The interaction between wildlife and horses encompasses various ecological, behavioral, and health-related aspects. This topic explores the relationships and dynamics between horses and their natural environments, including interactions with other wildlife species. These interactions can influence behavior, habitat use, and resource competition. Additionally, wildlife can impact equine health through the transmission of diseases and parasites. This page gathers peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that investigate the ecological roles, behavioral patterns, and health implications of wildlife interactions with horses.
Hu D, Wang C, Ente M, Zhang K, Zhang D, Li X, Li K, Chu H.Intestinal microbiota play an important role in the survival of the host. However, no study to date has elucidated the adjustment of intestinal microbiota of the host during rewilding. Thus, this study aims to describe the intestinal bacterial community of reintroduced Przewalski’s horse (RPH) after being released into their original habitat for approximately 20 years in comparison with that of captive Przewalski’s horse (CPH), sympatric domestic horse (DH) and Mongolian wild ass (MWA) by sequencing the 16S rRNA gene. The results showed that the prevalent bacterial communities were differe...
Fraser MD, Vallin HE, Roberts BP.Grasslands dominate land cover nationally and globally, and their composition, structure and habitat value are strongly influenced by the actions of domestic and wild grazing animals that feed on them. Different pastures are characterised by varying opportunities for selective feeding by livestock; agronomically improved, sown swards generally consist of a limited range of plant species whereas longer-term leys and semi-natural grasslands are characterised by a more diverse mixture of plants. In the case of botanically diverse permanent pastures/grazing lands, the dietary preferences of differ...
Figuerola J, Jiménez-Clavero MÁ, Ruíz-López MJ, Llorente F, Ruiz S, Hoefer A, Aguilera-Sepúlveda P, Jiménez-Peñuela J, García-Ruiz O....Reports of West Nile virus (WNV) associated disease in humans were scarce in Spain until summer 2020, when 77 cases were reported, eight fatal. Most cases occurred next to the Guadalquivir River in the Sevillian villages of Puebla del Río and Coria del Río. Detection of WNV disease in humans was preceded by a large increase in the abundance of in the neighbourhood of the villages where most human cases occurred. The first WNV infected mosquitoes were captured approximately one month before the detection of the first human cases. Overall, 33 positive pools of and one pool of were found. Se...
Rutberg AT, Turner JW, Herman K.To be effective and publicly acceptable, management of free-roaming horses and burros in the United States and elsewhere needs a consistent ethical framing of the animals and the land they occupy. In the U.S., the two laws that largely govern wild horse and burro management, the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act and the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act ("FLPMA"), rest on conflicting foundations, the former based on an ethic of care and the latter on largely utilitarian principles. These conflicts specifically fuel debates over the selection of appropriate fertility control ...
Leonardi M, Boschin F, Boscato P, Manica A.Predicting the effects of future global changes on species requires a better understanding of the ecological niche dynamics in response to climate; the large climatic fluctuations of the last 50,000 years can be used as a natural experiment to that aim. Here we test whether the realized niche of horse, aurochs, red deer, and wild boar changed between 47,000 and 7500 years ago using paleoecological modelling over an extensive archaeological database. We show that they all changed their niche, with species-specific responses to climate fluctuations. We also suggest that they survived the climati...
Stothart MR, McLoughlin PD, Poissant J.Prevailing 16S rRNA gene-amplicon methods for characterizing the bacterial microbiome of wildlife are economical, but result in coarse taxonomic classifications, are subject to primer and 16S copy number biases, and do not allow for direct estimation of microbiome functional potential. While deep shotgun metagenomic sequencing can overcome many of these limitations, it is prohibitively expensive for large sample sets. Here we evaluated the ability of shallow shotgun metagenomic sequencing to characterize taxonomic and functional patterns in the faecal microbiome of a model population of feral ...
Behnke T, Street P, Davies S, Ouyang JQ, Sedinger JS.Non-native ungulate grazing has negatively impacted native species across the globe, leading to massive loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Despite their pervasiveness, interactions between non-native grazers and native species are not fully understood. We often observe declines in demography or survival of these native species, but lack understanding about the mechanisms underlying these declines. Physiological stress represents one mechanism of (mal)adaptation, but data are sparse. We investigated glucocorticoid levels in a native avian herbivore exposed to different intensities of ...
The genus includes species with a wide geographical spread that cause pathology in humans and animals. In this context, an epidemiological study of infection was carried out in the northeastern part of Romania to investigate for the first time the prevalence of this infection in pigs, horses, wild boars and bears, the geographical distribution of species and the natural reservoir of infection. Between 2010 and 2015, a total of 166,270 animals were examined by the method of artificial digestion, in order to calculate the annual and general prevalence of infection, according to the host and...
