RESUMEN

Scent rolling, a behaviour observed in various large carnivores like wolves, entails the animal lowering its chin and neck towards a scent, followed by rubbing the head, neck, shoulders, and back into it. This behaviour is prevalent among wolves exposed to diverse scents, though its exact purpose remains uncertain. In this study, captive wolves at Osijek Zoo responded differently to odours during olfactory enrichment sessions. In the initial year of this study, the highest level of interest, evidenced by both the frequency of responses and scent-rolling behaviour, was noted when the wolves encountered odours such as curry and rosemary, along with deer/mouflon and rat faeces. While certain odours, such as llama faeces and deer/mouflon faeces, garnered longer durations of interest in the second year of study, others, like guinea pig faeces and oregano, elicited shorter responses. Female wolves demonstrated a higher level of engagement with scents compared with males, particularly through scent rolling behaviour, which was exclusively observed in females during the second year of this study. Interestingly, certain odours did not trigger scent rolling, suggesting selective preferences. On the other hand, sheep's wool induced the longest duration of scent rolling, and a lack of significant differences in behaviour was observed between morning and afternoon sessions. Despite the existence of multiple hypotheses put forward to explain the causation of scent rolling in wolves, it seems to be elicited by unfamiliar odours.

RESUMEN

Leishmaniasis in wild canids is a vector-borne disease caused in Europe by the protozoan parasite Leishmania infantum. To date, there is limited information on clinical signs and laboratory abnormalities in wolves due to leishmaniasis. The current clinical case report described a female Iberian wolf (Canis lupus signatus) housed in semi-captivity conditions at the Centro del Lobo Ibérico "Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente", in Robledo de Sanabria, Zamora (Spain), with an interdigital ulcerous wound at the right forepaw, hyper-gammaglobulinemia, and abnormal liver blood parameters. Definitive serodiagnosis of leishmaniasis was established using antileishmanial serum antibodies and PCR analysis of different biological samples. A gold-standard anti-L. infantum treatment protocol consisting in subcutaneous meglumine antimoniate and oral allopurinol combination was installed. However, the presence of pain at the site of injection due to meglumine antimoniate administration forced its substitution by oral miltefosine. A progressive reduction of the levels of anti-L. infantum serum antibodies and the concentrations of gamma-globulin fraction was detected after antileishmanial treatment as well as a decline of liver GPT. To our knowledge, this is the first case of leishmaniasis diagnosed in a wolf housed in semi-captivity conditions, with the condition subsequently treated and successfully cured.

RESUMEN

To survive and reproduce, animals need to behave adaptively by adjusting their behavior to their environment, with learning facilitating some of these processes. Dogs have become a go-to model species in comparative cognition studies, making our understanding of their learning skills paramount at multiple levels, not only with regards to basic research on their cognitive skills and the effects of domestication, but also with applied purposes such as training. In order to tackle these issues, we tested similarly raised wolves and dogs in a serial learning task inspired by Harlow's "learning set." In Phase 1, different pairs of objects were presented to the animals, one of which was baited while the other was not. Both species' performance gradually improved with each new set of objects, showing that they "learnt to learn," but no differences were found between the species in their learning speed. In Phase 2, once subjects had learned the association between one of the objects and the food reward, the contingencies were reversed and the previously unrewarded object of the same pair was now rewarded. Dogs' performance in this task seemed to be better than wolves', albeit only when considering just the first session of each reversal, suggesting that the dogs might be more flexible than wolves. Further research (possibly with the aid of refined methods such as computer-based tasks) would help ascertain whether these differences between wolves and dogs are persistent across different learning tasks.

RESUMEN

Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are the domestically bred descendant of wolves (Canis lupus). However, selective breeding has profoundly altered facial morphologies of dogs compared to their wolf ancestors. We demonstrate that these morphological differences limit the abilities of dogs to successfully produce the same affective facial expressions as wolves. We decoded facial movements of captive wolves during social interactions involving nine separate affective states. We used linear discriminant analyses to predict affective states based on combinations of facial movements. The resulting confusion matrix demonstrates that specific combinations of facial movements predict nine distinct affective states in wolves; the first assessment of this many affective facial expressions in wolves. However, comparative analyses with kennelled rescue dogs revealed reduced ability to predict affective states. Critically, there was a very low predictive power for specific affective states, with confusion occurring between negative and positive states, such as Friendly and Fear. We show that the varying facial morphologies of dogs (specifically non-wolf-like morphologies) limit their ability to produce the same range of affective facial expressions as wolves. Confusion among positive and negative states could be detrimental to human-dog interactions, although our analyses also suggest dogs likely use vocalisations to compensate for limitations in facial communication.

