tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/wild-mammals-18708/articlesWild mammals – The Conversation2021-11-23T13:30:30Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1663972021-11-23T13:30:30Z2021-11-23T13:30:30ZScientist at work: Endangered ocelots and their genetic diversity may benefit from artificial insemination<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432290/original/file-20211116-25-1e4gv3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1384%2C1010%2C3607%2C2267&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Wild ocelots hunt alone at night.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/ocelot-is-hunting-at-night-at-the-san-francisco-ranch-in-news-photo/1219080513">Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The female ocelot lay anesthetized on the exam table, behind the scenes at the Albuquerque Biopark Zoo. As a veterinarian on the team preparing to artificially inseminate this animal, my palms were sweating at the thought of missing a step, dropping the sperm sample, or finding out our sample did not survive freezing. Any of these possibilities would end the procedure.</p>
<p>It was the first time anyone was trying to produce a pregnancy in a zoo-born female ocelot using sperm recovered from a deceased wild male ocelot. If the July 2021 operation worked, it would give his genes a way to live on past his death. This procedure was an important step in efforts to conserve endangered cat species so they can persist into the future.</p>
<p>Ocelots are medium-sized felines weighing around 20 to 30 pounds (9 to 13 kilograms) with sleek spotted coats. Their diet consists of small mammals, rodents, amphibians, reptiles and birds. Ocelots are primarily solitary cats, most active in the evening from dusk to dawn.</p>
<p>While people manage zoo-housed ocelots’ reproduction to maintain genetic diversity, it’s a different story for their wild relatives. There are <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T11509A50653476.en">currently only 50 to 80 ocelots</a> (<em>Leopardus pardalis</em>) known to exist in the wild in the U.S., and that population is too small to be sustainable long term. <a href="https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/4474">These endangered animals</a> face ongoing threats of habitat loss and fragmentation, and vehicle strikes. And because of their diminished numbers, they are at risk of inbreeding. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432291/original/file-20211116-17-y7xeen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="street sign warning of ocelot crossing" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432291/original/file-20211116-17-y7xeen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432291/original/file-20211116-17-y7xeen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432291/original/file-20211116-17-y7xeen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432291/original/file-20211116-17-y7xeen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432291/original/file-20211116-17-y7xeen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432291/original/file-20211116-17-y7xeen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432291/original/file-20211116-17-y7xeen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">With so few individuals left in the wild in the U.S., each ocelot hit by a car could affect the species’ survival.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/ocelot-crossing-road-sign-royalty-free-image/855966216">kzubrycki/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span>
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<p>Over the past 25 years, scientists at the <a href="http://cincinnatizoo.org/conservation/crew/">Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife</a>, or CREW, led by veterinarian Bill Swanson, have been working on technologies that may eventually help add some more genetic diversity to the wild ocelot population. They’ve <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/rda.12069">developed and refined techniques</a> for sperm collection, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1530/jrf.0.1060087">frozen storage</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1095/biolreprod.112.105353">artificial insemination of ocelots</a> and other endangered cat species.</p>
<p>These innovations have played a key role in sustaining the genetic diversity of cat populations within zoos. Now, we’re trying to go a step further and apply these techniques in wild ocelots.</p>
<p>By creating gene flow among zoo-based ocelots and wild ocelots in different regions, we can increase the genetic diversity of both populations. With wild ocelots, we hope to combat their declining ability to produce offspring, fight infection and maintain adequate numbers in the wild for conservation of the species in the U.S.</p>
<h2>Salvaging sperm to increase diversity</h2>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=JyYbknYAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">As a recently graduated veterinarian</a>, I joined my mentor, Debra Miller, at the University of Tennessee’s Comparative and Experimental Medicine Department and in her work at UT’s Center for Wildlife Health. From there, my interests in wildlife conservation led me to this multi-institutional collaboration focusing on the conservation of wild Texas ocelots.</p>
<p>This project relies on the routine collection and freezing of semen from wild ocelots in the field – usually living animals, but sometimes ones that have been found dead. Our semen stockpile lets us preserve genetic material even if these cats are killed by disease, natural disasters or road collisions.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430877/original/file-20211108-19-fkek42.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="tanks containing many frozen animal semen samples" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430877/original/file-20211108-19-fkek42.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430877/original/file-20211108-19-fkek42.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430877/original/file-20211108-19-fkek42.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430877/original/file-20211108-19-fkek42.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430877/original/file-20211108-19-fkek42.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430877/original/file-20211108-19-fkek42.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430877/original/file-20211108-19-fkek42.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The CREW CryoBioBank at the Cincinnati Zoo currently holds over 20,000 total semen samples from 82 animal species ranging from elephants to salamanders – including 30 cat species/subspecies – at temperatures of -320 F (-196 C) in liquid nitrogen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tom Uhlman</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p>For the artificial insemination procedure this past summer, the sperm donor was <a href="https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/ocelot/">a Texas ocelot</a> that died after being hit by a car. While this male’s death was a tragedy, there is a chance his genes may live on in future offspring thanks to the quick report of his death and the retrieval, shipping and processing of his gonads.