Pikuła R, Zaborski D, Grzesiak W, Smugała M.The aim of the present study was to analyse the mobility of Polish Konik horses in their natural environment. The study was conducted on a herd of 15 Polish Konik horses in 2018. The Global Positioning System (GPS) transmitter was used to track the horses' movements. Two habitats (forest and meadows), four seasons (autumn, winter, spring, and summer), and four times of the day (morning, midday, evening, and night) were distinguished. Season, habitat, and time of the day as well as the interaction among them significantly ( p < 0.0001 ) affected the mobility of Polish Konik horses. The use of ...
Fenu G, Melis A, Pinna MS, Loi MC, Calderisi G, Cogoni D. (SWEs), despite their pivotal ecological role due to their participation in hydrogeological processes and their richness in biodiversity, seem to be often overlooked by the scientific community. In this study, the vascular plant diversity in some representative SWEs, that host a peculiar assemblage of plant and animal species, was investigated in relation to the disturbance effects of a wild horse population. A total of 50 plots, equally distributed in small and large SWEs, were surveyed and a level of disturbance was attributed to each plot. We found greater species richness in small and und...
de Jonge N, Carlsen B, Christensen MH, Pertoldi C, Nielsen JL.The gut microbiome plays a critical role in many aspects of host life, and the microbial community composition is heavily influenced by the prevailing conditions in the gut environment. Community composition has been suggested to have large implications for conservation efforts, and gut health has become of interest for optimizing animal care in captivity. In this study, we explore the gut microbiome of a wide range of animals in the context of conservation biology. The composition of the gut microbial community of 54 mammalian animal species was investigated using 16S rRNA gene amplicon seque...
Hu R, Yao R, Li L, Xu Y, Lei B, Tang G, Liang H, Lei Y, Li C, Li X, Liu K, Wang L, Zhang Y, Wang Y, Cui Y, Dai J, Ni W, Zhou P, Yu B, Hu S.With the rapid development of high-throughput sequencing technology, the amount of metagenomic data (including both 16S and whole-genome sequencing data) in public repositories is increasing exponentially. However, owing to the large and decentralized nature of the data, it is still difficult for users to mine, compare, and analyze the data. The animal metagenome database (AnimalMetagenome DB) integrates metagenomic sequencing data with host information, making it easier for users to find data of interest. The AnimalMetagenome DB is designed to contain all public metagenomic data from animals,...
Bernátková A, Oyunsaikhan G, Šimek J, Komárková M, Bobek M, Ceacero F.Reintroduction is a common technique for re-establishing threatened species. However, the adaptation to novel habitats with distinct conditions poses a risk of failure. Weather conditions affect the behaviour of animals, and thus, their adaptation to new conditions and survival. Reintroduced Przewalski's horses living in Mongolia's continental arid climate with extreme temperature and precipitation variability, serve as an ideal model species for studying the behavioural response of selected groups to these harsh conditions. Methods: The research was conducted in The Great Gobi B Strictly Prot...
Tang L, Gao Y, Yan L, Jia H, Chu H, Ma X, He L, Wang X, Li K, Hu D, Zhang D.The gut microbiome offers important ecological benefits to the host; however, our understanding of the functional microbiome in relation to wildlife adaptation, especially for translocated endangered species, is lagging. In this study, we adopted a comparative metagenomics approach to test whether the microbiome diverges for translocated and resident species with different adaptive potentials. The composition and function of the microbiome of sympatric Przewalski's horses and Asiatic wild asses in desert steppe were compared for the first time using the metagenomic shotgun sequencing approach....
de Paula LGF, do Nascimento RM, Franco AO, Szabó MPJ, Labruna MB, Monteiro C, Krawczak FDS.Amblyomma sculptum is a hard tick that is associated with domestic animals and the transmission of Brazilian spotted fever. This association has motivated several field studies on this ixodid tick within its distribution area in South America. Thorough knowledge of the seasonal dynamics of A. sculptum in different ecological scenarios is required in order to better understand the biological characteristics of this tick and develop techniques for the control and prevention of diseases transmitted by this vector. In this article, we systematically review the seasonal dynamics of A. sculptum and ...
