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There is a little understanding of how apex carnivores partition their diet to coexist. We studied food habit and trophic niche overlap of two apex carnivores, tiger and leopard in the tropical forest of Similipal tiger reserve, eastern India. We used line transect and scat analysis method, to estimate the prey availability and determine the diet and prey selection of two apex carnivores. Tigers consumed mostly large and medium-sized prey, whereas leopards mostly consumed medium and small-sized prey. Both carnivores were not random in their consumption of prey, sambar and wild pigs were selectively consumed by tigers, whereas leopards selectively consumed wild pigs, barking deer and mouse deer. Dietary overlap between two carnivore species was moderate (Pianka's niche overlap index: 0.55), and trophic niche breadth (Levin's standardized niche breadth) of the leopard (0.52) was greater than that of the tiger (0.37). Overall, tigers exhibited specialized feeding habits, whereas leopards showed generalist feeding habits. Our study highlights the opportunistic nature of leopards and probably a reason for the species successfully coexist with tigers.

Panthera gombaszoegensis was recorded over from 100 African and Eurasian localities, ranged between 2.5 and 0.3 Myr. Among them, seven cave sites, Żabia, Tunel Wielki, Kozi Grzbiet, Draby 3, Poludniowa, Biśnik, and Komarowa caves, dated in the range of 1.7–0.3 Myr, were those in Poland. They were located in Sudety Mts, Krakow-Czestochowa Upland, Wielun Upland and Holy Cross Mts. The material from Polish sites is not very numerous, being represented mostly by isolated teeth, metapodials and phalanges, however it is well informative diagnostically. From each site, except the Biśnik Cave, remains of a single large-sized individual, mostly of males, were found. The oldest record from Żabia Cave, dated on 1.7–1.5 Myr, because of lack of suifficient diagnostic features, was classified as P. gombaszoegensis. Bones from the other sites were assigned to Panthera gombaszoegensis gombaszoegensis, late Early and Middle Pleistocene chronoform widespread in Eurasia. Analysis of a large series of teeth size in the course of time does not showed any particular changes, and the size of the Eurasian jaguar was more or less comparatively large through its entire timespan occurrence. Panthera gombaszoegensis was ecologically flexible species able to hunt in a wide prey spectrum; its size, comparable with that of a small lion Panthera leo (Linnaeus, 1758) or island tiger Panthera tigris (Linnaeus, 1758), guaranteed this jaguar one of the leading position among large carnivores. This was a member of stabile by 1 Myr carnivore paleoguild, single, conical-toothed cat, and it was well adapted to changed environmental conditions initiated by glacial-interglacial cycles. It seems that climate changes do not affected so much on P. gombaszoegensis as previously thought. The main factor responsible for the jaguar decline was the arrival of the Pleistocene lion, which affected negatively and caused strong competition. Because to its flexibility, jaguar was able to survive relatively longer than other ancient carnivores. Gradually as the density and abundance of the lion increased, a compact and wide geographic range started to shrink up to the form of isolated areas. Areas with the last, relict jaguar survivors were located far away one from another and overwhelmed by populations of P. s. fossilis. The final extinction of the species was between 350 and 300 kyr, and among them Polish find from the layer 19ad of Biśnik Cave should be highlighted as one of the latest Eurasian record of Panthera gombaszoegensis.

This study conducted from January to June 2018, attempts to determine the density, habitat preferences and attitudes of people towards Gekko gecko and its impact on the conservation of this species in human-dominated landscapes in Sonitpur district, Assam. Eight villages at different distances from Nameri Tiger Reserve were chosen for the study. The line transects analyzed using DISTANCE software estimated a density of 7.99 individuals ha−1 in fringe villages of Nameri Tiger Reserve which also had higher number of host tree species diversity with higher basal area and density as compared to that of villages distant from Nameri Tiger Reserve. Gekko gecko was sighted on a total of 30 trees (6 species, 2 families), the highest being Ficus rumphii (40%). Maximum sightings of Gekko gecko was done on trees (67%). The occurrence of Gekko gecko was highly influenced by distance from forest (12%), followed by source of income (11%) and gender (4%). The majority of the respondents (53.54%) revealed that Gekko gecko occurred naturally in the homegardens implying that homegardens provided the habitat that can support the populations of Gekko gecko. But 46.45% of the respondents reported that they were adopted (62.16% in villages distant from Nameri Tiger Reserve), which raises serious concerns about the conservation of Gekko gecko in homegardens. Though, majority of the people knew that it is illegal to trade Gekko gecko, the financial benefits of its trade is very alluring. To make homegardens more favourable for the survival of Gekko gecko there should be strict law enforcement, upgradation of the species in the IUCN Red List and options for alternative livelihood.

Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) supports several important species such as the tiger (Panthera tigris), leopard (Panthera pardus), elephant (Elephas maximus), and sambar (Cervus unicolor). Some of the species are involved in crop damage, livestock depredation, and human injuries or causalities, causing economic and social losses. Tigers and leopards are perceived as the major threat, causing economic losses to the people living around the protected areas (PAs), because of livestock depredation. Alternatively, the local community also draws benefits from the forest, which are seldom considered part of their economy. Here, we assessed the economic losses and benefits to the people at the northern periphery of the CTR based on semi-structured questionnaire survey of 301 respondents in 26 villages, between January and June 2018. We also determined the socio-economic factors associated with forest dependency using Ordinary Least Square regression (OLS). Most respondents (98%) reported reliance on the forest for fuelwood, fodder, and cattle grazing. Income from forest resources (US$ 1102.2 ± 63.6/hh/yr) 2 contributed significantly to the livelihood of the people (26.5 ± 1.3%). The income from fuelwood (US$ 188.1 ± 2.2/hh/yr), fodder (US$ 335.0 ± 10.0/hh/yr) and livestock grazing (US$ 618.1 ± 59.9/hh/yr) contributed 5.6 ± 0.3%, 9.3 ± 0.6%, and 11.6 ± 1%, respectively, to the household's total income. Reliance on forest resources was positively associated with the number of livestock and female participation in resource extraction, and negatively with the employment, age, education of respondents, and use of modern source of energy -Liquid Petroleum Gas. People incurred a cost of US$ 110.5 ± 4.7/hh/yr due to livestock depredation. It was estimated that benefits drawn from the forest exceed the losses incurred due to livestock depredation. Therefore, we recommend that a cost-benefit analysis is essential before designing conflict mitigation strategies. Since the compensatory schemes in India have largely struggled to achieve their objectives, it is, therefore, emphasised to find other measures, such as payment of ecosystem services (PES), to reduce conflict for maintaining a peaceful co-existence of human and carnivores.

This paper studies the effect of habitat complexity on Greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) and tiger (Panthera tigris) population model in Kaziranga National Park (KNP), Assam, India. Based on the analysis of the data collected from PCCF, Wildlife, Assam, three mathematical models are formulated and studied. In view of ecology, the main objective of the study is to increase the size of rhino population in aforesaid park. The mathematical stability and the complex dynamical behavior of systems are analyzed here. In KNP, the immature rhinos are killed by tiger, so the first system describes a stage structured prey–predator interaction , where the rhino is the prey and is divided into immature (horn not developed) and mature (horn developed) category and the tiger is the predator. The immature rhino is killed by the tiger following Holling type-II functional response, while the mature rhino falls prey to human induced poaching activities [Source: PCCF Wildlife, Assam, India]. Though Kaziranga is famous all over the world for the Greater one-horned rhinoceros, many other herbivores are also present in really good number and the tiger preys on them too. Thus, the previous system is modified by modifying the Holling type-II functional response incorporating the effect of additional food availability. To increase the number of rhino and to maintain the ecological balance of KNP, the second system is further extended by introducing habitat complexity in the Holling type-II functional response. In each system, equilibrium points have been obtained and their stability are discussed. Finally, numerical simulations are carried out to illustrate the analytical results. Based on the simulation results, it can be stated that the size of the rhino population increases in the presence of additional food and habitat complexity in spite of the poaching activities to a certain extent. The system shows complex dynamical behavior like Hopf bifurcation with respect to Poaching activity. Sensitivity analysis with respect to four important parameters viz., poaching effect, quality and quantity of the additional food and habitat complexity is also discussed.

Recent projections suggest worst-case scenarios of more than six ft (1.8 m) of global mean sea-level rise by end of century, progressively making coastal flood events more frequent and more severe. The impact on transportation systems along coastal regions is likely to be substantial. An analysis of impacts for Atlantic and Cape May counties in southern New Jersey is conducted. The impact on accessibility to employment is analyzed using a dataset of sea-level increases merged with road network (TIGER) data and Census data on population and employment. Using measures of accessibility, it is shown how access will be reduced at the block-group level. An additional analysis of low and high income quartiles suggest that lower-income block groups will have greater reductions in accessibility. The implication is that increasing sea levels will have large impacts on people and the economy, and large populations will have access to employment disrupted well before their own properties or places of employment may begin to flood (assuming no adaptation).

Intraguild interactions have important implications for carnivore demography and conservation. Differences in how predators respond to different forms of disturbance might alter their interaction patterns. We sought to understand how human and livestock disturbance impact co-occurrence of sympatric large carnivores such as tiger (Panthera tigris) and leopard (P. pardus) and thereby mediate the intraguild interaction pattern to enable coexistence of the species in a human-dominated landscape. We surveyed 361 locations in Chitwan National Park, Nepal, to examine how prey abundance and disturbance factors such as human and livestock presence might influence habitat use by tigers and leopards independently and when co-occurring. Single-species single-season models and two-species single-season models were developed to examine hypotheses on unconditional detection and occupancy and species interaction respectively. Pervasive human use of the park had negative impacts on tiger occupancy while the abundance of prey had a positive influence. Despite significant prey overlap between tigers and leopards, none of the native prey species predicted leopard habitat occupancy. However, habitats used extensively by livestock were also used by leopards. Further, we found strong evidence of intraguild competition. For instance tiger occupancy was higher in prey-rich areas and leopard occupancy was low in the sites where tigers were present. These findings, and a species interaction factor of