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430875/original/file-20211108-21-1kd1vi0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Placing cryovial of animal semen in a storage tank" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430875/original/file-20211108-21-1kd1vi0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430875/original/file-20211108-21-1kd1vi0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=708&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430875/original/file-20211108-21-1kd1vi0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=708&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430875/original/file-20211108-21-1kd1vi0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=708&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430875/original/file-20211108-21-1kd1vi0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=890&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430875/original/file-20211108-21-1kd1vi0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=890&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430875/original/file-20211108-21-1kd1vi0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=890&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Thirteen 0.25-milliliter semen straws are in each goblet tube within the canisters inside the frozen storage tank.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tom Uhlman</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Back at CREW in Cincinnati, Bill Swanson worked to recover the cat’s sperm for future artificial insemination procedures. He froze 20 plastic straws, each containing about 8 million viable sperm. In addition to this deceased male, I have collected and cryopreserved semen from several living wild males for future use. </p>
<p>By testing thawed semen, our team has found that many of these sperm samples were capable of fertilizing cat eggs in vitro. The next step is figuring out whether the frozen wild ocelot semen really can produce kittens via artificial insemination. So Swanson packed up three frozen straws to ship to Albuquerque in a liquid nitrogen dry shipper tank to make sure they remain at -320 F (-196 C) throughout the journey.</p>
<h2>After the thaw, hoping for kittens</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/zoo.1010">Ocelots are induced ovulators</a>, meaning <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.theriogenology.2006.03.011">a female must mate in order to release an egg</a> into her reproductive tract. The female we were working with was treated with hormones to help her ovulate at the proper time relative to the insemination procedure. The relief was overwhelming when we confirmed, by laparoscopically looking at the surface of the ovary, that the female had ovulated multiple eggs. </p>
<p>After thawing the semen straws, my excitement began to increase because we could see the deceased ocelot’s sperm swimming rapidly across a slide under the microscope. The sperm had survived the freezing and thawing process and was still in great shape.</p>
<p>I took multiple deep breaths to steady my hands as my smile spread from ear to ear. Bill Swanson positioned the insemination needle within each oviduct, I injected the sperm into both sides of the female’s reproductive tract, and the procedure was complete. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, although the female responded well to the ovulation synchronization protocol, and the artificial insemination procedure was performed without a hitch, she did not conceive. That’s not an uncommon outcome when <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-4320(00)00099-3">using frozen semen</a>.</p>
<p>However, we are optimistic that future procedures – using semen samples from this specific male and other frozen samples from living, wild ocelots – will successfully produce pregnancies. By the end of 2021, we plan to conduct two additional artificial insemination procedures with zoo-managed ocelots, followed by three or four more in 2022.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431082/original/file-20211109-27-zdrke4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="leashed ocelot stands atop cryo tanks" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431082/original/file-20211109-27-zdrke4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431082/original/file-20211109-27-zdrke4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=772&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431082/original/file-20211109-27-zdrke4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=772&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431082/original/file-20211109-27-zdrke4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=772&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431082/original/file-20211109-27-zdrke4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=970&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431082/original/file-20211109-27-zdrke4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=970&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431082/original/file-20211109-27-zdrke4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=970&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sihil the ocelot began life as a frozen embryo in one of these liquid nitrogen cold storage tanks. Kittens born via artificial insemination will be the next step.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tom Uhlman</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>If any of these artificial insemination procedures result in the birth of offspring, it will be the first time kittens have been produced with frozen semen from a wild ocelot. They’ll add greater diversity to the ocelot population managed in North American zoos, while improving our understanding of possibilities for increasing genetic diversity within wild ocelot populations. This success would help demonstrate the feasibility of producing kittens using frozen semen from the endangered Texas ocelot population.</p>
<p>Further refinement of the knowledge and techniques to create genetic exchange between wild and zoo-managed ocelot populations or among wild ocelot populations living in fragmented habitats will help ensure that these animals survive into the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166397/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ashley Reeves is a PhD student within the University of Tennessee Comparative and Experimental Medicine Department and The Center for Wildlife Health. She receives funding from The University of Tennessee and The East Foundation. </span></em></p>There are so few wild ocelots in the US that the cats are becoming inbred, with a bad prognosis for their ultimate survival. But researchers are perfecting ways to get new genes into the population.Ashley Reeves, DVM, PhD Candidate in Comparative and Experimental Medicine, University of TennesseeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/894322018-01-09T14:55:51Z2018-01-09T14:55:51ZHow to stop the humble hedgehog disappearing from British gardens and countryside forever<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200676/original/file-20180103-26145-1k3gyfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Where have all the hedgehogs gone?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When the humble hedgehog was crowned “<a href="http://www.discoverwildlife.com/british-wildlife/britains-national-species-revealed">Britain’s national species</a>” in a BBC Wildlife Magazine poll and “<a href="https://www.rsb.org.uk/news/14-news/1649-hedgehog-wins-favourite-uk-mammal-poll">Britain’s favourite mammal</a>” in a Royal Society of Biology poll, no doubt, sentimentalised memories of Beatrix Potter’s <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tale-Tiggy-Winkle-Beatrix-Potter-Originals/dp/0723247757">The Tale of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle</a>, played a role in swaying public opinion. </p>
