Understanding physiological variability in wild ungulates is essential for ecological monitoring and sustainable wildlife management. This study aimed to examine whether sex and season (autumn vs. early winter) significantly influence hematological a...
Animal welfare is a subject of increasing scientific and ethical concern in today’s society, crucial for the well-being of animals used in research and the integrity of scientific data. Equipping researchers in the life science disciplines with...
Despite its global distribution, the impacts of wild pigs on the environment are poorly understood. However, wild boar (Sus scrofa) is recognized as a pest species, causes extensive damage to agriculture, biodiversity, and forests, and contributes to...
Investigation of fertility control techniques to reduce reproductive rates in wildlife populations has been the source of much research. Techniques targeting wildlife fertility have been diverse. Most research into fertility control methods has focus...
Landfills represent increasingly common anthropogenic habitats that provide food resources but also expose wildlife to complex chemical mixtures. White Storks (Ciconia ciconia) have recently expanded breeding near such sites, yet little is known abou...
The ability to measure and monitor wildlife populations is important for species management and conservation. The use of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to rapidly detect physiological traits from wildlife scat and other body materials could play a...
Drones are becoming increasingly valuable tools in wildlife studies due to their ability to access remote areas and offer high-resolution information with minimal human interference. Their application is, however, causing concern regarding wildlife d...
Mercury (Hg) is a naturally occurring element, but atmospheric Hg has increased due to human activities since the industrial revolution. When deposited in aquatic environments, atmospheric Hg can be converted to methyl mercury (MeHg), which bioaccumu...
Carbonic anhydrase (CA) is a widespread metalloenzyme playing a pivotal role in several physiological processes. Many studies have demonstrated the in vitro and in vivo sensitivity of CA to the exposure to several classes of pesticides in both humans...
Oil spills are environmental disasters and their long-term impact is not just a concern for the environment and economy, but also for first responders’ health and wellbeing. Wildlife, such as aquatic birds and certain marine mammals, are highly susce...
Lead is among the most toxic heavy metals, posing significant risks to all living organisms. It is a pervasive and persistent contaminant in the environment. Ingested lead in birds and wildlife induces a range of sublethal effects that disrupt physio...
Non-invasive techniques can be applied for monitoring the physiology and behaviour of wildlife in Zoos to improve management and welfare. Thermal imaging technology has been used as a non-invasive technique to measure the body temperature of various...
In the last decades, wildlife diseases and the health status of animal populations have gained increasing attention from the scientific community as part of a One Health framework. Furthermore, the need for non-invasive sampling methods with a minima...
1 November 2012
The measurement of cellular and sub-cellular responses to chemical contaminants (referred to as biomarkers) in living organisms represents a recent tool in environmental monitoring. The review focuses on carbonic anhydrase, a ubiquitous metalloenzyme...
Volunteer wildlife rehabilitators rescue and rehabilitate thousands of native animals every year in Australia. However, there is little known about how exposure to novel stimuli during rehabilitation could affect the physiology of wildlife. We invest...
Microplastic debris is a persistent, ubiquitous global pollutant in oceans, estuaries, and freshwater systems. Some of the highest reported concentrations of microplastics, globally, are in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), which is home to the majority of p...
Mangrove forest is one of the productive ecosystems that provide essential habitats for various fauna as breeding and feeding drives. However, heavy metal pollution in the mangrove forest has led to severe health problems for several aquatic species....
Mercury (Hg) pollution is a widespread ecological threat with sublethal effects on wildlife. Birds, due to their ecological diversity and sensitivity, serve as effective models for evaluating the behavioural impacts of Hg exposure. This review applie...
(1) Background: We combined physiological and morphological data of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) to provide insights into the question of how urbanization affects the health of urban wildlife populations. (2) Methods: We dissected 39 u...
Military operations may result in noise impacts on surrounding communities and wildlife. A recent transition to more powerful military aircraft and a national consolidation of training operations to Whidbey Island, WA, USA, provided a unique opportun...
Reproduction rate is important for the survival of animal populations. During gravidity, a trade-off occurs between the individual well-being of gravid females and investment in offspring. Due to the high synthesis and energy requirements for the gro...
Wild animals under human care as well as domesticated farm production animals are often exposed to environmental changes (e [...]
Stress physiology is commonly employed in studies of wildlife ecology and conservation. Accordingly, we need robust and suitable methods to measure stress physiology in the field. Fecal cortisol/corticosterone metabolites (FCMs) are now increasingly...
Physiological data can provide valuable information about the health and welfare of animals. Unfortunately, few validated assays and a lack of information on species-typical levels of circulating biomarkers for wildlife make the measurement, interpre...
12 May 2021
The global use of psychopharmaceuticals such as antidepressants has been steadily increasing. However, the environmental consequences of increased use are rarely considered by medical professionals. Worldwide monitoring efforts have shown that pharma...