Tiger puffer (Takifugu rubripes) is one of the major aquaculture fish species in China due to its high economic value. In this study, the transcriptions of hepatic antioxidant enzyme, stress, apoptosis, and immune-related genes of sub-adult tiger puffers (Takifugu rubripes) were evaluated under two different rearing systems [offshore sea cage aquaculture system (OSCS) and recirculating aquaculture system (RAS)]. Results showed that the mRNA expression levels of the antioxidant enzyme (mn-sod, cu/zn-sod, gpx, and gr) and stress-related (hsp70 and hsp90) genes of male tiger puffers reared in the OSCS were significantly higher than female fish reared in the OSCS and fish reared in the RAS. The anti-apoptotic gene bcl2 exhibited the similar results. By contrast, the mRNAs of the pro-apoptotic genes (p53, caspase8, caspase9, and caspase3) of male tiger puffers reared in the OSCS were significantly lower than female fish reared in the OSCS and fish reared in the RAS. Male tiger puffers reared in the OSCS displayed significantly higher complement components (c3) and inflammatory cytokine (il-6) mRNAs, whereas B-cell activating factor (baf) and tumor necrosis factor α (tnf-α) mRNAs remained unchanged. Meanwhile, the mRNA levels of pro-apoptotic (bax, caspase8) and immunity-related (c3, il-6 and il-7) genes of female tiger puffers reared in the OSCS were significantly lower and higher than female fish reared in the RAS, respectively. In conclusion, the hepatic antioxidant, anti-apoptosis, and innate immunity of tiger puffers reared in the OSCS were better than fish in the RAS, male tiger puffer obtained the best values. These results expand the knowledge on the combined RAS and OSCS alternative aquaculture model for tiger puffers and aid in their management in captive.

Information available on species composition, richness and diversity of ant communities of Western Ghats is limited. Recognizing this, the study (2010−2013) was undertaken to evaluate richness and diversity of ants in eight sites of Western Ghats, India, with added notes on how it varies on elevation gradient. Spanning across broad altitudinal and latitudinal gradient, selected sites differed greatly for various micro-habitat variables. Using standard collection protocols and employing five collection techniques, 173 species belonging to 65 genera in 10 subfamilies were collected including twenty species published as new to science and two genera and six species reported for the first time from India. Varying among sites, species richness was recorded lowest (S = 29) at Manalar and highest (S = 116) at Periyar Tiger Reserve. With little but significant variations among sites, the Shannon-Wiener's species diversity index (H′) was recorded highest (H′ = 2.60) at Periyar Tiger Reserve and lowest (H′ = 2.11) at Idukki Wildlife Sanctuary connoting that sites with lower richness were not necessarily less diverse. Beta diversity (β-diversity) was lowest (19%) between contiguous sites like Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary and Idukki Wildlife Sanctuary and highest between site Manalar and Periyar Tiger Reserve at 68% suggesting that ant species composition distinctly varied in these sites. Our results indicated that only few species were adapted to full spectrum of environmental variation along altitudinal gradient studied and both species richness and diversity peaked at mid-elevations as against higher elevations wherein it underwent rapid decline. Such behavior is presumably due to favorable ecological conditions at middle altitudes. Our findings rank high as they not only provide baseline data against which futuristic faunal changes could be assessed with respect to perturbations in a biodiversity hotspot but they also could be used to designate ecological sensitivities to various regions of Western Ghats for future conservation programs.

The Sundarbans, in southern coastal Bangladesh, is the world's largest surviving mangrove habitat and the last stronghold of tiger adapted to living in a mangrove ecosystem. Using MaxEnt (maximum entropy modeling), current distribution data, land-use/land cover and bioclimatic variables, we modeled the likely future distribution of the globally endangered Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) in the Bangladesh Sundarbans. We used two climatic scenarios (i.e., RCP6.0 and RCP8.5) developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to provide projections of suitable habitats of Bengal tigers in 2050 and 2070. We also combined projected sea-level rise for the area in our models of future species distributions. Our results suggest that there will be a dramatic decline in suitable Bengal tiger habitats in the Bangladesh Sundarbans. Other than various aspects of local climate, sea-level rise is projected to have a substantial negative impact on Bengal tiger habitats in this low-lying area. Our model predicts that due to the combined effect of climate change and sea-level rise, there will be no suitable Bengal tiger habitat remaining in the Sundarbans by 2070. Enhancing terrestrial protected area coverage, regular monitoring, law enforcement, awareness-building among local residents among the key strategies needed to ensure long-term survival and conservation of the Bengal tiger in the Bangladesh Sundarbans.

As with most sandy beach invertebrates, tiger beetles respond negatively to anthropogenic disturbances. However, impact assessments using these insects have never been conducted on tropical sandy beaches. The aim of the present study was to compare the sensitivity of tiger beetles to human impacts with other macroinvertebrates both locally and globally based on field collections and an extensive literature review. At the local scale, the abundance of Cylindera nivea (Kirby, 1818) was compared in the intertidal zone of six sandy beaches with distinct levels of human disturbances at two periods, in the low and high tourism seasons. The abundance of C. nivea was negatively (p

As pressure from a growing human population increases around the world, greater levels of conflict between people and wildlife over shrinking available land may be inevitable. The conversion of Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary to Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in India is a conservation initiative under “Project Tiger” scheme to facilitate greater habitat connectivity across the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. We interviewed local people in the MTR landscape to determine their interest and attitude towards resettlement and tiger conservation following MTR’s new status designation. We found that non-tribal Mountain Chetties generally had negative attitude towards tiger conservation, Kurumbas were positive toward the idea, and Kattunaickers, and Irula people and other minor ethnic groups were found neutral. We found that literate respondents were less likely to collect firewood and more likely to exhibit positive attitude towards tiger conservation and the establishment of MTR. Households with higher milk production, and people with generally negative attitude towards wildlife conservation, were against the declaration of MTR. People employed in private sectors and those having negative perception towards wildlife conservation were more likely to show negative attitude towards declaration of MTR. Locals desiring resettlement post MTR declaration were literate, and interested in availing better livelihood resources. However, they usually suffered relatively high livestock loss to large carnivores, and high crop damage caused by elephant (Elephas maximus). Most respondents (74.3%) were interested in resettlement provided that basic amenities were available to them. We recommend that conservation authorities facilitate “choice-based resettlement” options, which account for local people’s consent before making decisions on “resettlement”. This approach will avoid possible conflicts between forest managers and local people.