Asunto(s)

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Aspen sapling recruitment increased as browsing by elk decreased, following the 1995-96 reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone National Park. We address claims by Brice et al. (2021) that previous studies exaggerated recent aspen recovery. We conclude that their results actually supported previous work showing a trophic cascade benefiting aspen.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Comparative studies have shown that the eye morphology of primates has been shaped by a variety of selection pressures (e.g. communication, environmental factors). To comprehensively elucidate the complex links between ocular morphology and its evolutionary drive, attention should be paid to other phylogenetic groups. Here, we address a new question regarding the evolution of eye colour patterns in the oldest domesticated animal, namely, the domestic dog (Canis familiaris). In this study, we conducted an image analysis of dogs and their closest relatives, grey wolves (Canis lupus), to compare the colours of their irises, with the aim of assessing whether eye colours of dogs affect how humans perceived dogs. We found that the irises of dogs were significantly darker than those of wolves. We also found that facial images of dark-eyed dogs were perceived as more friendly and immature, potentially eliciting caregiving responses from humans. Our findings are consistent with our expectation that humans favour dark-eyed dogs over light-eyed ones and provide an updated hypothesis that dogs with dark eyes may have evolved by acquiring a facial trait that sends a non-threatening gaze signal to humans.

RESUMEN

Predators can directly and indirectly alter the foraging behaviour of prey through direct predation and the risk of predation, and in doing so, initiate indirect effects that influence myriad species and ecological processes. We describe how wolves indirectly alter the trajectory of forests by constraining the distance that beavers, a central place forager and prolific ecosystem engineer, forage from water. Specifically, we demonstrate that wolves wait in ambush and kill beavers on longer feeding trails than would be expected based on the spatio-temporal availability of beavers. This pattern is driven by temporal dynamics of beaver foraging: beavers make more foraging trips and spend more time on land per trip on longer feeding trails that extend farther from water. As a result, beavers are more vulnerable on longer feeding trails than shorter ones. Wolf predation appears to be a selective evolutionary pressure propelled by consumptive and non-consumptive mechanisms that constrain the distance from water beavers forage, which in turn limits the area of forest around wetlands, lakes and rivers beavers alter through foraging. Thus, wolves appear intricately linked to boreal forest dynamics by shaping beaver foraging behaviour, a form of natural disturbance that alters the successional and ecological states of forests.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Wolves have large spatial requirements and their expansion in Europe is occurring over national boundaries, hence the need to develop monitoring programs at the population level. Wolves in the Alps are defined as a functional population and management unit. The range of this wolf Alpine population now covers seven countries: Italy, France, Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, Liechtenstein and Germany, making the development of a joint and coordinated monitoring program particularly challenging. In the framework of the Wolf Alpine Group (WAG), researchers developed uniform criteria for the assessment and interpretation of field data collected in the frame of different national monitoring programs. This standardization allowed for data comparability across borders and the joint evaluation of distribution and consistency at the population level. We documented the increase in the number of wolf reproductive units (packs and pairs) over 21 years, from 1 in 1993-1994 up to 243 units in 2020-2021, and examined the pattern of expansion over the Alps. This long-term and large-scale approach is a successful example of transboundary monitoring of a large carnivore population that, despite administrative fragmentation, provides robust indexes of population size and distribution that are of relevance for wolf conservation and management at the transnational Alpine scale.

RESUMEN

The forecast of clean energy power generation is of major prominence to energy structure adjustment and the realization of sustainable economic development in China. In order to scientifically predict clean energy power generation data, a structure-adaptive nonlinear grey Bernoulli model submitted to the new information priority criterion (abbreviated as IANGBM) is established. Firstly, an improved conformable fractional accumulation operator that conforms to the priority of new information is proposed, which can effectively extract the information from small samples. Then, IANGBM is derived from the Bernoulli differential equation, and the perturbation bound theory proves that this model is suitable for the analysis of small sample data. In addition, the grey wolf optimization algorithm is utilized to optimize the model parameters to make the model more adaptable and generalized. To verify the superiority of the model, two cases consisting of wind and nuclear power generation prediction are implemented by comparing eight benchmark models involving IANGBM, GM, FGM, FANGBM, LR, SVM, BPNN, and LSTM. The experiment results demonstrate that the proposed model achieves higher prediction accuracy compared to the other seven competing models. Finally, the future nuclear and wind power generation from 2023 to 2030 are predicted by adopting the IANGBM(1,1) model. For the next 8 years, nuclear power generation will maintain stable development, while wind energy power generation will grow rapidly.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