Tang Y, Liu G, Zhao S, Li K, Zhang D, Liu S, Hu D.Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes are the most polymorphic in vertebrates and the high variability in many MHC genes is thought to play a crucial role in pathogen recognition. The MHC class II locus DQA polymorphism was analyzed in the endangered Przewalski's horse, , a species that has been extinct in the wild and all the current living individuals descend from 12 founders. We used the polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) to detect the polymorphism within the MHC DQA in 31 Przewalski's horses from two reintroduced populations. Consequently, o...
Gavriliuc S, Reza S, Jeong C, Getachew F, McLoughlin PD, Poissant J.The development of high-throughput sequencing has prompted a transition in wildlife genetics from using microsatellites toward sets of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). However, genotyping large numbers of targeted SNPs using non-invasive samples remains challenging due to relatively large DNA input requirements. Recently, target enrichment has emerged as a promising approach requiring little template DNA. We assessed the efficacy of Tecan Genomics' Allegro Targeted Genotyping (ATG) for generating genome-wide SNP data in feral horses using DNA isolated from fecal swabs. Total and host-sp...
Atuman YJ, Kudi CA, Abdu PA, Okubanjo OO, Wungak Y, Ularamu HG, Abubakar A.Rift Valley fever (RVF) is an arthropod-borne zoonotic disease responsible for severe outbreaks in livestock and humans with concomitant economic losses in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The study, therefore, investigated the seroprevalence of the Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) among wild and domestic animals. Blood samples were collected between 2013 and 2015 from 106 wild animals, 300 cattle (), and 200 horses (), respectively, in Yankari Game Reserve (YGR) and Sumu Wildlife Park (SWP) in Bauchi state, Nigeria. Harvested sera from blood were evaluated for the presence of anti-RVFV IgM...
Winter JC, Thieme K, Eule JC, Saliu EM, Kershaw O, Gehlen H.Primary photosensitization rarely occurs in horses and can easily be misinterpreted. Descriptions of the disease in horses after ingestion of parsnip are lacking. The aim of this case series was to describe the dermatological and ocular changes due to photosensitization and to raise awareness of parsnip being a possible aetiologic agent. Methods: Nine horses from three different stables in Berlin and Brandenburg, Germany, presented variable degrees of erythema, scaling, crusting and necrosis of unpigmented skin at the head and prepuce. Horses were of different breeds with a median age of 15 ...
Annand EJ, Horsburgh BA, Xu K, Reid PA, Poole B, de Kantzow MC, Brown N, Tweedie A, Michie M, Grewar JD, Jackson AE, Singanallur NB, Plain KM, Kim K....We identified and isolated a novel Hendra virus (HeV) variant not detected by routine testing from a horse in Queensland, Australia, that died from acute illness with signs consistent with HeV infection. Using whole-genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis, we determined the variant had ≈83% nt identity with prototypic HeV. In silico and in vitro comparisons of the receptor-binding protein with prototypic HeV support that the human monoclonal antibody m102.4 used for postexposure prophylaxis and current equine vaccine will be effective against this variant. An updated quantitative PCR dev...
Hodgson E, Rooney NJ, Hockenhull J.In Africa, wildlife-watching experiences create substantial revenue from tourists that can finance wildlife conservation. Horseback safaris, where an experienced guide takes guests through the bush on horseback to observe plains game species, are a popular activity. Close encounters between ridden horses and game species are unnatural and potentially stressful situations, and horseback safaris may have adverse impacts on both the horses and the wildlife they have come to observe. This study aims to provide a preliminary insight into the behavioural responses of horses and herbivorous plains ga...
Furtado T, King M, Perkins E, McGowan C, Chubbock S, Hannelly E, Rogers J, Pinchbeck G.Equestrian grazing management is a poorly researched area, despite potentially significant environmental impacts. This study explored keepers' use of alternative grazing systems in the care of UK horses, donkeys and mules through an internet survey. The survey was available during the summer of 2020 and comprised closed and open questions, which were analysed with descriptive statistics and iterative thematic analysis, respectively. A total of 758 responses was incorporated into the analysis; the most popular system used were tracks (56.5%), Equicentral (19%), "other" (e.g., non-grass turnout)...
Larison B, Pinho GM, Haghani A, Zoller JA, Li CZ, Finno CJ, Farrell C, Kaelin CB, Barsh GS, Wooding B, Robeck TR, Maddox D, Pellegrini M, Horvath S.Effective conservation and management of threatened wildlife populations require an accurate assessment of age structure to estimate demographic trends and population viability. Epigenetic aging models are promising developments because they estimate individual age with high accuracy, accurately predict age in related species, and do not require invasive sampling or intensive long-term studies. Using blood and biopsy samples from known age plains zebras (Equus quagga), we model epigenetic aging using two approaches: the epigenetic clock (EC) and the epigenetic pacemaker (EPM). The plains zebra...