<p>Ecologist and author Hugh Warwick <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4thqtHG8qfMzfhhKjB8kyLf/how-beatrix-potter-is-helping-to-save-britains-hedgehogs">explained how</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Beatrix Potter managed to sprinkle some magic over the hedgehog, transforming it into the irresistible companion of our gardens. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>But despite their popularity, hedgehogs are now something of a rare sight in British gardens – and are in fact <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/feb/06/hedgehogs-now-a-rare-garden-sight-as-british-populations-continue-to-decline">disappearing at the same rate as tigers worldwide</a>. Rural hedgehogs in the UK have halved in number since 2000, while urban hedgehogs have declined by a third. More widely, UK hedgehog numbers have dropped from an estimated 30m in the 1950s to under a million today. </p>
<p>So what’s to blame? We are. Well, the changing lifestyles and tastes of people, to be precise. Farming methods have changed dramatically over recent years – becoming increasingly intensive. This has led to the removal of many hedges, an important habitat for the British hedgehog. It has also had negative implications on <a href="https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/about-hedgehogs/diet/">their main diet</a> of worms, beetles, slugs, caterpillars, earwigs and millipedes.</p>
<p>It is also a fact that badgers eat hedgehogs and also compete with them for food. The <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-00378-3">estimated badger population</a> in England and Wales has risen from 250,000 in the 1980s to 485,000 in 2017 and various <a href="https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00078.x">studies</a> have shown the presence of <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0095477">badgers</a> can have a negative impact on <a href="https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Hedgehog-10-year-strategy-master-document-v5.pdf">hedgehog density</a>.</p>
<p>In 2018, the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-30130-4">first field-based national survey of hedgehogs</a> found:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Hedgehog occupancy was low (22% nationally), and significantly negatively related to badger sett density and positively related to the built environment. Hedgehogs were also absent from 71% of sites that had no badger setts, indicating that large areas of the rural landscape are not occupied by hedgehogs.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-30130-4">The authors of the study concluded</a>: “future work must…focus on identifying the exact biological mechanism(s) by which badgers negatively impact hedgehogs, and how these impacts can be managed effectively to promote the co-existence of these species”.</p>
<p>The country’s roads are also busier. <a href="http://www.mammal.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/RoadDeaths2001Report.pdf">Hedgehog road deaths</a> are estimated to exceed 100,000 a year in Britain. Road networks also cut through habitats leaving hedgehogs isolated, while our gardens are increasingly becoming more humanised. Lawns have been turned into tarmac for cars, foliage has been torn out, decking added, garden borders peppered with slug pellets, and hedges replaced by impenetrable fences and walls. All of which mean that hedgehogs are not only losing their habitats, but also their chances of survival.</p>
<h2>Hedgehog friendly gardens</h2>
<p>The plight is such that the <a href="https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/">British Hedgehog Preservation Society</a> and <a href="https://ptes.org/campaigns/hedgehogs/">People’s Trust for Endangered Species</a> launched <a href="https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/about-hedgehogs/how-many-hedgehogs-are-left/">Hedgehog Street</a> in 2011 to encourage people to champion the species and its habitat. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200680/original/file-20180103-26169-1iclnn0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200680/original/file-20180103-26169-1iclnn0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200680/original/file-20180103-26169-1iclnn0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200680/original/file-20180103-26169-1iclnn0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200680/original/file-20180103-26169-1iclnn0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200680/original/file-20180103-26169-1iclnn0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200680/original/file-20180103-26169-1iclnn0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200680/original/file-20180103-26169-1iclnn0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hedgehog feeding station.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.facebook.com/hedgehogsociety/photos/a.442940415835.239724.273196350835/273201305835/?type=3&theater">British Hedgehog Preservation Society Facebook</a></span>
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<p>At the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show in 2014, designer <a href="https://www.thirdsector.co.uk/hedgehog-friendly-garden-hampton-court-palace/article/1304592">Tracy Foster</a> made <a href="https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/hamptoncourt/">Hedgehog Street a reality</a>, creating a summer garden to demonstrate “how neighbours can work together to help hedgehogs by providing routes through garden boundaries”. Sharing slogans such as “no one garden is enough” and “make a hole, make a difference”, the hedgehog haven won People’s Choice for Best Small Garden and the coveted RHS Gold medal. The first <a href="http://www.housebeautiful.co.uk/garden/news/a1608/permanent-hedgehog-street-garden-wildlife-rhs/">permanent Hedgehog Street garden</a> was unveiled at RHS Harlow Carr, in North Yorkshire in April 2017.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200678/original/file-20180103-26157-1074ykf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200678/original/file-20180103-26157-1074ykf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200678/original/file-20180103-26157-1074ykf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200678/original/file-20180103-26157-1074ykf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200678/original/file-20180103-26157-1074ykf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200678/original/file-20180103-26157-1074ykf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=744&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200678/original/file-20180103-26157-1074ykf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=744&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200678/original/file-20180103-26157-1074ykf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=744&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hedgehog highways.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/made-hole-fence-hedgehogs-yet/">Hedgehog Street/www.hedgehogstreet.org</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To make your garden a haven for hedgehogs doesn’t take a lot. Log piles, compost heaps, leaf piles, overgrown corners, wildflower patches, all help. As do gently sloping ponds, feeding stations, and specially made hedgehog houses. </p>