BACKGROUND: Canine hepatozoonosis caused by Hepatozoon canis is a common infection in dogs, with frequent case reports from the Mediterranean region and more recently from several Central European countries, such as Hungary and Germany. Despite the high prevalence of H. canis in red foxes, no infections have been reported to date in dogs in Poland. We describe here the first autochthonous cases of H. canis infection in dogs, including their clinical features, and report the prevalence of H. canis in grey wolves from different regions of Poland. METHODS: Thin smears prepared from blood samples collected from dogs were evaluated by microscopic examination. A total of 60 wolves and 47 dogs were tested. Infections were confirmed by PCR and sequencing. RESULTS: Gamonts of H. canis were found in > 50% of the neutrophils of two dogs and in < 10% of the neutrophils in another five dogs. Molecular typing by PCR sequencing of the 18S ribosomal RNA gene fragment confirmed infections in 11 dogs from different regions of Poland, in 2.7% of dogs attending veterinary practices in central Poland and in 35% of wolves from various geographical regions of Poland. Clinical features manifested mostly in older dogs, and the most common signs were anaemia and apathy. Young dogs usually remained asymptomatic. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report of H. canis infection in dogs and wolves in Poland. Although the exact vector of the parasite is not known, veterinary practitioners should be aware of this new parasitosis and should consider appropriate diagnostics to confirm/exclude this infection. Further studies are needed to understand the transmission routes of H. canis in domestic and wild canids in Poland.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Nowadays, genetic research methods play an important role in animal population studies. Since 2009, genetic material from Latvian wolf specimens obtained through hunting has been systematically gathered. This study, spanning until 2021, scrutinizes the consequences of regulated wolf hunting on population genetic metrics, kinship dynamics, and social organization. We employed 16 autosomal microsatellites to investigate relationships between full siblings and parent-offspring pairs. Our analysis encompassed expected and observed heterozygosity, inbreeding coefficients, allelic diversity, genetic distance and differentiation, mean pairwise relatedness, and the number of migrants per generation. The Latvian wolf population demonstrated robust genetic diversity with minimal inbreeding, maintaining stable allelic diversity and high heterozygosity over time and it is not fragmented. Our findings reveal the persistence of conventional wolf pack structures and enduring kinship groups. However, the study also underscores the adverse effects of intensified hunting pressure, leading to breeder loss, pack disruption, territorial displacement, and the premature dispersal of juvenile wolves.

RESUMEN

Increasing resource extraction and human activity are reshaping species' spatial distributions in human-altered landscape and consequently shaping the dynamics of interspecific interactions, such as between predators and prey. To evaluate the effects of industrial features and human activity on the occurrence of wolves (Canis lupus), we used wildlife detection data collected in 2014 from an array of 122 remote wildlife camera traps in Alberta's Rocky Mountains and foothills near Hinton, Canada. Using generalized linear models, we compared the occurrence frequency of wolves at camera sites to natural land cover, industrial disturbance (forestry and oil/gas exploration), human activity (motorized and non-motorized), and prey availability (moose, Alces alces; elk, Cervus elaphus; mule deer, Odocoileus hemionus; and white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus). Industrial block features (well sites and cutblocks) and prey (elk or mule deer) availability interacted to influence wolf occurrence, but models including motorized and non-motorized human activity were not strongly supported. Wolves occurred infrequently at sites with high densities of well sites and cutblocks, except when elk or mule deer were frequently detected. Our results suggest that wolves risk using industrial block features when prey occur frequently to increase predation opportunities, but otherwise avoid them due to risk of human encounters. Effective management of wolves in anthropogenically altered landscapes thus requires the simultaneous consideration of industrial block features and populations of elk and mule deer.