Wildlife habitat corridors are components of landscapes, which facilitate the movement of organisms and processes between areas of intact habitat, and thus provide landscape corridor as well as serve as an ideal component to study and understand physiological ecology. Corridors are thus regions within a given landscape that generally comprise native vegetation, and connect otherwise fragmented, disconnected, non-contiguous wildlife habitat patches in the landscape. The purpose of designing corridors as a conservation strategy is primarily to counter, and to the extent possible, mitigate the impacts of habitat fragmentation and loss on the biodiversity of the landscape, as well as support continuance of land use for essential local and global economic activities in the region of reference. In this paper, we use game theory and graph theory to model and design a wildlife corridor in the Central India – Eastern Ghats landscape complex, with tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) as the focal species. We construct a graph using the habitat patches supporting wild tiger populations in the landscape complex as vertices and the possible paths between these vertices as edges. A cost matrix is constructed to indicate the cost incurred by the tiger for passage between the habitat patches in the landscape (based on Shelford's Law of Tolerance), by modelling a two-person Prisoner's Dilemma game. A minimum spanning tree is then obtained by employing Kruskal's algorithm, which would suggest a feasible tiger corridor network for the tiger population within the landscape complex. Additionally, analysis of the graph is done using various centrality measures, in order to identify and focus on potentially important habitat patches, and their potential community structure. Correlation analysis is performed on the centrality indices to draw out interesting trends in the network.

Over the last century, numbers of wild tigers (Panthera tigris) have crashed, while human populations have boomed. Here we investigate future trajectories of human population within tiger range through analysis of the shared socio-economic pathways (SSPs). These five pathways describe urban, rural and total population distributions by decade through 2100, based on plausible but contrasting scenarios of economic, education, migration, and urbanization policy. In 2010 approximately 57 million people lived in regions defined as “tiger conservation landscapes” (or TCLs); 8% of sympatric people lived in towns and cities that occupied 4% of tiger range. We show that tigers could share these same geographies with as few as 40 million (30% decline compared to 2010) or as many as 106 million people (an increase of 85%) by 2100. Those populations could be as much as 64%, or as little as 17%, urbanized, depending on the pathway. Urban areas are likely to expand, displacing between 6 and 22% of tiger's current range, depending on how urban growth is managed. Human population density thresholds compatible with tigers vary by region, from 140 persons/km2 in the Indian subcontinent, to 10 persons/km2 in the Russian Far East and northern China. SSP3, a future where nations indulge regional rivalries, would make conservation more difficult, whereas SSP1, with a focus on well-managed urbanization and education, could help relieve pressures. Tigers are a conservation-reliant species and will likely remain so through the 21st century, therefore we suggest coupling continued site-level protection with efforts to develop constituencies for conservation in Asia's burgeoning cities.

The illegal trade in tiger bones and body parts is crippling the remaining populations of tigers worldwide, but what effect does this trade have on other wildlife that get caught in the cross fire? The Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus) is the only species of tapir found outside of South America, yet little is known of this subspecies despite its large size. Aside from habitat loss and an encroaching human population, effects of wildlife trade are taking their toll on this endangered species. In Sumatra Indonesia, tigers and tapirs are known to share habitat, potentially leaving tapirs vulnerable to fall victim to snare entrapment. This study looks at correlations between tiger and tapir indices as well as active tiger snares within Kerinci Seblat National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia over a four-year period. Data was provided by the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry and Fauna and Flora International, and this study investigated the frequency, and spatial relationships between all three variables. Across the study period, tiger snares increased significantly in numbers and spatial extent, indicating increased illegal poaching in KSNP. Areas with high frequencies of tiger evidence also showed high frequencies of tapir evidence, but while tiger frequency remained consistent, tapirs displayed a decreasing trend. Spatially, tiger evidence moved further away from snare and tapir locations over time, indicating tigers, (while being the target species) may display a greater response to poaching threats than tapirs. Tapir mortality was significantly correlated with the number of snares per kilometre surveyed, further supporting a negative impact from snares on tapirs. This study recommends long-term analysis to accurately determine the current population of Malayan tapirs in Sumatra and identify population trends. Identifying Sumatra's tapir population and recovery in response to poaching and habitat loss threats, must be determined to accurately inform conservation management actions of Sumatra's National Parks, and halt the decline of this illusive species.