<p>But as “no single garden can offer everything they need”, make “holes for hogs” a community thing. Connect with your neighbours and think of your garden as a hedgehog highway – square holes in fences and walls – 13cm wide to be exact – allow for their safe passage. These changes can be made straight away, but be careful not to disturb hidden hedgehogs, as they hibernate until spring.</p>
<p>As well as ensuring there is hedgehog access in your garden, there are a wide range of small steps you can take to help save hedgehog lives. Checking compost heaps before digging with a fork, and checking long grass before using strimmers or mowers will stop horrific injuries. Moving piles of rubbish to a new site before burning and checking bonfires before lighting, will prevent deaths by burning. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"926559403117072384"}"></div></p>
<p>Keeping netting at a safe height will avoid tangling and starvation. Stopping (or reducing) the use of pesticides and slug pellets will stop (or reduce) poisoning. Providing an easy route out of ponds and pools will prevent drowning. And, responsibly disposing of litter will reduce hedgehogs getting <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-18195580">trapped in tins</a>, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-34918950">rubber bands</a> and <a href="http://metro.co.uk/2017/12/06/throw-mcdonalds-rubbish-street-youre-responsible-harold-looking-like-7137932/">McFlurry lids</a>.</p>
<p>All of this is important, because the humble hedgehog is more fragile than its prickly exterior suggests. And if we want to continue experiencing their rustling and shuffling in the undergrowth, snuffles and snorts in the hedgerows, and foraging on the lawn before sunset, it is our responsibility to save them. </p>
<p>*<em>This article was updated Monday 18 May 2020 to look at badgers in terms of predation and competition</em>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89432/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Allen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Worldwide, hedgehogs are disappearing at the same rate as tigers.Daniel Allen, Animal Geographer, Keele UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/642542016-08-31T13:15:41Z2016-08-31T13:15:41ZGenetic studies may hold the key to saving west and central Africa’s lions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135928/original/image-20160830-28244-1190wuj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">African lions were all considered to belong to a single subspecies but new research refutes that.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Laura Bertola</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tropical rain forests, dry deserts and mountainous vistas: Africa is home to all of these very different ecosystems and more. Its varied ecosystems provide a habitat for numerous species, and the continent harbours a great richness of biodiversity.</p>
<p>But within species, there is another level of biodiversity: genetic variation. Even within species, there are wildly different populations. These are studied in the growing field of <a href="http://tolweb.org/treehouses/?treehouse_id=4383">phylogeography</a>. This science explores the distribution of genetic diversity, or the extent of different genetic lineages, in the context of geography. The formation of mountain ranges or islands, or the extension of rivers or forests, all influence the distribution of species: from trees, to tiny flying insects – to top predators like the lion. </p>
<p>Understanding species at this level is vitally important in the fight against extinction. Genetic diversity includes the evolutionary potential, referring to the genetic blue print that allows a species to adjust to a changing environment. If genetic diversity is lost, for example, when unique genetic lineages go extinct, it means that the species loses part of its adaptability. This makes species more vulnerable to extinction.</p>
<h2>New research paints a different picture of the lion</h2>
<p>Earlier <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0137975">research</a> has shown that lions in west and central Africa deviate from their counterparts in east and southern Africa. This, despite the fact that all African lions are considered to belong to a single subspecies. </p>
<p>In a new <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/srep30807">publication</a>, a new magnitude of data was gathered analysing lion populations from 22 countries. This data set includes samples from each confirmed lion population in west and central Africa. This region is particularly important because lions and other wildlife are declining. As a result, it is a major concern for conservation <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140108-west-african-lions-endangered-conservation-science/">projects</a>.</p>
<p>The data helped discern six lineages in the lion. These can be divided into two major groups:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>A northern group, containing lions from west Africa, central Africa and the Asiatic subspecies.</p></li>
<li><p>A southern group, containing lions from north east Africa, east/southern Africa and south west Africa. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Based on genetic data it was also possible to calculate the timing of this split, based on the notion that differences in the DNA accumulate over time. It was estimated that the major split may have occurred around 300,000 years ago. This estimate allows us to explore further what happened during this period which could explain the differentiation between these two groups of lions.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135777/original/image-20160829-17862-e7tvnh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135777/original/image-20160829-17862-e7tvnh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135777/original/image-20160829-17862-e7tvnh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135777/original/image-20160829-17862-e7tvnh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135777/original/image-20160829-17862-e7tvnh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135777/original/image-20160829-17862-e7tvnh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135777/original/image-20160829-17862-e7tvnh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135777/original/image-20160829-17862-e7tvnh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">New research shows the differentiation in lion genetics came about from the expansion of African rain forests around 300,000 years ago.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Reasons for differentiation</h2>
