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This article discusses the complexities of reintroducing cheetahs in India as part of the Project Cheetah initiative. The authors address the challenges of extrapolating data from African cheetah populations to predict the space use of cheetahs in India's Kuno National Park. They highlight the differences in ecosystems, vegetation, and human activity between the two regions, which may affect cheetah movement patterns. The article also mentions the strategies employed by Project Cheetah to manage cheetahs' ranging patterns and mitigate conflicts with humans and other animals. The authors emphasize the need for empirical data on cheetah spatial ecology in India and stress the importance of adaptive management in the reintroduction process. Overall, the article provides insights into the complexities of reintroducing cheetahs and emphasizes the need for time and careful planning to ensure the success of conservation and restoration projects. [Extracted from the article]

Background: Ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA) is the procedure of choice in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) requiring surgery. Advantages of laparoscopic IPAA (lap-IPAA) compared to open surgery have been investigated. However, laparoscopic dissection in the pelvis is still a challenge. A transanal approach provides better access to lower pelvis and avoids multiple staple firings, which could reduce the risk of anastomotic complications. The aim of this study was to compare short-term outcomes of transanal proctectomy with IPAA (ta-IPAA) with conventional lap-IPAA in patients with UC. Methods: A single-center retrospective study was conducted on consecutive UC patients, treated at Copenhagen University Hospital, Hvidovre, undergoing either laparoscopic or transanal IPAA in the period between January 2013 and December 2020. Exclusion criteria were Crohn's disease, previous extensive abdominal surgery and impaired sphincter function. Primary outcomes were overall postoperative complications. Secondary outcomes were length of hospital stay and re-admissions. For comparison between ta-IPAA and lap-IPAA, the Mann–Whitney U test was used for continuous variables, and Chi-square and Fisher's exact test for categorical variables. Results: A total of 65 patients with ta-IPAA (34 males, 31 females, median age 31 years [range 12–66 years]) and 70 patients with lap-IPAA (35 males, 35 females, median age 26 years [range 12–66 years]) were included. There was no difference between ta-IPAA and lap-IPAA regarding age, sex, body mass index or American Society of Anesthesiologists class. The primary colectomy procedure was performed laparoscopically in 95% of the ta-IPPA and 91% of the lap-IPAA patients (p = 0.493). The mean time between total colectomy and IPAA was 15 and 9 weeks for ta-IPAA and lap-IPAA, respectively (p = 0.048). A higher proportion of patients with ta-IPAA were treated with biologics preoperatively (98 vs. 82%; p = 0.002). Patients with ta-IPAA had a significantly higher mean operative time compared to lap-IPAA (277 min vs. 224 min; p = 0.001). There was no difference in the overall postoperative complication rate (ta-IPAA: 23% vs. lap-IPAA: 23%; p = 0.99). Pouch-related complications occurred in 13% of the ta-IPAA patients and 29% of lap-IPPA patients (p = 0.402). There was no difference in the anastomotic leakage rates. Readmission rates were similar in the ta-IPAA and lap-IPAA group (26 vs. 29%; p = 0.85), including IPAA-related readmissions. The mean follow-up time was 24 and 75 months for ta-IPAA and lap-IPAA, respectively (p = 0.001), and the ileostomy closure rate was similar in both groups of patients (p = 0.96). Conclusions: The ta-IPAA approach for UC is a safe procedure and offers acceptable short-time outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human-wildlife conflict is detrimental to the conservation of threatened carnivores and the livelihoods of rural communities. This paper compares perceived levels of human-carnivore conflict experienced on five Namibian communal conservancies and four resettled farming areas. Factors explored include how reported depredation was affected by livestock husbandry practices, the perceived annual cost of depredation and the reported problem predator species. Of the 147 respondents interviewed, perceived depredation was greater than in previous studies; high perceived depredation was associated with greater rates of predator removal, increased ranking of predators as problems and increased predator sighting frequency. Small stock species were the most commonly depredated livestock. The most frequently perceived predators were: jackals on goats and sheep, wild cats on chickens, leopards on horses and spotted hyenas on cattle. The financial cost of this predation was US$508898, mostly attributable to cattle depredation, and agricultural training schemes recommending good livestock management may help reduce this cost. A move from small to large stock farming could be promoted in areas with an abundance of small- to medium-sized carnivores and a lack of large carnivores. Further incentives, such as meat provision and income from consumptive and non-consumptive tourism could ensure benefits outweigh costs of wildlife coexistence. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recent genetic analysis has shown that the extinct Caspian Tiger (P. t. virgata) and the living Amur Tigers (P. t. altaica) of the Russian Far East are actually taxonomically synonymous and that Caspian and Amur groups historically formed a single population, only becoming separated within the last 200 years by human agency. A major conservation implication of this finding is that tigers of Amur stock might be reintroduced, not only back into the Koreas and China as is now proposed, but also through vast areas of Central Asia where the Caspian tiger once lived. However, under the current tiger conservation framework the 12 "Caspian Tiger States" are not fully involved in conservation planning. Equal recognition as "Tiger Range States" should be given to the countries where the Caspian tiger once lived and their involvement in tiger conservation planning encouraged. Today, preliminary ecological surveys show that some sparsely populated areas of Central Asia preserve natural habitat suitable for tigers. In depth assessments should be completed in these and other areas of the Caspian range to evaluate the possibility of tiger reintroductions. Because tigers are a charismatic umbrella species, both ecologically and politically, reintroduction to these landscapes would provide an effective conservation framework for the protection of many species in addition to tigers. And for today's Amur Tigers this added range will provide a buffer against further loss of genetic diversity, one which will maintain that diversity in the face of selective pressures that can only be experienced in the wild. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the livestock farms surrounding the Waterberg Plateau Park in north-central Namibia to assess farmer attitudes, management techniques, financial impacts, as well as the potential benefits of tourism and trophy hunting, with respect to leopard Panthera pardus conservation. Farmers were asked about their use of six livestock husbandry techniques and farmers who employed at least one had 85% less reported conflict than farmers not employing any. Livestock farmers lost on average 3.8% of their calves to depredation annually (US$1370 per farm per year) but were willing to lose 3.3%, a difference of only US$180 per farm or US$3064 regionally. Where losses were higher than stated tolerance, we found that potential benefits from tourism and trophy hunting could offset losses. Surveys with tourists and professional hunters in the region strengthened this conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge of a species' ranging behaviour is both fundamental to understanding its behavioural ecology and a prerequisite to planning its management. Few data exist on the spatial ecology of cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus outside protected areas, but such areas are particularly important to their conservation. Cheetahs on Namibian farmlands occupied exceptionally large home ranges, averaging 1651 km2 (±1594 km2), with no detectable effect of sex, social grouping or seasonality. Despite such large ranges, cheetahs tended to utilize intensively only a small fraction of that area: 50% of the fixes were located within an average of 13.9±5.3% of the home range. Ranges were not exclusive, overlapping on average by 15.8±17.0%, with male cheetahs showing more intra-sexual range overlap than did females. Coalitions of males appeared to select for a dense, prey-rich habitat, but this preference was not apparent for other social groupings. Conflict with humans is an important contributor to the species' decline, and these large, overlapping cheetah home ranges result in the movements of each individual cheetah encompassing many farms (21 based on the average home-range size). Consequently, many cheetahs may be exposed to a minority of farmers attempting to kill them, and also that many farmers may see the same cheetahs, thereby gaining an exaggerated impression of their abundance. Conservation priorities for cheetahs outside protected areas are the development of techniques for conflict resolution, as well as the maintenance and restoration of suitable habitat and promotion of land-management practices compatible with the continued existence of large carnivores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective management within the human-dominated matrix, outside of formally protected areas, is of paramount importance to wide-ranging carnviores. For instance, the largest extant population of cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus currently persists on privately owned Namibian ranchlands, and provides an excellent case study to examine and design matrix conservation approaches. Although human-caused mortality is likely the principal threat to this population, ancedotal evidence suggests that ‘bush encroachment’, the widespread conversion of mixed woodland and savannah habitats to dense, Acacia-dominated thickets, is another probable threat. A better understanding of cheetah habitat use, outside of protected areas, could be used to directly influence habitat management strategies and design local restoration and conflict mitigation efforts. To identify specific habitat characteristics associated with cheetah use, we used radio-telemetry locations to identify areas used intensively by cheetahs on commercial Namibian farms. We then compared the habitat characteristics of these ‘high-use’ areas with adjacent ‘low-use’ areas. A binary logistic regression model correctly categorized 92% of plot locations as high or low use, and suggested that cheetahs may be utilizing ‘rewarding patches’ with better sighting visibility and greater grass cover. We discuss the possible reasons for kudu Tragelaphus strepsiceros, Namibian cheetahs' preferred prey, exhibiting significantly lower abundance in high-use areas. Using habitat characteristics to identify areas intensively utilized by cheetahs has important implications for guiding future habitat restoration and developing effective predator conflict mitigation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The influence of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) on skin response to intradermal injection of compound 48/80 and histamine was studied in order to determine whether ASA elicits any abnormalities also in the skin of asthmatics reacting with bronchoconstriction to ingestion of this drug. The applied ASA dose (mean dose 150 mg) elicited bronchoconstriction in all 16 patients with asthma and ASA sensitivity (mean fall of FEV1 34%) and increased the weal response to compound 48/80 to about 51% ( P < 0.05) as compared with the response before the ASA-challenge. In asthmatic persons without ASA sensitivity a 150 mg ASA dose did not influence the skin response to any of the reagents. On the other band, a 600 mg dose decreased skin response to histamine and compound 48/80 in persons without ASA intolerance, although the decrease was statistically significant only in the flare after compound 48/80 (P < 0.05). The authors believe that additional local defect is needed to reveal sensitivity to ASA in the skin of ASA-sensitive asthmatics, just as bronchial hyperreactivity is indispensible for revealing she action of ASA in the bronchi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Posterior dislocation of the sternoclavicular joint is uncommon, accounting for less than 0.1% of all dislocations. Since 1824 a little more than 100 cases have been reported, and the majority in the past 20 years. A review of published reports suggests that this injury is seen particularly in connection with American football. A typical case is described. The importance of this injury is that there is often a delay in diagnosis with potentially serious complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]