Murchie TJ, Monteath AJ, Mahony ME, Long GS, Cocker S, Sadoway T, Karpinski E, Zazula G, MacPhee RDE, Froese D, Poinar HN.The temporal and spatial coarseness of megafaunal fossil records complicates attempts to to disentangle the relative impacts of climate change, ecosystem restructuring, and human activities associated with the Late Quaternary extinctions. Advances in the extraction and identification of ancient DNA that was shed into the environment and preserved for millennia in sediment now provides a way to augment discontinuous palaeontological assemblages. Here, we present a 30,000-year sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) record derived from loessal permafrost silts in the Klondike region of Yukon, Canada. ...
Salis AT, Bray SCE, Lee MSY, Heiniger H, Barnett R, Burns JA, Doronichev V, Fedje D, Golovanova L, Harington CR, Hockett B, Kosintsev P, Lai X....The Bering Land Bridge connecting North America and Eurasia was periodically exposed and inundated by oscillating sea levels during the Pleistocene glacial cycles. This land connection allowed the intermittent dispersal of animals, including humans, between Western Beringia (far northeast Asia) and Eastern Beringia (northwest North America), changing the faunal community composition of both continents. The Pleistocene glacial cycles also had profound impacts on temperature, precipitation and vegetation, impacting faunal community structure and demography. While these palaeoenvironmental impact...
Aldayarov N, Tulobaev A, Salykov R, Jumabekova J, Kydyralieva B, Omurzakova N, Kurmanbekova G, Imanberdieva N, Usubaliev B, Borkoev B, Salieva K....In their centuries-old nomadic life, since their livestock was the backbone of their lives, the Kyrgyz people used a variety of wild medicinal plants for ethnoveterinary practices. However, the plants used for the treatment of livestock ailments never have been recorded, except rarely in local publications. In this study, we present the HSHR (homemade single species herbal remedy reports), their methods of preparation and application, and the livestock ailments for which these remedies were used. Objective: The collect data from the five different high-altitude valleys of the Kyrgyz Republic o...
Burkett-Cadena ND, Day JF, Unnasch TR.Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV; family Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus) is a mosquito-borne pathogen found in eastern North America that causes severe disease in humans and horses. The mosquito Culiseta melanura (Coquillett) (Diptera: Culicidae) is the primary enzootic vector of EEEV throughout eastern North America while several mosquito species belonging to diverse genera serve as bridge vectors. The ecology of EEEV differs between northern and southern foci, with respect to phenology of outbreaks, important vertebrate hosts, and bridge vector species. Active transmission is limited t...
Armstrong PM, Andreadis TG.In the current review, we examine the regional history, ecology, and epidemiology of eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) to investigate the major drivers of disease outbreaks in the northeastern United States. EEEV was first recognized as a public health threat during an outbreak in eastern Massachusetts in 1938, but historical evidence for equine epizootics date back to the 1800s. Since then, sporadic disease outbreaks have reoccurred in the Northeast with increasing frequency and northward expansion of human cases during the last 20 yr. Culiseta melanura (Coquillett) (Diptera: Culicidae...
Stobierski MG, Signs K, Dinh E, Cooley TM, Melotti J, Schalow M, Patterson JS, Bolin SR, Walker ED.Eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE) is a mosquito-borne viral disease that is an emerging public health concern in the state of Michigan. Although Michigan has one of the highest incidence rates of EEE in the United States, much of the information known about cases in humans, equines, and other animals residing in Michigan is unpublished. This article summarizes such information and explores spatial trends in the historic distribution of EEE in Michigan. Outbreaks in Michigan have occurred over an 80-yr interval, involving only horses in 1942-1943 and 1973-1976, and then episodically from 1...
Hampson BA, de Laat MA, Mills PC, Pollitt CC.The distance travelled by Australian feral horses in an unrestricted environment has not previously been determined. It is important to investigate horse movement in wilderness environments to establish baseline data against which the movement of domestically managed horses and wild equids can be compared. Objective: To determine the travel dynamics of 2 groups of feral horses in unrestricted but different wilderness environments. Methods: Twelve feral horses living in 2 wilderness environments (2000 vs. 20,000 km(2)) in outback Australia were tracked for 6.5 consecutive days using custom desi...