Riau Province in central Sumatra, with its peatland, lowland, and montane forest habitats, was once a stronghold for Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) populations. Today, Riau may have one of the highest deforestation rates in the world and wildlife populations are dwindling, with natural forest now comprising approximately only 18% of the province, mostly contained within protected areas. Agriculture (acacia, rubber, and oil palm) makes up the majority of Riau's land cover and deforestation for the creation of new plantations is rampant. Natural forest and tigers still remain in Bukit Tigapuluh National Park and Rimbang Baling Wildlife Reserve, which remain connected to tiger populations in montane forest on the western edge of Sumatra. In this study, using freely available Landsat imagery and a maximum likelihood classification algorithm, we create land cover maps for central Sumatra from 2002 to 2016. We then use current land cover, elevation, and slope variables to predict changes from forest to plantation from 2016 to 2050 at five year intervals using a multilayer perceptron neural network. Finally, we compare connectivity based on a 100 km distance threshold (based on potential tiger dispersal) across the landscape and across years. Land cover maps had 80-90% accuracy, and we predict forest in Tesso Nilo and the western edge of the study area to be lost by 2050 given current rates of deforestation. Our connectivity analysis shows that Tesso Nilo and the area between Rimbang Baling and Bukit Tigapuluh are important components for maintaining connectivity throughout the study area. Focusing conservation and rehabilitation efforts on forests close to plantations in flat areas, including Tesso Nilo, is necessary to maintain forests and increase connectivity in Riau to ensure future habitat connectivity for survival of tigers and Sumatra's other diverse endemic species.

Fossil tiger beetles (Carabidae: Cicindelinae) are extremely rare, and little is known about their early evolutionary history. Here we report the earliest known tiger beetle, Cretotetracha grandis gen. et. sp. nov., from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation (lower Aptian) of China. C. grandis bears several features characteristic of the subtribe Megacephalina, including a large body with total length/width ratio 2.3:1; labium transverse, without median tooth; eyes large; eyes and head together wider than the thorax; prothorax noticeably narrower than elytra; anterior corners of pronotum noticeably more extended anteriorly than anterior margin of prosternum. It represents the second definite Mesozoic record of Cicindelinae, and extends the further lineage back into the Early Cretaceous.

Tiger nut milk is a low-acid health beverage that is marketed with the claims of being high in protein, monounsaturated fatty acid (oleic acid), fiber, starch, and minerals, in addition to...

Interactions or conflicts between humans and large predators occur globally, but an understanding of their spatial occurrence and associated media reporting remains limited. Media reach is now global and rapid, particularly through western news outlets and amplified by social networks. This has consequences for how the public perceive human-predator conflicts and in turn how this impacts species' conservation and management. To address this point, a literature search was undertaken to synthesize global records of predator-human conflicts followed be an assessment of media reporting of conflicts, for both aquatic (sharks) and terrestrial (lion, tiger, leopard, cougar, puma, bear spp.) species. We show that predator-human conflicts involving terrestrial mammals occur predominantly in developing" nations (>90%) while aquatic predator-human conflicts occur (65%) and are principally reported from developed nations. Moreover, media reporting of sharks is dominated by attacks on humans and sensationalized documentation of incidences compared to those involving terrestrial species. As a result, high media coverage of shark-human conflicts may lead humans to overestimate the risk of being attacked. We recommend increased communication between stakeholders to establish ground rules for media reporting of shark-human conflicts, better informed reporting of attacks, further research undertaken to understand the public's perception of media reporting of conflicts and continued investment in communication, education, and public awareness programs. Through these actions it will be possible to rebalance the public perception of sharks to promote understanding and value of their ecological role and to minimize human-shark incidents.

Prey recognition is vital for predation and the survival of carnivores. In theory, carnivores recognize prey by instinct or learning. However, the instinct hypothesis has little support. In addition, it remains unknown if prey recognition capability correlates with personality. Here, we test if Amur (or Siberian) tigers (Panthera tigris altaica), an endangered species, instinctually recognize their native prey. By studying both captive and prey-naive Amur tigers, we found that they preferentially responded to the images, sounds and faeces of native prey over those of non-native prey. Further, they showed the strongest preference for images and sounds of the wild boar, the most preferred native prey of wild Amur tigers. The innate olfactory, not visual and auditory, preference for native prey had a significant negative correlation with tiger age. Furthermore, we found that innate prey recognition capability was significantly correlated with the personality traits of tigers. In general, this study indicated that Amur tigers recognize native prey instinctually and this instinct could be identified by personality assessment, providing a potential method to preliminarily screen tiger individuals with keen prey recognition instinct for breeding and wild training.

The tropical forests situated in the Himalayan foothills (terai) experience frequent wildfires which can alter the vegetation structure and composition, challenging tiger conservation efforts in this region. Hence, there is a need for better understanding of the drivers of forest fire to aid efficient management, but these efforts are hampered by the deficiency of spatial and temporal data on fire incidences. Advancement in remote sensing technology provides an opportunity to understand the spatial and temporal patterns of wildfires in relation to anthropogenic, ecological, and environmental drivers. We used MODIS fire data from 2001 to 2015 to understand fire incidences in Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR), an important tiger habitat area in the Himalayan terai region. We analyzed fire incidences to understand monthly and inter-annual variation of fire incidences at two spatial scales: first, using only climatic variables considering VTR as a single spatial unit and the second, to understand the fire dynamics at 1 km2 spatial resolution using climatic, ecological, and anthropogenic variables. The results show that fire incidences occurred from January to May, 88% of which occurred in March and April. Overall, different variables affected fire incidences in March and April for both the temporal models. Precipitation had a significant negative effect on fire incidences in both March and April, but temperature had a positive effect only in March. Similarly, the fine scale temporal model showed that while ecological (litter load, NPP) and anthropogenic (distance to villages and roads) variables influenced fire incidences in March, altitude and village area surrounding the forest affected fires in April. Litter input, distance to nearest villages, and village area had a non-linear relationship with fire incidences indicating a few inconsistencies with the global patterns of fire with human activity. We show that the Sal dominated forests and terai grasslands at low altitudes (200 m), falling within a zone of 2.5–3 km from villages and with good road connectivity are more prone to fire. The fine-scale fire prediction map of VTR will be helpful to the Tiger Reserve management in developing appropriate strategies for the fire prone areas.

