs were analysed by three methods sequentially, each pr... Read More about Method development to characterise elephant tail hairs by LA-ICP-MS to reflect changes in elemental chemistry.

Simulating land use changes, sediment yields, and pesticide use in the Upper Paraguay River Basin: Implications for conservation of the Pantanal wetland (2021)
Journal Article

As a consequence of accelerated and excessive use of pesticides in tropical regions, wilderness areas are under threat; this includes the Pantanal wetlands in the Upper Paraguay River Basin (UPRB). Using a Land Cover Land Use Change (LCLUC) modelling... Read More about Simulating land use changes, sediment yields, and pesticide use in the Upper Paraguay River Basin: Implications for conservation of the Pantanal wetland.

Spatial geochemistry influences the home range of elephants (2020)
Journal Article

© 2020 Elsevier B.V. The unique geochemistry surrounding the Palabora Mining Company (PMC) land may act as a micronutrient hotspot, attracting elephants to the area. The PMC produces refined copper and extracts phosphates and other minerals. Understa... Read More about Spatial geochemistry influences the home range of elephants.

African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) as an example of a herbivore making movement choices based on nutritional needs (2019)
Journal Article

© 2019 Sach et al. Background: The increasing human population and global intensification of agriculture have had a major impact on the world’s natural ecosystems and caused devastating effects on populations of mega-herbivores such as the African sa... Read More about African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) as an example of a herbivore making movement choices based on nutritional needs.

Recent changes in infectious diseases in European wildlife (2018)
Journal Article

© Wildlife Disease Association 2019. Many infectious diseases originating from, or carried by, wildlife affect wildlife conservation and biodiversity, livestock health, or human health. We provide an update on changes in the epidemiology of 25 select... Read More about Recent changes in infectious diseases in European wildlife.

A review of current indicators of welfare in captive elephants (Loxodonta africana and Elephas maximus) (2018)
Journal Article

Concerns over elephant welfare in UK zoos have implications for their future in captivity. To monitor improvements made to elephant welfare in UK zoos, non-invasive, valid and reliable indicators of welfare are needed. Using a rapid review strategy a... Read More about A review of current indicators of welfare in captive elephants (Loxodonta africana and Elephas maximus).

Outcomes of conservatively managed coracoid fractures in wild birds in the United Kingdom (2018)
Journal Article

Coracoid fractures are a frequent presentation in wild birds, commonly due to collisions with motor vehicles, windows, or other obstacles such as pylons. Despite this, there are few literature reports of outcomes, and those published consist of small... Read More about Outcomes of conservatively managed coracoid fractures in wild birds in the United Kingdom.

Incorporating stakeholder perspectives into the assessment and provision of captive elephant welfare (2017)
Journal Article

Recent concerns over the welfare of elephants in UK zoos have implications for their future in captivity, and it is clear that improvements in welfare should be made. Evidence suggests that the knowledge of experienced stakeholders is vital to captiv... Read More about Incorporating stakeholder perspectives into the assessment and provision of captive elephant welfare.

The impact of competition on elephant musth strategies: a game–theoretic model (2017)
Journal Article

Mature male African Savannah elephants are known to periodically enter a temporary state of heightened aggression called “musth,” often linked with increased androgens, particularly testosterone. Sexually mature males are capable of entering musth at... Read More about The impact of competition on elephant musth strategies: a game–theoretic model.

Concentrations of faecal glucocorticoid metabolites in Asian elephant's dung are stable for up to 8 h in a tropical environment (2016)
Journal Article

The use of faecal glucocorticoid metabolites (fGCMs) has facilitated the development of non-invasive methods to study physiological conditions of endangered wildlife populations. One limitation is that fGCM concentrations are known to change over tim... Read More about Concentrations of faecal glucocorticoid metabolites in Asian elephant's dung are stable for up to 8 h in a tropical environment.

Global population divergence and admixture of the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) (2016)
Journal Article

Native to China and Mongolia, the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) now enjoys a worldwide distribution. While black rats and the house mouse tracked the regional development of human agricultural settlements, brown rats did not appear in Europe until th... Read More about Global population divergence and admixture of the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus).

TP53 copy number expansion is associated with the evolution of increased body size and an enhanced DNA damage response in elephants (2016)
Journal Article

A major constraint on the evolution of large body sizes in animals is an increased risk of developing cancer. There is no correlation, however, between body size and cancer risk. This lack of correlation is often referred to as 'Peto's Paradox'. Here... Read More about TP53 copy number expansion is associated with the evolution of increased body size and an enhanced DNA damage response in elephants.

TP53 copy number expansion is associated with the evolution of increased body size and an enhanced DNA damage response in elephants (2016)
Journal Article

A major constraint on the evolution of large body sizes in animals is an increased risk of developing cancer. There is no correlation, however, between body size and cancer risk. This lack of correlation is often referred to as 'Peto's Paradox'. Here... Read More about TP53 copy number expansion is associated with the evolution of increased body size and an enhanced DNA damage response in elephants.