Willeberg P, Ruppanner R, Behymer DE, Haghighi S, Kaneko JJ, Franti CE.The prevalence of agglutinating serum antibodies against Coxiella burnetii, the cause of Q fever in humans, was tested in a hospital population of companion animals and livestock in California during 1973--1975. A sample of stray dogs was also tested. Among the hospitalized animals 346 (48%) of 724 dogs, 7 (9%) of 80 cats, 9 (32%) of 28 cattle and 31 (26%) of 121 horses had antibodies against C. burnetii. Of 316 stray dogs 208 (66%) were seropositive. The overall prevalence of 53% among 1040 dogs tested was comparable to the 63% antibody prevalence found in an earlier survey among coyotes and ...
Stothart MR, Greuel RJ, Gavriliuc S, Henry A, Wilson AJ, McLoughlin PD, Poissant J.Studies of microbiome variation in wildlife often emphasize host physiology and diet as proximate selective pressures acting on host-associated microbiota. In contrast, microbial dispersal and ecological drift are more rarely considered. Using amplicon sequencing, we characterized the bacterial microbiome of adult female (n = 86) Sable Island horses (Nova Scotia, Canada) as part of a detailed individual-based study of this feral population. Using data on sampling date, horse location, age, parental status, and local habitat variables, we contrasted the ability of spatiotemporal, life history...
Harvey AM, Meggiolaro MN, Hall E, Watts ET, Ramp D, Šlapeta J.Australia has over 400,000 wild horses, the largest wild equid population in the world, scattered across a range of different habitats. We hypothesised that wild horse populations unexposed to anthelmintics would have a high prevalence of infections. Verminous endarteritis and colic due to migrating larvae is now absent or unreported in domestic horses in Australia, yet wild horses may pose a risk for its re-emergence. A total of 289 faecal egg counts (FECs) were performed across six remote wild horse populations in south-east Australia, of varying densities, herd sizes and habitats. Total s...
Krueger K, Flauger B, Farmer K, Hemelrijk C.Herds of ungulates, flocks of birds, swarms of insects and schools of fish move in coordinated groups. Computer models show that only one or very few animals are needed to initiate and direct movement. To investigate initiation mechanisms further, we studied two ways in which movement can be initiated in feral horses: herding, and departure from the group. We examined traits affecting the likelihood of a horse initiating movement i.e. social rank, affiliative relationships, spatial position, and social network. We also investigated whether group members join a movement in dominance rank order....
Kuntz R, Kubalek C, Ruf T, Tataruch F, Arnold W.Large ruminants respond to changing plant phenology during winter by decreasing voluntary food intake, increasing gut passage time and utilizing body fat reserves. It is uncertain, however, how other large mammals with a non-ruminant digestive physiology cope with winter forage conditions. Therefore, we investigated seasonality of energy intake in a large herbivorous wild mammal, the Przewalski horse (Equus ferus przewalskii). Throughout all seasons we used the n-alkane method to measure daily dry matter intake (DMI), diet composition and digestion, and determined an index of gut passage time ...
Bengis RG, Frean J.Anthrax is a peracute, acute or subacute multispecies bacterial infection that occurs on many continents. It is one of the oldest infectious diseases known; the biblical fifth and sixth plagues (Exodus chapters 7 to 9) that affected first livestock and then humans were probably anthrax. From the earliest historical records until development of an effective vaccine midway through the 20th Century, anthrax was one of the foremost causes of uncontrolled mortality in cattle, sheep, goats, horses and pigs, with 'spill over' into humans, worldwide. With the development of the Sterne spore vaccine, a...
Li Y, Zhang K, Liu Y, Li K, Hu D, Wronski T.Large and complex intestinal microbiota communities in hosts have profound effects on digestion and metabolism. To better understand the community structure of intestinal microbiota in Przewalski's horse () under different feeding regimes, we compared bacterial diversity and composition between captive and reintroduced Przewalski's horses, using high-throughput 16S-rRNA gene sequencing for identification. Reintroduced Przewalski's horses were sampled in two Chinese nature reserves, i.e., Dunhuang Xihu Nature Reserve (DXNR; = 8) in Gansu Province and Kalamaili Nature Reserve (KNR; = 12) in Xi...
Arlt D, Forslund P, Jeppsson T, Pärt T.To assess population persistence of species living in heterogeneous landscapes, the effects of habitat on reproduction and survival have to be investigated. Results: We used a matrix population model to estimate habitat-specific population growth rates for a population of northern wheatears Oenanthe oenanthe breeding in farmland consisting of a mosaic of distinct habitat (land use) types. Based on extensive long-term data on reproduction and survival, habitats characterised by tall field layers (spring- and autumn-sown crop fields, ungrazed grasslands) displayed negative stochastic population ...
