Volume 80, Issue 2

On the small island of Montecristo, in the Tuscan archipelago (Northern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy), a wild goat population, Capra aegagrus Erxleben, 1777, of very ancient origin continues to display the phenotypic patterns of its wild ancestors, despite the fact that, in recent decades, questionable management by the authorities in charge of its protection may have favoured its radical impoverishment through randomized selective shootings and the illegal introduction of domestic individuals. In the period between 2010 and 2014, this population has been drastically reduced, if not almost entirely eliminated, following the implementation of the EEC LIFE Project+ Montecristo 2010, aimed at redefining the ecological equilibrium of the small Tyrrhenian island, mainly focused on the eradication of the local population of black rats, Rattus rattus (L., 1758) using poison pellets, with the primary purpose of protecting a single species of marine bird.

Between 2000 and 2010, digestive tracts collected from carnivore carcasses found in southern Brazil were analyzed to determine the frequency and proportion of items constituting the diets of each species. Material was collected and analyzed from 194 animals of 10 species: Cerdocyon thous , Lycalopex gymnocercus (Canidae), Procyon cancrivorus (Procyonidae), Galictis cuja (Mustelidae), Conepatus chinga (Mephitidae), Leopardus colocolo , Leopardus geoffroyi , Leopardus guttulus , Leopardus wiedii , and Puma yagouaroundi (Felidae). Most of these species are sympatric, which makes them potential competitors when sharing, to a greater or lesser degree, the same resources. The food niche breadth was relatively narrow, demonstrating that even generalist species, such as the crab-eating raccoon, used food resources rather unequally. An extensive overlap (>90%) in food niches was found among the cat species, the grison, and the Pampas fox, which had diets based on rodents. Crab-eating raccoons occupied a different food niche, based on aquatic or semiaquatic prey and fruits. Conepatus chinga was unique in exploiting arthropods and insect larvae as basic dietary items.

Information on feeding habits and food choices of species living in heavily disturbed and fragmented habitats is critical to developing conservation plans for these animals. We collected data on the diet and food choices of two groups (Groups 1 and 2) of white-headed langurs ( Trachypithecus leucocephalus ) from August 2011 to July 2012 in a highly fragmented limestone habitat within Chongzuo White-headed Langur National Nature Reserve, Guangxi province, China. The langurs fed on 97 plant species. Leaves constituted 72.2% and 80.7% of the overall diet for Group 1 and Group 2 (including 55.7% and 66.4% young leaves), and fruits accounted for 22.8% and 11.4%, respectively. The consumption of young leaves and fruits corresponded to their availabilities for the langur groups. Mature leaf consumption peaked in December and January, corresponding to a period of young leaf scarcity. Though the langurs fed on a wide variety of plant species, only ten species made up over half of their diet, and only two of these belonged to the ten most common species in the foraging region. Likewise, there was no significant relationship between the abundance of a species and its percentage of feeding records. Our results indicate that white-headed langurs respond to limestone habitat fragmentation by broadening their diet and relying more heavily on leaves, which may be enabled by their digestive physiology. We also emphasize the importance of conserving uncommon plant species for the survival of the langurs.

Diet selection and forage quality of chinkara ( Gazella bennettii shikarii ) were investigated in Darre Anjir Wildlife Refuge, central area of Iran. Foraging observations and feeding site examinations were carried out from January to March 2014. We used Rodgers’s and Manly’s α indices of preference for cafeteria experiments. Nitrogen content was determined using the micro-Kjeldahl technique. Based on this study, the food composition of chinkara during winter was mainly consisted of 19 plant species, belonging to 16 genera and 9 families. The results of cafeteria experiments showed that the preference values of plant species were significantly different whereas no significant relationship between forage quality and preference value was detected.