Hunting activity is usually seen as a factor capable of causing an intense stress response in wildlife that may lead to short but also long-term stress. In the Lousã Mountain, Portugal, the population of red deer (Cervus elaphus) is the target...
Biological sex is one of the more critically important physiological parameters needed for managing threatened animal species because it is crucial for informing several of the management decisions surrounding conservation breeding programs. Near-inf...
Health diagnostics of wildlife have historically relied on the evaluation of select serum biomarkers and the identification of a contaminant or pathogen burden within specific tissues as an indicator of a level of insult. However, these approaches fa...
To understand wildlife responses to the changing environment, it is useful to examine their physiological responses and particularly their endocrine status. Here, we validated an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) to non-invasively quantify fecal corticosteron...
One of the most significant challenges in deer is the ability to maintain genetic diversity, avoiding inbreeding and sustaining population health and reproduction. Although our general knowledge of reproductive physiology is improving, it appears tha...
People, domestic animals, and wildlife are all exposed to numerous environmental threats, including harmful algal blooms (HABs). However, because animals exhibit wide variations in diet, land use and biology, they are often more frequently or heavily...
Human-induced environmental changes that act as long-term stressors pose significant impacts on wildlife health. Energy required for maintenance or other functions may be re-routed towards coping with stressors, ultimately resulting in fluctuations i...
Research Highlights: Bottomland hardwood forests exhibit seasonal flooding, are species diverse, and provide numerous ecosystem services including floodwater storage, wildlife habitat and nutrient mitigation. However, data are needed to adequately pr...
Whether animals have emotions was historically a long-lasting question but, today, nobody disputes that they do. However, how to assess them and how to guarantee animals their welfare have become important research topics in the last 20 years. Infrar...
The behavioural, physiological, and energetic repercussions for wildlife that result from changes in their soundscapes are increasingly being realized. To understand the effects of changing acoustic landscapes, we first must establish the importance...
Rhinoceros are among the largest and most endangered herbivores in the world. Three of the five extant species are critically endangered, with poaching and habitat loss contributing heavily to declines. The gut microbiome is an essential facet of hos...
Reptiles are held at wildlife parks and zoos for display and conservation breeding programs and are increasingly being kept as pets. Reliable indicators of welfare for reptiles need to be identified. Current guidelines for the captive management of r...
Body condition indices are commonly used in the management of fish populations and are a surrogate to physiological attributes such as tissue-energy reserves. Relative condition factor (Kn) describes the condition of species relative to populations i...
Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) are one of Australia’s most charismatic native small marsupial species. Unfortunately, populations of koalas are rapidly declining throughout Australia as they continue to face increasing pressure from a changing ecosy...
Studying the gut microbiome can provide valuable insights into animal health and inform the conservation management of threatened wildlife. Gut microbiota play important roles in regulating mammalian host physiology, including digestion, energy metab...
Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) have significant impacts on biological systems, and have been shown to interfere with physiological systems, especially by disrupting the hormone balance. During the last few decades, EDCs have been shown to affe...
Glyphosate-based herbicides are the most widely used herbicides in the world, including in Canadian forestry. In general, glyphosate-based herbicides are considered relatively non-toxic to wildlife species due, in part, to rapid breakdown of the chem...
Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin found in a variety of human foods and in animals. Wild boars are widespread on the European mainland. As they are ubiquitous and feed mainly on a varied diet, they can serve as an excellent bioindicator for OTA resea...
Projections indicate that the global urban population is anticipated to reach 67.2% by 2050, accompanied by a threefold increase in urban built-up areas worldwide. Urbanization has profoundly transformed Earth’s natural environment, notably cha...
Lead (Pb), due to its high toxicity and bioaccumulation tendency, is one of the top three pollutants of concern for both humans and wildlife and occupies second place in the Priority List of Hazardous Substances. In freshwater fish, Pb is mainly abso...
Tourists consistently demonstrate the need to touch wildlife, although policies often deny these experiences because of the psychological and physiological impacts on animals. However, philosophers contend that humans can learn to empathize with anim...
The medical and veterinary public health importance of ticks and tick-borne pathogens is increasing due to the expansion of the geographic ranges of both ticks and pathogens, increasing tick populations, growing incidence of tick-borne diseases, emer...
Rumen studies have focused almost exclusively on livestock species under strictly regimented diets. This means that the ruminal condition of free-living and free-feeding wildlife remains practically unstudied. Urea nitrogen salvaging, a process by wh...
Microbiome studies report a decrease in diversity associated with active infections. Under the endozoan hypothesis, Coccidioides can inhabit a host without causing disease. In this study, we describe and compare the lung mycobiome of Coccidioides-pos...
Wildlife management can influence animal welfare and survival, although both are often not explicitly integrated into decision making. This study explores fundamental concepts and key concerns relating to the welfare and survival of stranded cetacean...
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