Vittecoq M, Lecollinet S, Jourdain E, Thomas F, Blanchon T, Arnal A, Lowenski S, Gauthier-Clerc M.In recent years, the number of West Nile virus (WNV) cases reported in horses and humans has increased dramatically throughout the Mediterranean basin. Furthermore, the emergence of Usutu virus (USUV) in Austria in 2001, and its subsequent expansion to Hungary, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Germany, has given added cause for concern regarding the impact of the spread of flaviviruses on human and animal health in western Europe. Despite frequent detection of WNV and USUV cases in neighboring countries, no case of WNV has been detected in France since 2006 and USUV has never...
Abdelgawad A, Hermes R, Damiani A, Lamglait B, Czirják GÁ, East M, Aschenborn O, Wenker C, Kasem S, Osterrieder N, Greenwood AD.Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) causes respiratory disorders and abortion in equids while EHV-1 regularly causes equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy (EHM), a stroke-like syndrome following endothelial cell infection in horses. Both EHV-1 and EHV-9 infections of non-definitive hosts often result in neuronal infection and high case fatality rates. Hence, EHV-1 and EHV-9 are somewhat unusual herpesviruses and lack strict host specificity, and the true extent of their host ranges have remained unclear. In order to determine the seroprevalence of EHV-1 and EHV-9, a sensitive and specific pepti...
Franke CR, Greiner M, Mehlitz D.The prevalence of Mal de Cadeiras--Portuguese for Trypanosoma (T.) evansi infections in horses--as well as the prevalence of T.evansi infections in cattle, dogs and free-ranging capybaras (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris) was investigated in Pantanal de Poconé (Mato Grosso, Brazil). In 0.3, 8.6 and 8.0% of the horses, dogs and capybaras, respectively, infection was detected using standard parasitological methods. A seroprevalence of 4.1, 2.3, 7.1 and 22.0% was found in horses, cattle, dogs and capybaras, respectively, using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the detection of T.evansi antigen ...
Larison B, Pinho GM, Haghani A, Zoller JA, Li CZ, Finno CJ, Farrell C, Kaelin CB, Barsh GS, Wooding B, Robeck TR, Maddox D, Pellegrini M, Horvath S.Effective conservation and management of threatened wildlife populations require an accurate assessment of age structure to estimate demographic trends and population viability. Epigenetic aging models are promising developments because they estimate individual age with high accuracy, accurately predict age in related species, and do not require invasive sampling or intensive long-term studies. Using blood and biopsy samples from known age plains zebras (Equus quagga), we model epigenetic aging using two approaches: the epigenetic clock (EC) and the epigenetic pacemaker (EPM). The plains zebra...
Thompson NN, Auguste AJ, Coombs D, Blitvich BJ, Carrington CV, da Rosa AP, Wang E, Chadee DD, Drebot MA, Tesh RB, Weaver SC, Adesiyun AA.Seroprevalence rates of selected arboviruses in animal populations in Trinidad were determined using serum samples collected between 2006 and 2009 from horses (n=506), cattle (n=163), sheep (n=198), goats (n=82), pigs (n=184), birds (n=140), rodents (n=116), and other vertebrates (n=23). The sera were screened for antibodies to West Nile virus (WNV), St. Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV), Ilheus virus (ILHV), Bussuquara virus (BSQV), Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV), eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV), and western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV), using hemagglutination inhibiti...
Crans WJ, Caccamise DF, McNelly JR.Eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus (EEEV) is perpetuated in eastern North America in a mosquito-wild bird maintenance cycle that involves Culiseta melanura (Coquillett) as the principal enzootic vector and passerine birds as the primary amplifying hosts. We examined the role of birds in the EEEV cycle at a site in southern New Jersey where EEEV cycles annually at high levels. Birds and mosquitoes were sampled during three epiornitics and one season of limited virus activity. We examined antibody prevalence in birds in relation to eight physical and natural history characteristics. Our goal...
Hanafy RA, Lanjekar VB, Dhakephalkar PK, Callaghan TM, Dagar SS, Griffith GW, Elshahed MS, Youssef NH.We isolated and characterized 65 anaerobic gut fungal (AGF; Neocallimastigomycota) strains from fecal samples of five wild (W, axis deer, white-tailed deer, Boer goat, mouflon, and Nilgiri tahr), one zoo-housed (Z, zebra), and three domesticated (D, horse, sheep, and goat) herbivores in the US states of Texas (TX) and Oklahoma (OK), Wales (WA), and the Indian states of Kerala (KE) and Haryana (HA). Phylogenetic assessment using the D1-D2 regions of the large subunit (28S) rDNA and internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) identified seven monophyletic clades that are distinct from all curren...