<p>The researchers suggest that during this period the African rain forest expanded and probably formed a barrier for lion dispersal. Cyclical expansion of rain forest on one side and dry desert on the other side may have pushed lion populations into isolated pockets of suitable habitat. And this led to the genetic differentiation we still see today. </p>
<p>Another <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235635309_Climate_envelope_models_suggest_spatio-temporal_co-occurrence_of_refugia_of_African_birds_and_mammals">study</a>, which used habitat suitability models for mammal and bird species, predicted six regions that maintained a suitable habitat during historic periods of climate change. These six regions correspond directly with the six genetic lineages found in the lion. This suggests that the high resolution phylogeographic pattern found in the lion is illustrative for a range of species. </p>
<p>Since these climatic changes didn’t just act on the lion. A large variety of species like giraffe, buffalo, cheetah and spotted hyena were also affected. The recent publication used the case of the lion to compare it to available data sets of other Savannah mammals. It showed that a large number of species have a similar pattern in which populations from west and central Africa deviated from populations in east and southern Africa. </p>
<p>This is an important finding because it shows that we will lose important and unique biodiversity if we fail to preserve the populations in this region.</p>
<h2>Challenging times</h2>
<p>In July a delegation of the west and central African lion conservation network, <a href="http://www.rocal-lion.org/">ROCAL</a>, travelled to Botswana to explore opportunities for <a href="http://leofoundation.org/en/study-trip-to-botswana/">collaboration</a>. There are large differences between parts of west/central Africa and parts of east/southern Africa in terms of ecology, politics and their socioeconomic situations. These differences present many challenges. But they are also a source of opportunities for west and central African countries to market their unique situation, both in terms of natural and cultural diversity.</p>
<p>In addition, during the <a href="http://www.iucnworldconservationcongress.org/">IUCN World Conservation Congress</a> in September 2016, a delegation of researchers who were also involved in the publication will propose to set up a Species Action Partnership for west and central Africa. The hope is that this will facilitate coordination and funding of projects in the region.</p>
<p>Phylogeographic data sets show why it’s necessary to move beyond the idea merely of preserving a species. Genetic data can be used to develop a conservation plan that incorporates the full scope of biodiversity. Failure to do so could see the African continent lose a unique part of its richness in the next few decades.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64254/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Bertola does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>African lions were initially thought to belong to a single subspecies but new research shows that there is more diversity on the African continent.Laura Bertola, Researcher in Conservation Genetics, Phylogeny/Phylogeography, Population Genetics/Genomics and Environmental DNA, Leiden UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/598932016-05-26T20:10:17Z2016-05-26T20:10:17ZNot in my backyard? How to live alongside flying-foxes in urban Australia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124109/original/image-20160526-16694-2p7t7r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ruling the roost: flying-foxes can suddenly arrive in huge numbers when the right trees bloom.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Justin Welbergen</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The conflict between urbanites and wildlife recently developed a new battleground: the small coastal New South Wales town of Batemans Bay, where the exceptional flowering of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corymbia_maculata">spotted gums</a> has attracted a huge influx of <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=186">grey-headed flying-foxes</a> from across Australia’s southeast. </p>
<p>In response to intense and highly publicised <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-15/flying-foxes/7330052">community concern</a>, federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt has <a href="http://www.greghunt.com.au/Media/MediaReleases/tabid/86/ID/3777/Coalition-Plan-To-Tackle-Batemans-Bays-Flying-Fox-Problem.aspx">announced</a> he will seek an immediate National Interest Exemption to facilitate dispersal of these bats – a move that risks undermining legal protections afforded to this and other threatened species. </p>
<p>Similar conflicts are occurring elsewhere in NSW, such as the Hunter region, where some unscrupulous members of the public <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/nsw-bat-plague-firefighters-extinguish-suspicious-blaze-at-cessnock-bat-camp-20160522-gp16wl.html">lit a fire in a flying-fox roost at Cessnock</a>.</p>
<p>With the <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0023777">ongoing expansion of the human urban footprint</a>, animals are increasingly confronted with urban environments. Human encroachment into natural habitats generally negatively affects biodiversity. However, urban landscapes can present wildlife with an irresistible lure of reliable food supplies and other resources. While urban wildlife can provide a range of benefits to <a href="http://www.publish.csiro.au/?paper=WR14229">health and wellbeing</a>, it can also be cause for frustration and conflict. </p>
<p>Urban human-wildlife conflict is a growing area of <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0964830500000457">management concern</a> and <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000632071200287X">scientific research</a>. But the research suggests that the current strategies for addressing NSW’s conflicts between humans and flying-foxes might not have the intended results.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124099/original/image-20160526-16700-1bnyoms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124099/original/image-20160526-16700-1bnyoms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124099/original/image-20160526-16700-1bnyoms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124099/original/image-20160526-16700-1bnyoms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124099/original/image-20160526-16700-1bnyoms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124099/original/image-20160526-16700-1bnyoms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124099/original/image-20160526-16700-1bnyoms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124099/original/image-20160526-16700-1bnyoms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Flying-foxes increasingly find themselves in urban areas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Justin Welbergen</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Ruling the urban roost</h2>