Global demand for seafood is rising, with a commensurate increase in supply from farmed and wild-caught products. Determining seafood provenance is important to reduce food fraud, and food safety and biosecurity risks. DNA and fatty acid profiling cannot independently distinguish between farmed, wild-caught and geographic origins of seafood. This study applied stable isotope analysis (SIA) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF), using Itrax, to test their effectiveness as tools to distinguish the origin and production methods of black tiger prawns (Penaeus monodon) from a range of Asia-Pacific locations. Isotopic and elemental data (31 elements) were analysed using multivariate methods, linear discriminant analysis (LDA), and randomForest. LDA and randomForest had consistent results: XRF effectively distinguished the production method and geographic origin of P. monodon (up to 100% accuracy), while SIA had a lower accuracy (up to 95% accuracy). However, SIA and XRF are effective complementary methods for determining provenance of black tiger prawns.

We study the effects of central bank communication about financial stability on individuals' expectations and risk-taking. Using a randomized information experiment, we show that communication causally affects individuals' beliefs and investment behavior, consistent with an expectations channel of financial stability communication. Individuals receiving a warning from the central bank expect a higher probability of a financial crisis and reduce their demand for risky assets. This reduction is driven by downward revisions in individuals' expected Sharpe ratios due to lower expected returns and higher perceived downside risks. In addition, these individuals deposit a smaller fraction of their savings at riskier banks.

Locked down is the rule and regulation which stop the movement of the people from one place to another while dairy industry is activities of agriculture which supply milk and different by products to world community. COVID-2019 is the virus which has killed so many people in the world. The world try how to control the problem of the COVID-2019, so each government of the world apply the locked down for the control of corona virus. Seeing to its importance the present study was arranged since June,2020 to analyze the COVID-2019 locked down impact on dairy industry in the world. Total 18 articles were downloaded from the net and wrote the result. The result indicates that locked down has decreased the demand of the dairy products in the world which have disturbed the socioeconomic condition of the dairy owner and weakened their economy. The COVID-2019 created the terror and fear in the world which have increased the locked down period in the world and create shortage in the fodder of the dairy animal while in some area considered animal to the carrier of the corona virus in the world. They told that corona has spread from the soup of bat while bat belong to mammalian family, So all world doctors claimed that animal also play great role in COVID-2019 as a carrier. Experiment in different world countries were launched and found that corona also affects different animal of the world. Among these animals, ferret, tiger, lion, cat, camel, civet are the animals which play great role in this virus spreading in the world. One recent experiment found that cells with ACE2 proteins from humans, horseshoe bats, civets, and pigs could be infected with the virus, while mice could not. Smith explained that these strains have narrow host ranges, and the chance that a human strain of coronavirus would come from a cow or calf is extremely low. The world scientists also thought how to control the situation for the future because some animal play great role as a reservoir as a host. The study further explains that the locked down has damaged the dairy industry of the world. Particularly Canada, USA, Russia, Iran, China have claimed that corona virus has mostly affected the workers of the meat and milk plants companies and because of this all industries of the dairy were closed which have directly affect the export of the dairy product in the world. Due to locked down the demand of the product decreased and the price level also declined of the dairy product in the world which have totally closed the production of the dairy products in the world market. It was also observed that Locked down rule regulation were not fully implemented because of this the swing of the corona in the world is still continued and from the beginning more people w infected and the number of affected reached to 64 laces while the death number was reached to 3 laces in the world. On the basis of problems the study recommends that to locked down should be continued and rule regulation should be fully applied in the world; Wash hand sanitizer should be applied on proper places of the body; Who goes against the rule should be punished; Army and honest personal should be deployed on duty; Rich people should be helped the poor community of the world; Credit and market facilities should be provided to dairy owner; Dairy owner should be exempted from the tax in the world; Training should be arranged for awareness of the community in the world; Locked down should be developed in the world; All animal Corona test should be processed in the world for future controlling; Dairy product should be tested for corona virus in the world; Mask should be wore everywhere in the world according to environment.

When our home institution moved all instruction online in response to the global pandemic, we began redesigning our business law survey course from scratch. Specifically, we decided to use the popular docuseries Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness to explore the legal and ethical environments of business with our undergraduate students. We deliberately chose this surprise-hit TV show in order to make our online course as relevant, timely, and engaging as possible. The remainder of the paper will describe the contents of each module of the course, explore their relation to Tiger King, and explain the logic of our design choices.