Elfving K, Malmsten J, Dalin AM, Nilsson K.Both Rickettsia helvetica and Anaplasma phagocytophilum are common in Ixodes ricinus ticks in Sweden. Knowledge is limited regarding different animal species' competence to act as reservoirs for these organism. For this reason, blood samples were collected from wild cervids (roe deer, moose) and domestic mammals (horse, cat, dog) in central Sweden, and sera were tested using immunofluorescence assay to detect antibodies against spotted fever rickettsiae using Rickettsia helvetica as antigen. Sera with a titer ≥1:64 were considered as positive, and 23.1% (104/450) of the animals scored positi...
Murchie TJ, Monteath AJ, Mahony ME, Long GS, Cocker S, Sadoway T, Karpinski E, Zazula G, MacPhee RDE, Froese D, Poinar HN.The temporal and spatial coarseness of megafaunal fossil records complicates attempts to to disentangle the relative impacts of climate change, ecosystem restructuring, and human activities associated with the Late Quaternary extinctions. Advances in the extraction and identification of ancient DNA that was shed into the environment and preserved for millennia in sediment now provides a way to augment discontinuous palaeontological assemblages. Here, we present a 30,000-year sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) record derived from loessal permafrost silts in the Klondike region of Yukon, Canada. ...
Liu SH, Li K, Hu DF.A survey was conducted on the detection of the larval Gasterophilus species in 90 equines via necropsy or after administering oral ivermectin in Xinjian, China, from 2008 to 2013. All 90 (100%) equines were infested by larval Gasterophilus, and 3723second instar larvae (L2) and 63,778 third instar larvae (L3) were collected from faecal samples and the digestive tract, a ratio of L2:L3=1:17. Over 84.45% of the animals contained ≤1500 larvae and 7.78% had >2000 larvae. The highest totals of L2 and L 3 larvae in any one animal were 1208 in Mongolian wild ass (Equus hemionus hemionus), 2491 in P...
Wohlsein P, Lehmbecker A, Spitzbarth I, Algermissen D, Baumgärtner W, Böer M, Kummrow M, Haas L, Grummer B.In a zoological collection, four black bears (Ursus americanus) died from neurological disease within six months. Independently in a geographically different zoo, two Thomson's gazelles (Eudorcas thomsoni) and 18 guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus f. dom.) suffered from neurological disorders. In addition, guinea pigs showed abortions and stillbirths. All affected animals displayed a non suppurative meningoencephalitis with intranuclear inclusion bodies. Immunohistology demonstrated equine herpes virus antigen and ultrastructurally herpes viral particles were detected. Virus isolation and molecular ...
Maeda T, Ochi S, Ringhofer M, Sosa S, Sueur C, Hirata S, Yamamoto S.The study of non-human multilevel societies can give us insights into how group-level relationships function and are maintained in a social system, but their mechanisms are still poorly understood. The aim of this study was to apply spatial association data obtained from drones to verify the presence of a multilevel structure in a feral horse society. We took aerial photos of individuals that appeared in pre-fixed areas and collected positional data. The threshold distance of the association was defined based on the distribution pattern of the inter-individual distance. The association rates o...
Salis AT, Bray SCE, Lee MSY, Heiniger H, Barnett R, Burns JA, Doronichev V, Fedje D, Golovanova L, Harington CR, Hockett B, Kosintsev P, Lai X....The Bering Land Bridge connecting North America and Eurasia was periodically exposed and inundated by oscillating sea levels during the Pleistocene glacial cycles. This land connection allowed the intermittent dispersal of animals, including humans, between Western Beringia (far northeast Asia) and Eastern Beringia (northwest North America), changing the faunal community composition of both continents. The Pleistocene glacial cycles also had profound impacts on temperature, precipitation and vegetation, impacting faunal community structure and demography. While these palaeoenvironmental impact...
Zhang Y, Cao QS, Rubenstein DI, Zang S, Songer M, Leimgruber P, Chu H, Cao J, Li K, Hu D.Acquiring water is essential for all animals, but doing so is most challenging for desert-living animals. Recently Przewalski's horse has been reintroduced to the desert area in China where the last wild surviving member of the species was seen before it vanished from China in the 1960s. Its reintroduction placed it within the range of a close evolutionary relative, the con-generic Khulan. Determining whether or not these two species experience competition and whether or not such competition was responsible for the extinction of Przewalski's horses in the wild over 50 years ago, requires ident...