This study aimed to test through null models analysis the co-occurrence and nestedness patterns of bat species in a region of the Atlantic Rainforest. Data from 10 communities were tabulated in presence-absence matrices. Two metrics have been used to test the co-occurrence patterns: C-Score, which calculates the “checkerboard” pattern testing the interspecific competition between pairs of species, and V-Ratio, which calculates the covariance between species. All analyses were performed with EcoSim software. For nestedness analyses, we utilized the NODF metric through the Aninhado software. None of all the C-Score results showed a significant pattern of species association, indicating a higher coexistence among bat species. For V-Ratio, three results indicated nonrandom associations of species. The communities are highly nested, with poor species sites being subsets of richer sites. The diversification in this group allows the coexistence of species, decreasing the niche overlap. Nested pattern is common in mammal communities, and the significance of our results is in accordance with the results of the co-occurrence test. Competitive interactions may lead to differences in abundance of species in communities. However, as the method of bat sampling is considered biased, the results using binary data, as in our study, seems to be the most trustful method.

In spite of previous reviews, there is still no consensus on the information associated to the richness of the genus Coendou in Colombia. To clarify some issues concerning the distribution and the taxonomic identity of the species of Coendou in the country, we reviewed specimens from five natural history collections. We introduce the first record of Coendou ichillus from the Orinoco river basin of the country, extending the distribution of the species by more than 600 km to the north from previous known localities in Ecuador and Peru. Additionally, we present new records of C. pruinosus and C. quichua from the Amazonia and inter-Andean valleys, respectively. Only one skull presents the diagnostic characters of C . bicolor ; thus, previous records of this species for the country were based on misidentifications. Coendou is distributed in seven of the nine geographic provinces of Colombia. Coendou prehensilis was found in five provinces and is expected to be present in the Amazonia, whereas C. pruinosus was documented in three provinces (North Andean, Orinoco and Guyana). The rest of the species of Coendou were distributed in one or two provinces. The richest provinces were North Andean and Orinoco with six and four Coendou species, respectively. The elevational ranges of C. prehensilis and C. pruinosus are revised to 0–1975 and 90–2200 m, respectively.

We surveyed 69 poultry farms to assess the level of rodent infestation and identify the factors associated with the infestation in the area of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Rodents were recorded in 63 farms, and the factors associated with their occurrence included broken window screens, defective doors, presence of cracks in floor and walls, the practice of dumping poultry manure and wastes within farm premises and unmanaged wild vegetation. The structural conditions of poultry sheds were relatively better than those of the food stores, reflecting the farmers’ interest to protect poultry. Farms older than 10 years had poor structural conditions and higher rodent infestation. Farms managed by owners had lower rodent populations compared with those operated by tenants, suggesting that farm owners exert more effort to ensure adequate maintenance of farm facilities. We quantified the amount of damage caused by rodents to poultry eggs (0.001%, an average of 31±3.4 eggs per day) and food bags (5.9%, an average of 5±0.3 feed bags daily). We also measured the level of contamination of poultry food by rodents. Analysis of the samples of poultry food collected from sheds and food stores revealed that about 37.5±4.5 and 40.3±6.4 per kg, respectively, were contaminated by rodents based on counts or about 10.5±2.9 g/kg and 6.3±0.8 g/kg by weight, respectively. We conducted rodent trapping at 23 poultry farms to assess their population. We captured six rodent species, namely, Rattus rattus , Mus musculus , R. norvegicus , Bandicota bengalensis , Nesokia indica and Millardia meltada . Rattus rattus and M. musculus were the most abundant and prevalent species, whereas the presence of the other four species was associated with specific farm locations and habitats. This is the first record of B. bengalensis being trapped inside a building in Pakistan. Population abundance was estimated using the rodent trapping data by employing change-in-ratio (CIR) and removal methods. We found that the mean number of rodents per poultry farm (with 95% CI) was 97 (89–105) based on the CIR method and 65 (53–77) based on the removal method. The study suggests that rodent infestation can be prevented through better management of poultry operations, improving sanitary conditions and ensuring regular repairs and maintenance of buildings.

We investigated the recruitment and survival of the multimammate mouse, Mastomys natalensis , within irrigated rice and fallow field habitats at different time periods related to rice crop growth stages. Capture-Mark-Recapture data were collected for M . natalensis each month from June 2010 to May 2012, and both recruitment and survival were estimated in relation to land use (irrigated rice or fallow field) within the agro-ecosystem. Higher recruitment and survival were observed in rice fields than in fallow fields suggesting the relationship was compensatory when there was a higher quality food resource. In terms of management, farmers in the study area should implement management strategies in rice fields at both transplanting and maturity stages of crop growth in order to maintain recruitment and survival at low levels.

