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Microscopic Aquatic Predators Strongly Affect Infection Dynamics of a Globally Emerged Pathogen Koninklijke Maatschappij voor Dierkunde van Antwerpen

Dirk S. Schmeller, Mark Blooi, An Martel, Trenton W J Garner, Matthew C. Fisher, Frederic Azemar, Frances C. Clare, Camille Leclerc, Lea Jaeger, Michelle Guevara-Nieto, et al.
Research on emerging infectious wildlife diseases has placed particular emphasis on host-derived barriers to infection and disease. This focus neglects important extrinsic determinants of the host/pathogen dynamic, where all barriers to infection should be considered when ascertaining the determinants of infectivity and pathogenicity of wildlife pathogens [1-3]. Those pathogens with free-living stages, such as fungi causing catastrophic wildlife ...

Plant selection for nest building by western lowland gorillas in Cameroon. Koninklijke Maatschappij voor Dierkunde van Antwerpen

Jacob Willie, Nikki Tagg, Charles-Albert Petre, Zjef , Luc Lens
We examined 834 nests built by western lowland gorillas in Cameroon between July 2008 and July 2011 to identify the plant species used in their construction. Preference for each plant species for nesting was assessed using a 'preference index' calculated by combining information on the occurrence of each species in the forest and in the nests. Forty-six plant species representing about 15 % of the total number of species in the forest and 26 % ...

Distinct and Diverse: Range-Wide Phylogeography Reveals Ancient Lineages and High Genetic Variation in the Endangered Okapi (Okapia johnstoni) Koninklijke Maatschappij voor Dierkunde van Antwerpen

David W G Stanton, John Hart, Peter Galbusera, Philippe Helsen, Jill Shephard, Noëlle F Kümpel, Jinliang Wang, John G Ewen, Michael W Bruford

The okapi is an endangered, evolutionarily distinctive even-toed ungulate classified within the giraffidae family that is endemic to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The okapi is currently under major anthropogenic threat, yet to date nothing is known about its genetic structure and evolutionary history, information important for conservation management given the species' current plight. The distribution of the okapi, being confined to the ...

Testing the Effect of Medical Positive Reinforcement Training on Salivary Cortisol Levels in Bonobos and Orangutans Koninklijke Maatschappij voor Dierkunde van Antwerpen

Verena Behringer, Jeroen Stevens, Gottfried Hohmann, Erich Möstl, Dieter Selzer, Tobias Deschner

The management of captive animals has been improved by the establishment of positive reinforcement training as a tool to facilitate interactions between caretakers and animals. In great apes, positive reinforcement training has also been used to train individuals to participate in simple medical procedures to monitor physical health. One aim of positive reinforcement training is to establish a relaxed atmosphere for situations that, without ...

Age-related changes in Thyroid hormone levels of bonobos and chimpanzees indicate heterochrony in development Koninklijke Maatschappij voor Dierkunde van Antwerpen

Verena Behringer, Tobias Deschner, Roisin Murtagh, Jeroen Stevens, Gottfried Hohmann
We present information on age related changes of thyroid hormone levels in bonobos (N = 96) and chimpanzees (N = 100) ranging between one and 56 years of age. Fresh urine samples were used for hormone measurements with a commercial competitive total triiodothyronine (T3) ELISA. In both species, immature individuals had higher TT3 levels than adults and there was a marked decrease in TT3 levels between age classes. The two species differed in ...

Long-term assessment of Glucosuria in captive okapi (Okapia johnstoni) after a dietary change Koninklijke Maatschappij voor Dierkunde van Antwerpen

Francis Vercammen, Lieve Stas, Luc Bauwens, Redgi De Deken, Jef Brandt
Glucosuria in okapis (Okapia johnstoni) was first documented in 1980, yet the etiology remains unclear. In August 2006, an attempt to lower glucosuria in captive okapi by diet modification (omitting all fruit and adding unmolassed beet pulp) was started at the Antwerp Zoo. To study the possible relationship between glucosuria and diet, stress, and/or pregnancy, four okapis were monitored over a period of 4.5 yr. One animal, born in 2006, became ...

Zoos through the Lens of the IUCN Red List: A Global Metapopulation Approach to Support Conservation Breeding Programs Koninklijke Maatschappij voor Dierkunde van Antwerpen

Dalia A. Conde, Fernando Colchero, Markus Gusset, Paul Pearce-Kelly, Onnie Byers, Nate Flesness, Robert Browne, Owen R. Jones
Given current extinction trends, the number of species requiring conservation breeding programs (CBPs) is likely to increase dramatically. To inform CBP policies for threatened terrestrial vertebrates, we evaluated the number and representation of threatened vertebrate species on the IUCN Red List held in the ISIS zoo network and estimated the complexity of their management as metapopulations. Our results show that 695 of the 3,955 (23 ...