The population of the unique and critically endangered species Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni) continues to decline to less than 200 in the wild, demanding immediate attention to apply conservation plans. Thus, this study determined visitors' preferences and estimated their willingness to pay for Malayan tiger conservation attributes in Taman Negara Park in Pahang, Malaysia. Choice experiment method was used to estimate multinomial and mixed logit models. The selected attributes were related to number of tigers, tiger prey and rangers, frequency of awareness programmes, buffer zones, and conservation fee. The estimations were done with basic and interaction models of visitors' socio-demographic characteristics. Results revealed that increasing the number of tigers was the most preferred attribute with the willingness to pay varying from MYR15.42 to MYR18.07 (US$3.7 to US$4.4) between the models. The results also revealed that education and gender significantly impacted visitors' preferences. Visitors with high education level are willing to pay to increase tigers' prey. In addition, males are willing to pay to increase the awareness programme frequency, whereas females are willing to pay to increase the number of prey and rangers. These findings would support policymakers in applying an efficient conservation budget allocation to develop conservation management plans.

Ticks are haematophagous arthropods that parasitise a wide range of vertebrate hosts. In Australia, there are currently 74 tick species described; 22 tick species have been reported parasitising humans. The stump-tailed lizard tick, Amblyomma albolimbatum, feeds on reptiles, most commonly lizards and snakes; however, we report the first case of A. albolimbatum parasitising a human. The nymphal tick was removed while conducting fieldwork on western tiger snakes (Notechis scutatus occidentalis) in an urban city environment near Perth, Western Australia. The tick was identified using morphological descriptions, which was further supported by the abundance of all parasitic stages of A. albolimbatum on the tiger snakes sampled. The number of tick species recorded from humans in Australia is now revised to 23 species. With the increasing incidence of tick-borne illnesses in Australia, this study highlights the need to report cases of new or atypical hosts, particularly humans, and especially when the ticks have been associated with zoonotic pathogens.

The children of tiger parents have an elevated risk for anxiety disorders. This study aimed to expand upon the current literature, in a first such attempt, by uncovering the protective factors against the negative influence of tiger parenting on children. A Chinese sample of 439 Hong Kong children was successfully selected to assess whether tiger parenting increases the risk of child anxiety, and whether children's positive psychological traits can moderate the relationship between tiger parenting and child anxiety. The results showed that tiger parenting was positively associated with child anxiety, while the relationship of four positive moderators (namely, optimism, life satisfaction, hope, and gratitude) with child anxiety was negative. The children's optimism and gratitude also moderated the parental effect on child anxiety. To cultivate children with healthy psychological development, considerable efforts should be made on the parents and children to promote the benefits of positive parenting and positive psychology.

The distribution of mammals is determined by a suite of endogenous and exogenous factors. In territorial, polygynous species like tigers (Panthera tigris), males often center their space-use around female territories, repelling competitors from these areas. Competition among males for females leads to increased mortality of both sexes and infanticide of unrelated cubs, which can lead to population declines. We hypothesized that increased territorial overlap among adult male tigers and elevated levels of inter and intra-sex competition would be manifest in populations with male-biased adult sex ratios (ASR). We also assessed whether inter-sex variation in adult survival or degree of habitat connectivity resulted in skewed ASR. We evaluated these hypotheses using camera trap data from three tiger populations occupying habitat patches with varying levels of connectivity and ASRs. Data were analyzed using multi-state occupancy models, where states were defined as habitat use by one or more male tigers in sites with and without female use. As predicted, in populations with male-biased or even ASR we found evidence for increased spatial overlap between male tigers, particularly pronounced in areas adjacent to female territories. Given parity in adult survival, habitat fragmentation likely caused male-biased ASR. Our results suggest that the persistence of small tiger populations in habitat patches with male-biased ASR may be significantly compromised by behavior-mediated endogenous demographic processes that are often overlooked. In habitat fragments with pronounced male biased ASR, population recovery of territorial carnivores may require timely supplementation of individuals to compensate for population losses from intraspecific competition.

Tiger puffer (Takifugu rubripes) is a promising species for aquaculture production because of its high commercial value and limited supply. The growth performance and physiological metabolism of subadult tiger pufferfish reared in offshore sea cage aquaculture system (OSCS) and recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) were examined in this study. Results showed that the final body weight, specific growth rate and plasm growth hormone of the female tiger puffer reared in the OSCS were significantly higher than those of the fish reared in the RAS. The condition factor and gonadosomatic index of the female tiger puffer were significantly higher than those of the male tiger puffer cultured in the OSCS and the RAS. By contrast, the hepatosomatic index, viscerosomatic index and survival rate of the tiger puffer did not significantly change. Female fish reared in the OSCS with the significantly higher hepatic alkaline phosphatase activities and lower aspartate aminotransferase compared with those of fish reared in the RAS. The hepatic pyruvate kinase and Na+-K+ ATPase activities of the female or male fish in the OSCS were significantly higher than those of the female or male fish in the RAS, respectively. The mRNA expression of somatic growth axis-related genes (igf1, igf2, igf1r, igf2r, ghr1, ghr2) of the female tiger puffer reared in the OSCS was significantly higher than that of the fish reared in the RAS. These results indicated that the growth performance and metabolic state of the female tiger puffer reared in the OSCS were better than those of the fish in the RAS, the OSCS was more suitable than the RAS for the short-term culture of subadult tiger puffer. These findings enhanced our understanding of the combined land (RAS) and sea (OSCS) alternative aquaculture model of tiger puffer.