<p>Australian flying-foxes are becoming <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0109810">more urbanised</a>, and the noise, smell and droppings from their roosts can have huge impacts on local residents. </p>
<p>A fundamental problem underlying current approaches to urban roosts is a lack of understanding of the extraordinary mobility of flying-foxes. They are some of the most mobile animals in Australia, with movements that range from foraging trips of up to 120 km in a single night to <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3411823/">long-distance nomadism</a> covering thousands of kilometres in a single year.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124124/original/image-20160526-22063-euopij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124124/original/image-20160526-22063-euopij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124124/original/image-20160526-22063-euopij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124124/original/image-20160526-22063-euopij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124124/original/image-20160526-22063-euopij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124124/original/image-20160526-22063-euopij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124124/original/image-20160526-22063-euopij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124124/original/image-20160526-22063-euopij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nomadic movements of an adult female grey-headed flying-fox, tracked over a period of four years and currently at Batemans Bay.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Martin & Justin Welbergen, unpublished</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While roosts can remain active for decades, they are more like backpacker hostels than stable households, housing a constantly changing clientele that comes to visit local attractions. Roosts are connected into large networks through which flying-foxes move in response to changes in local food resources. </p>
<p>This explains the sudden influx in places such as Batemans Bay where preferred food suddenly becomes abundant. But it also highlights the importance of a national approach to flying-fox management and conservation.</p>
<p>Intense local flowerings of Eucalypts, such as spotted gums, produce copious amounts of nectar and pollen, which attract large numbers of flying-foxes and other species for several weeks. When a relatively small local flying-fox population that is tolerated by its human neighbours suddenly increases tenfold, it can place severe pressure on the local community. </p>
<p>Despite their transient nature, these influxes are often wrongly interpreted as population explosions, leading to calls for <a href="https://theconversation.com/culling-flying-foxes-is-ineffective-so-why-suggest-slaughter-9817">culling</a>. In comparison, more humane tactics – such as using loud noise or vegetation removal to disperse the flying-foxes – can seem like a more balanced response. But does dispersal actually work?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124104/original/image-20160526-16688-1c6goin.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124104/original/image-20160526-16688-1c6goin.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124104/original/image-20160526-16688-1c6goin.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124104/original/image-20160526-16688-1c6goin.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124104/original/image-20160526-16688-1c6goin.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124104/original/image-20160526-16688-1c6goin.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124104/original/image-20160526-16688-1c6goin.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124104/original/image-20160526-16688-1c6goin.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Council workers in Charters Towers, Queensland, using ‘foggers’ to disperse flying-foxes from a local roost.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australasian Bats Society</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Shifting the problem elsewhere</h2>
<p>There is now <a href="http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/animals/flying-fox-2014-subs/flyingfoxsub-jenny-beatson-part2.pdf">ample evidence</a> to show that dispersals are extremely costly and can exacerbate the very human-wildlife conflict that they aim to resolve. </p>
<p>Most dispersals result in the flying-foxes returning the original roost as soon as the dispersal program ends, because naïve new individuals continue to arrive from elsewhere. Overcoming this can take months or years of repeated daily dispersal. </p>
<p>Other dispersals result in flying-foxes establishing new roosts a few hundred metres away, typically within the same urban environment in locations that we cannot control. This risks shifting the problem to previously unaffected members of a community and to other communities nearby.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124103/original/image-20160526-16665-2ijtjf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124103/original/image-20160526-16665-2ijtjf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124103/original/image-20160526-16665-2ijtjf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124103/original/image-20160526-16665-2ijtjf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124103/original/image-20160526-16665-2ijtjf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124103/original/image-20160526-16665-2ijtjf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124103/original/image-20160526-16665-2ijtjf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124103/original/image-20160526-16665-2ijtjf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Former flying-fox roost at Boonah, Queensland, that contained thousands of flying-foxes before it was destroyed in June 2014.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Justin Welbergen</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While flying-foxes are often portrayed as <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/stink-over-flying-foxes-as-hunter-residents-look-to-bat-pests-away-20121005-274pi.html">noisy pests</a>, they serve our economic interest by providing irreplaceable <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1523-1739.1991.tb00352.x/abstract">pollination and seed-dispersal services</a> for free. What’s more, those same bats that annoy people during the day work tirelessly at night to maintain the health of our fragmented forests and natural ecosystems. </p>
