An integrative and multi-indicator approach for wildlife health applied to an endangered caribou herd
Fernández Aguilar, Xavier (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals)
Leclerc, Lisa-Marie (Government of Nunavut)
Association, Kugluktuk Angoniatit
Mavrot, Fabien (University of Calgary. Department of Ecosystem and Public Health)
Roberto-Charron, Amelie (Government of Nunavut)
Tomaselli, Matilde (Canadian High Arctic Research Station)
Mastromonaco, Gabriela (Toronto Zoo. Reproductive Science)
Gunn, Anne (CircumArctic Rangifer Monitoring and Assessment)
Pruvot, Mathieu (University of Calgary. Department of Ecosystem and Public Health)
Rothenburger, Jamie L. (Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative)
Thanthrige-Don, Niroshan (Canadian Food Inspection Agency)
Jahromi, Elham Zeini (Alberta Centre for Toxicology)
Kutz, Susan (University of Calgary. Department of Ecosystem and Public Health)

Data:	2023
Resum:	Assessing wildlife health in remote regions requires a multi-faceted approach, which commonly involves convenient samplings and the need of identifying and targeting relevant and informative indicators. We applied a novel wildlife health framework and critically assessed the value of diferent indicators for understanding the health status and trends of an endangered tundra caribou population. Samples and data from the Dolphin and Union caribou herd were obtained between 2015 and 2021, from community-based surveillance programs and from captured animals. We documented and categorized indicators into health determinants (infectious diseases and trace elements), processes (cortisol, pathology), and health outcomes (pregnancy and body condition). During a recent period of steep population decline, our results indicated a relatively good body condition and pregnancy rates, and decreasing levels of stress, along with a low adult cow survival. We detected multiple factors as potential contributors to the reduced survival, including Brucella suis biovar 4, Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae and lower hair trace minerals. These results remark the need of targeted studies to improve detection and investigations on caribou mortalities. We also identifed diferences in health indicators between captured and hunter sampled caribou, highlighting the importance of accounting for sampling biases. This integrative approach that drew on multiple data sources has provided unprecedented knowledge on the health in this herd and highlights the value of documenting individual animal health to understand causes of wildlife declines.
Drets:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Llengua:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada

DOI: 10.1101/2023.02.01.526641
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-41689-y
PMID: 37783688

14 p, 1.9 MB

El registre apareix a les col·leccions:
Articles > Articles de recerca
Articles > Articles publicats