RESUMEN

BACKGROUND: The high susceptibility of carnivores to Suid Alphaherpesvirus 1 [SuAHV1, synonymous pseudorabies virus (PrV)], renders them inadvertent sentinels for the possible occurrence of Aujeszky's disease (AD) in domestic and wild swine populations. The aim of this study was to epidemiologically analyse the occurrence of PrV infections in domestic and wild animals in Germany during the last three decades and to genetically characterise the causative PrV isolates. METHODS: PrV in dogs was detected using standard virological techniques including conventional and real time PCR, virus isolation or by immunohistochemistry. Available PrV isolates were characterized by partial sequencing of the open gC reading frame and the genetic traits were compared with those of archived PrV isolates from carnivores and domestic pigs from Germany before the elimination of AD in the domestic pig population. RESULTS: During 1995 and 2022, a total of 38 cases of AD in carnivores, e.g. dogs and red foxes, were laboratory confirmed. Sequencing and subsequent phylogenetic analysis of PrV isolates established a strong connection between AD cases in carnivores and the occurrence of PrV infections in European wild boars in the end phase of and after elimination of AD from the domestic pig population. While PrV infections occur at low numbers but regularly in hunting dogs, interestingly, PrV was not observed in grey wolves in Germany. In none of 682 dead-found grey wolves and wolf-dog hybrids tested from Germany during 2006-2022 could PrV infection be detected by molecular means. CONCLUSIONS: Although PrV has been eliminated from domestic pigs, spillover infections in domestic and wild carnivores should always be expected given the endemic presence of PrV in wild pig populations. Since detection of PrV DNA and virus in carnivores is sporadic even in areas with high seroprevalence of PrV in wild pigs, it may not reflect the full diversity of PrV.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

The process of canine domestication represents certainly one of the most interesting questions that evolutionary biology aims to address. A "multiphase" view of this process is now accepted, with a first phase during which different groups of wolves were attracted by the anthropogenic niche and a second phase characterized by the gradual establishment of mutual relationships between wolves and humans. Here, we provide a review of dog (Canis familiaris) domestication, highlighting the ecological differences between dogs and wolves, analyzing the molecular mechanisms which seem to have influenced the affiliative behaviors first observed in Belyaev's foxes, and describing the genetics of ancient European dogs. Then, we focus on three Mediterranean peninsulas (Balkan, Iberian and Italian), which together represent the main geographic area for studying canine domestication dynamics, as it has shaped the current genetic variability of dog populations, and where a well-defined European genetic structure was pinpointed through the analysis of uniparental genetic markers and their phylogeny.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Conceptual behavior represents a type of complex stimulus control where an organism differentially responds to examples and nonexamples of instances within a stimulus class. Different species have demonstrated conceptual behavior both in their natural environments and through experimental investigations. The current paper investigates preliminary methods to teach conceptual behavior to gray wolves (Canis lupus). The researchers used a match-to-sample arrangement to teach three shapes: a triangle, square, and cross varying in size, color, and positions. Probe trials used a novel set of stimuli to test for the emergence of conceptual behavior. Although the wolves did not show an immediate transfer to novel stimuli following initial match-to-sample training, they did show improvement after explicit discrimination training. We discuss the implications of these results as well as future methods that may enhance experimental procedures investigating concept learning in canids.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Tapeworms are trophically-transmitted and multi-host parasites with a complex indirect life cycle, strictly depending on predator-prey interactions. Their presence in a free-living population, mainly definitive hosts, is arduous to study due to the complexity of collecting fecal samples. However, epidemiological studies on their frequency are crucial from a public health perspective, providing information on food habits and prey selection of predators. The present study aims to update the frequency of tapeworms detected in stool samples by molecular analysis in Italian wolf populations of Umbria and Marche regions collected from 2014 to 2022. Tapeworm's total frequency was 43.2%. In detail, Taenia serialis was detected in 27 samples (21.6%), T. hydatigena in 22 (17.6%), and Mesocestoides corti (syn. M. vogae) in 2 (1.6%). Three samples were identified as M. litteratus and E. granulosus s.s. (G3) and T. pisiformis, with a proportion of 0.8%, respectively. The low frequency of E. granulosus in a hyperendemic area is discussed. The results show for the first time a high frequency of Taenia serialis not comparable to other Italian studies conducted on wild Carnivora; thus, a new ecological niche is conceivable. These findings suggest a plausible wolf-roe deer cycle for T. serialisin the investigated area.

RESUMEN

Prosociality occurs in many species and is likely to be a crucial factor for the survival of group-living animals. Social feedback is an important mechanism for the coordination of group decisions. Since group-living animals with specific personality axes, i.e., boldness, are known to provide certain benefits for their group, bold actions might receive more prosocial feedback than other actions. Our case study aims to determine whether bold behaviour, i.e., novel object interaction (Nobj), might be answered more frequently with prosocial behaviours. We investigated the differences in the frequency of occurrence in prosocial behaviours after three different individual actions in two groups of grey wolves. We aim to outline the development of a social reward behavioural category as part of social feedback mechanisms. We used Markov chain models for probability analyses, and a non-parametric ANOVA to test for differences between the influences of individual behaviours on the probability of a prosocial behaviour chain. We additionally tested for the potential influences of age, sex and personality on the frequency of Nobj. Our results suggest that bold interactions are more often responded to with prosocial behaviour. Bold behaviour might be more often socially rewarded because of its benefits for group-living animals. More research is needed to investigate whether bold behaviour is more frequently responded to prosocially, and to investigate the social reward phenomenon.