<p>So it is in our national interest to manage conflict at urban roosts, by using approaches that balance community concerns with environmental considerations.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124107/original/image-20160526-16685-kk47vo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124107/original/image-20160526-16685-kk47vo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124107/original/image-20160526-16685-kk47vo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124107/original/image-20160526-16685-kk47vo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124107/original/image-20160526-16685-kk47vo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124107/original/image-20160526-16685-kk47vo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124107/original/image-20160526-16685-kk47vo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124107/original/image-20160526-16685-kk47vo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Flying-foxes perform irreplaceable ecological roles in our natural environment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Steve Parish</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To be considered “successful”, a dispersal should permanently reduce conflict to a level that is acceptable to the community without causing significant harm to the animals. However, dispersals are currently implemented at the local council level with <a href="http://www.ehp.qld.gov.au/wildlife/livingwith/flyingfoxes/pdf/cp-wl-ff-roost-management.pdf">little or no monitoring</a> of the impacts in or outside the immediately affected area. This makes it hard to assess whether they have been successful. </p>
<p>For example, it is not uncommon for flowering to cease and flying-fox numbers to decline naturally during the period of active dispersal. This gives the community a false sense that a permanent solution has been achieved, when in fact the issues will recur the next time the trees blossom. There is thus an urgent need for urban roosts to be managed with properly defined and applied criteria for success. </p>
<h2>Evidence-based management</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, lack of research effort directed at “<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-research-funding-flows-to-big-and-beautiful-mammals-in-australia-56143">ugly</a>” and “<a href="https://theconversation.com/conservation-shouldnt-be-a-popularity-contest-3529">less popular</a>” Australian animals means that very few evidence-based management tools are available to deal with contentious roosts. </p>
<p>Research targeting a few key areas would greatly help efforts to improve urban roost management. For instance, we do not know how flying-foxes choose their roost sites, which leaves us unable to design “carrot solutions” by creating more attractive roost sites elsewhere. </p>
<p>Intensive tree-flowering events are relatively infrequent and hard to predict. This means that it is difficult to prepare communities for a sudden influx of flying-foxes. </p>
<p>Furthermore, the acceptability of various flying-fox management options differs between sections of the community, so it is difficult to find optimal solutions. Social scientists are currently trying to help identify priority areas that promote long-term viability of flying-foxes while also easing conflict with humans. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124131/original/image-20160526-22083-29p4wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124131/original/image-20160526-22083-29p4wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124131/original/image-20160526-22083-29p4wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124131/original/image-20160526-22083-29p4wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124131/original/image-20160526-22083-29p4wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124131/original/image-20160526-22083-29p4wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124131/original/image-20160526-22083-29p4wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The extreme mobility of flying-foxes means that a uniform federal approach for management is needed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Justin Welbergen/WildPhotos.org</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Local, state and federal governments continue to allocate considerable funds for dispersal responses, even though such actions are high-risk activities for local communities and are unlikely to provide long-term solutions. We argue strongly that targeted research is needed to better inform land managers and affected communities of flying-fox ecology and provide them with low-cost, low-risk, evidence-based tools for dealing with urban roosts. </p>
<p>Flying-foxes don’t care about legislative borders, and state-based responsibility for wildlife management leads to discontinuity in approaches between jurisdictions. While flying-foxes are being <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/species/flying-fox-monitoring">monitored at the national scale</a>, this initiative needs to be combined with a uniform federal approach for managing flying-foxes in our human landscapes. Otherwise, conflicts such as those faced by the residents of Batemans Bay will continue unabated.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/59893/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Justin Welbergen is President of the Australasian Bat Society, a not-for-profit organisation that aims to promote the conservation of bats, and receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peggy Eby represents the scientific community on the NSW Flying-Fox Consultative Committee, a not-for-profit stakeholder group that assists government in developing strategies for conserving and managing flying-foxes in NSW. She works as an ecological consultant to government and industry.</span></em></p>Flying-foxes can cause conflict - just ask the people of Batemans Bay, NSW. But plans to disperse them won’t necessarily work without understanding these highly mobile animals’ behaviour.Justin A. Welbergen, Senior Lecturer in Animal Ecology, Western Sydney UniversityPeggy Eby, Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Centre for Ecosystem Science, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/425002015-07-17T04:33:16Z2015-07-17T04:33:16ZWhat animals can teach us about stress<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88669/original/image-20150716-5099-uduzqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Guppies who are under constant threat of predation do worse than those who live without predators</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Humans, being essentially self-centred, want to know what makes them different from their wild relatives, as well as what similarities exist. But it’s not just a matter of curiosity. Other species can teach us a lot about the big issues that challenge us in modern society.</p>
<p>Stress is seen as a pervasive modern-day <a href="http://alphabioticinfo.com/UnderstandingStress.aspx">killer</a>. It has an impact on everything from our intestinal processes to our cherished cognitive performance. But stress is not a modern thing. All animals stress about predators, hunger, and lack of sex. So, what can we learn from them?</p>
<p>If there were a sweet spot – the optimal stress level – at which most stressed animals show peak cognitive performance we could possibly use the information to modulate our own stress and mental feats. And it would be brilliant if we could develop a deep understanding of how wild animals perform under varying levels of risk, given that they have evolved to deal with these over millions of years. </p>
<p>Studying the link between stress and cognitive performance, however, is hampered by many challenges. Although our methods of measuring stress have improved dramatically in recent years, outside the lab it’s still very difficult to contrast chronic stress from, say, a long drought, versus acute stress, such as the presence of a predator. Or linking our measures of stress to wild animals’ learning and memory skills. </p>