The small didelphid marsupial Cryptonanus guahybae was described as a subspecies of Gracilinanus microtarsus and was so far considered endemic to the state of Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil. We used morphological data to identify Cryptonanus specimens from the states of Santa Catarina and Paraná, deposited in two Brazilian mammal collections. The cytochrome b sequences of our samples formed a well-supported monophyletic group with low intraspecific genetic divergence. This clade showed high interspecific genetic divergence regarding sequences of the two other species of Cryptonanus that occur in Brazil, C. agricolai and C. chacoensis . Diagnostic morphological characters, such as reddish brown dorsal fur, mammary count (7-1-7=15), small molars, and the presence of a complete anterior cingulum on M3, confirm the identification of 20 specimens from southern Brazil as C. guahybae . Considering the morphological diagnoses and the monophyletic and divergent condition of the cytochrome b sequences, it is suitable that these represent the first molecular data for the species. Our results allowed the expansion of the known distribution of C. guahybae throughout the Atlantic Forest phytophysiognomies of the states of Santa Catarina and Paraná.

It has recently been claimed by Masseti that a wild goat survived on Montecristo Island until the first half of the 20th century and that subsequent selection procedures produced a goat that did not resemble any true wild goat. In the present note, it is emphasized that the Montecristo goat was in fact never taxonomically described. The fact that a Montecristo “wild” goat has been included in the national and European legislation as a protected “species” could only been explained with the decline of mammal taxonomy that has been observed in Western Europe during the second half of 20th century.

The first record of a bat species from the Lakshadweep archipelago (India) has been identified as Tadarida aegyptiaca (Chiroptera: Molossidae). It appears unlikely that any bat colony may have been resident on the islands. Stranding during migration, high aerial foraging, or disorientation by wind farms on the west coast of mainland India, are factors that need to be further explored to explain this occurrence.

There are no published records of pinnipeds in Southeast Asia. Photographs in the national media between January 2010 and December 2013 documented seven pinniped records. All were individuals caught by fishermen in the central part of Vietnam (17°56′N south to 15°23′N). All except one pinniped record can be assigned to Largha (=Spotted) Seal Phoca largha , the most southerly breeding true seal in the north Pacific. The only other pinniped species recorded in Vietnam during the period was one Northern Fur Seal Callorhinus ursinus . The minimum distance between the southernmost area where these species occur regularly and central Vietnam is 3500 km; this is comparable to distances travelled by other vagrant pinnipeds in other parts of the world. Based on such evidence, Largha Seal and Northern Fur Seal should be added to the list of naturally occurring mammals in Vietnamese and Southeast Asian waters.

The Indian pangolin ( Manis crassicaudata ) has been recently listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as an endangered species throughout its range, but in Pakistan it is categorized as vulnerable. Very little is known about the breeding habits of this nocturnal and fossorial animal in the wild. The present paper provides information on breeding ecology of its population in Potohar Plateau in Pakistan. A total of 13 specimens were trapped to record breeding condition of the captured animals. Additionally, a questionnaire survey was conducted in the study area to collect breeding data on the species. Our limited data show a male-to-female ratio of 1.6:1. The local population seems to breed once a year, usually from July to October, with a litter size of one to two. The juvenile pangolins were observed during the months of January, April and December.

Brown bears ( Ursus arctos ) are the largest among terrestrial mammals and are at the center of most human-wildlife conflicts, but there has been little ecological research on the species in Turkey. The aim of this study was to document the litter size and diet of brown bears in the province of Artvin. Observations of brown bears were conducted from 2004 to 2012, with a total observation time of 588 h. A total of 72 scats were collected and analyzed. Most bears (43.6%) were spotted during the mating season in late May and early June. The average litter size was 1.67 (n=39), and the average number of yearlings was 1.19 (n=27). The average survival of cubs-of-the-year to the succeeding year was 0.71. The bears’ diet consisted mainly of herbaceous plants (87.5%). The average litter size observed was among the smallest, and the diet was among the most herbivorous documented in brown bear populations in the world. Monitoring and revealing the basic ecological parameters of the brown bears in Turkey may provide baseline data for the effective management and conservation of brown bear populations in southwest Asia.