RESUMEN

Hedrick et al. (2016) (Negative-assortative mating for color in wolves. Evolution, 70, 757-766) reported on "negative-assortative mating for color in wolves" from Yellowstone National Park, the "first documented case of significant negative-assortative mating in mammals." Here I report a logical inconsistency in their population genetic model that effectively imposes selection against some assortatively mating genotype. After pointing out this inconsistency, I derive new expressions for the frequency of different matings and the equilibrium allele frequencies. Compared to Hedrick et al. (2016) (Negative-assortative mating for color in wolves. Evolution, 70, 757-766), the system rapidly approaches an equilibrium based on observed levels of negative-assortative mating in this population. Hence, the revised model may strengthen the case that assortative mating can maintain polymorphism and provides logically consistent results to inform the study of nonrandom mating in other organisms.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

As conservation scholars increasingly recognize the critical role of human thought and behavior in determining the persistence of biodiversity across the globe, a growing line of inquiry regarding the validity and comparability of previous applications of core psychological concepts has emerged. Specifically, inconsistent measurement and use of terms, such as attitudes and acceptance, reveal important questions about previous approaches. Given that these concepts differ by definition, yet have been used interchangeably, we explored what drives differences in people's responses when each concept is operationalized in the context of a contested wildlife species, the gray wolf (Canis lupus). To do so, we used data from a 2014 survey of U.S. residents (n = 1287) to test how measures of six concepts (i.e., acceptance, attitudes, benefits, risks, [prior] behavior, and behavioral intentions) often employed in the conservation social sciences were related with a broad set of possible explanatory variables. Despite moderate to strong correlations between all concepts measured (| Pearson's r | = 0.39-0.65, p < 0.001), results revealed considerable variation in their respective relationships with identical explanatory variables. Specifically, although wildlife value orientation (i.e., domination or mutualism) operated fairly consistently across cognitive and behavioral concepts, the relationship between the six concepts and other factors, such as social trust, identification with various interest groups (i.e., hunter, farmer, or rancher, environmentalist, and animal rights advocate), and political ideology (i.e., liberal vs. conservative), varied considerably. Our findings underscore that differences exist in these measures, which could have serious implications for conservationists integrating social science findings in their decision-making processes if they are unaware of the theoretical underpinnings of and distinctions between core psychological concepts.

Efectos de la semántica en los estudios de tolerancia a los lobos Resumen Los académicos dedicados a la conservación reconocen cada vez más lo importantes que son el pensamiento y el comportamiento humano para definir la persistencia de la biodiversidad a nivel mundial, por lo que ha emergido una creciente línea de indagación con respecto a la validez y la comparabilidad de las aplicaciones previas de conceptos psicológicos fundamentales. Más específicamente, las medidas incompatibles y el uso de términos como actitudes y aceptación revelan preguntas importantes sobre las estrategias anteriores. Ya que estos conceptos difieren por definición y aun así se han usado indistintamente, decidimos explorar qué impulsa las diferencias en las respuestas de las personas cuando cada concepto opera en el contexto de una especie de fauna controvertida: el lobo gris (Canis lupus). Para lograr esto, usamos datos de un censo de 2014 aplicado a residentes estadunidenses (n = 1,287) para analizar cómo la medida de seis conceptos usados frecuentemente en las ciencias sociales de la conservación (aceptación, actitudes, beneficios, riesgos comportamiento [previo] e intenciones conductuales) se relacionan con un amplio conjunto de variables explicativas posibles. A pesar de las correlaciones moderadas y fuertes entre todos los conceptos medidos (| Pearson's r | = 0.39 a 0.65, p < 0.001), los resultados revelaron una variación considerable en sus respectivas relaciones con las variables explicativas idénticas. De manera más precisa, aunque la orientación del valor de la fauna (es decir, dominancia y mutualismo) operó uniformemente en los conceptos cognitivos y conductuales, la relación entre los seis conceptos y otros factores, como la confianza social, identificación con varios grupos de interés (cazador, agricultor o ranchero, ambientalista, defensor de los derechos animales) e ideología política (liberal vs conservador) variaron considerablemente. Nuestros resultados destacan las diferencias que existen en estas medidas, las cuales podrían tener repercusiones serias para los conservacionistas que integran los resultados de las ciencias sociales dentro de sus procesos de toma de decisiones si no están concientes de las teorías fundamentales y las distinciones entre los conceptos psicológicos fundamentales.

Asunto(s)