<p>We’re only just scratching at the surface of this problem. </p>
<h2>Not stressing the animals</h2>
<p>The study of stress itself is coming into its <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022395614003586">own</a>. Traditionally, researchers actually increased their study subjects’ stress levels by the collection of blood used to measure circulating stress hormone (cortisol) levels. More recently, though, we have been given a barrage of less invasive tools with which to measure animals’ anxiety. </p>
<p>Perhaps the most widely used technique is to extract hormonal data from fecal samples. There is no need to catch or handle the animal. By happy coincidence <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2506605">stressed animals</a> produce even more poo than their calm counterparts. Fecal hormones have certainly confirmed many of our suspicions. Animals become more stressed when they are <a href="http://sciencenordic.com/iguana-faeces-reveal-stress">handled</a> and in captive conditions like zoos. They also find losing a friend very <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/02/0221_060221_baboon_grief.html">stressful</a>.</p>
<p>There have also been some surprise findings. It may seem obvious that being a subordinate animal is stressful, but research on baboons shows that <a href="http://www.wired.com/2011/07/baboon-stress/">alpha males</a> may actually be the ones heading for a stomach ulcer.</p>
<p>Another way of indirectly assessing anxiety is by measuring changes in how much food wild animals leave behind in experimental feeding patches. The idea is that a relaxed animal will eat more of the food than an anxious individual, leaving behind more food. This is called the giving up <a href="http://fwf.ag.utk.edu/mgray/wfs512/SeminarSP11/Hagy.pdf">density</a>. Experiments such as these allow us to clearly see how wild animals perceive variation in risk in their natural landscapes. </p>
<p>We know from Giving Up Density experiments that <a href="http://vividhvichaar.blogspot.com/2013/10/goading-goats-tourists-trigger-tension.html">Nubian ibex</a> perceive increased tourism as risky, while samango monkeys use human observers as <a href="http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/monkeys-use-researchers-human-shields">potential shields</a> against predators, eating much more food when their human “guards” are nearby. These same monkeys also feel much more threatened near the ground, compared to positions higher up under the tree canopies.</p>
<p>An even more exciting recent development is the measure of stress through thermal imagery. Researchers are knee-deep in the development of reliable techniques using thermal cameras to detect rapid changes in body surface <a href="http://www.gla.ac.uk/researchinstitutes/bahcm/staff/ruedinager/ruedinager/publications/headline_386284_en.html">temperatures</a>. </p>
<p>A spike in stress levels causes blood to shunt away from an animal’s body surface (may this be what gives us the chills when we panic?). Suddenly, and quite literally, the animal appears to be <a href="https://naturallyspeakingpodcast.wordpress.com/2015/06/24/stress-is-cool-the-movie/">cooler</a>. Armed with this knowledge, we may be able to monitor fluctuation in stress levels in real time.</p>
<p>With all of these tools at our disposal, you may imagine that we know everything there is to know about wild animals’ performance under pressure. Unfortunately we don’t.</p>
<h2>There is still a lot to learn</h2>
<p>Our knowledge of cognitive performance and stress is heavily skewed towards lab rats. A great deal has been learnt from them.</p>
<p>For example, experiments have shown some positive effects of stress on lab rats. Brief, acute stress can actually lead to an increase in neurons in rats’ <a href="http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/04/18/lab-research-finds-some-stress-is-healthy/53855.html">brains</a>. And rats who were stressed out as <a href="http://news.psu.edu/story/285020/2013/08/23/research/scientists-mimic-natural-conditions-lab-more-accurately-test-stress">teenagers</a> become more impulsive as adults, which can make them more effective foragers, especially under high risk conditions.</p>
<p>In some ways, these findings sound like great news. We can perhaps all relate to the idea that we perform rather well when the stressful situation is short-lived, but flunk out when the pressure is either non-existent or overwhelming. But what we can say about these very rodent-focused studies is that it’s time to move beyond rodents and beyond the lab. </p>
<h2>Moving past rodents</h2>
<p>Data are slowly trickling in. </p>
<p>Studies on wild animals appear to confirm the idea that long-term, chronic stressors can truly decrease your mental acuity. For example, a recent study on wild-caught <a href="http://www.pubfacts.com/detail/25245304/How-ecology-shapes-prey-fish-cognition">guppies</a> showed that those used to stress make a lot more mistakes in cognitive challenges compared to the relatively relaxed fish. </p>
<p>Left-handed <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166432815002028">marmosets</a>, which are the target of more social attacks and are therefore perhaps more chronically stressed, also show negative cognitive biases compared to their right-handed group members. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88670/original/image-20150716-5104-1oxu2rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88670/original/image-20150716-5104-1oxu2rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88670/original/image-20150716-5104-1oxu2rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88670/original/image-20150716-5104-1oxu2rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88670/original/image-20150716-5104-1oxu2rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88670/original/image-20150716-5104-1oxu2rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88670/original/image-20150716-5104-1oxu2rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Marmosets don’t function well cognitively in stressful situations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In my own lab we are trying to assess various ways in which varying risk can affect learning abilities. We are using Giving Up Density experiments to determine how well wild bat-eared foxes may perform in low-risk and high-risk situations.</p>
<p>The key to unlocking how animals deal with stress requires that we step off our pedestal and acknowledge that other animals may outdo us in some cognitive tasks. If we do this we may learn how to truly cope in our own rapidly changing landscape.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/42500/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aliza le Roux receives funding from the National Research Foundation (South Africa). She is affiliated with the University of the Free State's Qwaqwa campus, and member of the South African Young Academy of Science.</span></em></p>Humans can learn a thing or two from animals on how to deal with stress.Aliza le Roux, Associate Professor, University of the Free StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.