Pusterla N, Mapes S, Rejmanek D, Gebhart C.The objective of this study was to determine whether Lawsonia intracellularis was present in the feces of free-living animals collected on two equine premises with documented occurrence of equine proliferative enteropathy (EPE). Fresh feces from black-tailed jackrabbits (Lepus californicus, n=100), striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis, n=22), feral cats (Felis catus, n=14), Brewer's Blackbirds (Euphagus cyanocephalus, n=10), Virginian opossums (Didelphis virginiana, n=9), raccoons (Procyon lotor, n=4), California ground squirrels (Spermophilus beecheyi, n=3), and coyotes (Canis latrans, n=2) were...
Dubey JP, Mitchell SM, Morrow JK, Rhyan JC, Stewart LM, Granstrom DE, Romand S, Thulliez P, Saville WJ, Lindsay DS.Sarcocystis neurona, Neospora caninum, N. hughesi, and Toxoplasma gondii are 4 related coccidians considered to be associated with encephalomyelitis in horses. The source of infection for N. hughesi is unknown, whereas opossums, dogs, and cats are the definitive hosts for S. neurona, N. caninum, and T. gondii, respectively. Seroprevalence of these coccidians in 276 wild horses from central Wyoming outside the known range of the opossum (Didelphis virginiana) was determined. Antibodies to T. gondii were found only in 1 of 276 horses tested with the modified agglutination test using 1:25, 1:50, ...
Dias Fde O, Lorosa ES, Rebêlo JM.A precipitin test was employed to study the alimentary tract content of Lutzomyia longipalpis in the intra- and peridomiciliary environments in the municipality of Raposa, Maranh o State, a transmission area for visceral leishmaniasis or kala azar. Out of 2,240 female sandflies captured, 547 (24.4%) had fed on vertebrate blood, with the following proportions: avian (87.9%); rodent (47.2%); human (42.4%); canine (27.6%); opossum (26.6%); and equine (22.5%). Based on a survey of 120 human dwellings, chickens were found to be the most common domestic animals in the peridomicile (28.3%), followed ...
Timoney JF, Kalimuthusamy N, Velineni S, Donahue JM, Artiushin SC, Fettinger M.Although serologic data indicate horses in N. America are exposed to a variety of leptospiral serovars, abortion is almost always associated with Leptospira interrogans serovar Pomona type kennewicki. A variety of wildlife including raccoons, white tailed deer, striped skunks, opossums, and red and grey foxes have been shown to host serovar Pomona and have therefore been suspect as sources of infection for pregnant mares. The aim of the present study was to examine genetic diversity in serovar Pomona type kennewicki in wildlife and in aborting mares. Our approach utilized PCR that targeted tan...
Wang HH, Kung NY, Grant WE, Scanlan JC, Field HE.Zoonoses from wildlife threaten global public health. Hendra virus is one of several zoonotic viral diseases that have recently emerged from Pteropus species fruit-bats (flying-foxes). Most hypotheses regarding persistence of Hendra virus within flying-fox populations emphasize horizontal transmission within local populations (colonies) via urine and other secretions, and transmission among colonies via migration. As an alternative hypothesis, we explore the role of recrudescence in persistence of Hendra virus in flying-fox populations via computer simulation using a model that integrates publ...
Silva RO, Rupnik M, Diniz AN, Vilela EG, Lobato FC.Clostridium difficile is an emerging enteropathogen responsible for pseudomembranous colitis in humans and diarrhoea in several domestic and wild animal species. Despite its known importance, there are few studies about C. difficile polymerase chain reaction (PCR) ribotypes in Brazil and the actual knowledge is restricted to studies on human isolates. The aim of the study was therefore to compare C. difficile ribotypes isolated from humans and animals in Brazil. Seventy-six C. difficile strains isolated from humans (n = 25), dogs (n = 23), piglets (n = 12), foals (n = 7), calves (n = 7), one c...
Naundrup PJ, Svenning JC.Megafaunas worldwide have been decimated during the late Quaternary. Many extirpated species were keystone species, and their loss likely has had large effects on ecosystems. Therefore, it is increasingly considered how megafaunas can be restored. The horse (Equus ferus) is highly relevant in this context as it was once extremely widespread and, despite severe range contraction, survives in the form of domestic, feral, and originally wild horses. Further, it is a functionally important species, notably due to its ability to graze coarse, abrasive grasses. Here, we used species distribution mod...