Carnivorous mammals, particularly the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), dingo (Canis dingo), and tiger quoll (Dasyurus maculatus) have been implicated by previous research as having affected Australian faunal assemblages through deposition or modification of skeletal materials. One way of identifying such taphonomic agency is through the examination of tooth-marks left behind by modern feeding carnivores and comparing them to analogous archaeological materials. Overseas research has compared the tooth-marks of several relevant taxa through captive feeding experiments, focusing on the sizes of pits and scores and their relation to body size. Due to highly variable sampling approaches and limited reporting of mark sizes a similar multi-species comparison has not been feasible in Australia. To address this, experimental feeding trials were carried out with captive Tasmanian devils, dingoes, tiger quolls, eastern quolls, lace monitors, dogs, and one of the authors. Analysis of 2895 tooth-marks revealed that considerable overlap exists between the sizes of pits and scores from the aforementioned three species. The only species that could be consistently differentiated from the rest were the taphonomically insignificant lace monitor and eastern quoll. The ability of Tasmanian devil and tiger quoll to produce very large tooth-marks in proportion to their small body size means that Australian fauna do not conform to trends observed in overseas studies where tooth-marks separate into categories that broadly correspond with body weight. The results suggest in addition to body weight, adaptations related to osteophagy that increase jaw strength, bite force and dental robusticity can be important factors in affecting tooth-mark size.

The Tiger Babies Breastfeeding Support Tent was established by a baccalaureate nursing program in southeastern Alabama to increase community awareness of the importance of breastfeeding and to provide a clean, convenient, and private location for nursing mothers during community events. Local advertising was distributed before community events to promote awareness and support of the project. Survey results indicate that 80% of mothers who used the tent's services would recommend the tent to their friends and family members.

The economic aspects of the problem of invasive mosquitoes present a new challenge to science. The impacts of mosquitoes on humans are intensifying in many regions as several factors – such as climate change and increased transport – create favorable conditions for the entry of invasive mosquitoes. At the same time budget constraints limit public prevention measures and demand clear justification of additional costs for controlling invasive mosquitoes. Consequently, the benefits arising from preventive policies should be clearly articulated and included in the evaluation process. The present study evaluates the potential benefits of alternative prevention measures in the metropolitan area of Athens, Greece, representative of the geographically and climatically vulnerable Mediterranean cities. The study differentiates the health and nuisance costs associated with invasive mosquito species from those associated with native mosquito species. In contrast to other findings in the literature, the benefits from controlling health impacts were found to be higher than those of avoiding nuisance. This is mainly related to the high health risk induced by new invasive species. Another important finding is that the expected benefits of mosquito control programs clearly outweigh the respective costs.

Ecologists have primarily focused their attention on how predator loss influences ecosystem structure and function in intact ecosystems, but rarely tested these ecological concepts in agricultural landscapes. We conducted a study in western Bhutan on the inter-specific dynamics between tigers, leopards, and dholes, and their subsequent impact on livestock and crop losses faced by agro-pastoralists. We found that when a tiger was present in forests surrounding villages, leopards and dholes occupied areas closer to village croplands and preyed on a higher relative abundance of wild herbivore crop raiders, thereby significantly reducing crop (β = −2.25, p

Consumer's growing demand for consumption of “Horchata de chufa”, a Spanish beverage produced from tiger nut tubers, has led to large-scale production of tiger nuts, and its subsequent processing for the food industry. Recent investigations clearly show that tiger nut is a valuable source of stable vegetable oils, rich in monounsaturated fatty acids, and phytosterols as well as high-added value compounds (proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and bioactive compounds). Several conventional (Soxhlet) and alternative innovative (SC-CO2, enzyme, high pressure, etc.) extraction methods have been developed for the efficient recovery of tiger nut oil and high-added value compounds. Moreover, several authors have shown the potential of tiger nuts by-products in the development of new healthier and functional products such as fiber rich and oxidative stable foods. The present review provides an overview of these investigations and tries to expose potential avenues for future research in commercial exploitation of tiger nuts and its by-products. Industrial relevance Tiger nuts and their by-products obtained from “horchata de chufa” manufacturing process have a remarkable content of nutrients, fiber and bioactive compounds (eg. polyphenols). Moreover, they have a high amount of oil, rich in monounsaturated fatty acids, tocopherols, and phytosterols, thus being a valuable source to be incorporated into different food matrices in order to modify their technological and functional properties. At this stage of development, tiger nuts by-products are underutilized at an industrial level. For example, the literature about the oil extraction from tiger nuts by-products is scarce and most of the studies have been focused on the use of conventional (Soxhlet) extraction of oil. This review provides an overview of some of the most relevant innovative processing technologies to allow the industrial sustainability and green recovery of oil from tiger nuts and their by-products and, tries to expose potential avenues for future research in commercial exploitation of tiger nuts and its by-products as source of ingredients to be incorporated in new food matrices to improve their technological and functional aspects.

Sporadic sightings of the endangered Amur tiger Panthera tigris altaica along the China-Russia border during the late 1990s sparked efforts to expand this subspecies distribution and abundance by restoring potentially suitable habitats in the Changbai Mountains. To guide science-based recovery efforts and provide a baseline for future monitoring of this border population, empirical, quantitative information is needed on what resources and management practices promote or limit the occurrence of tigers in the region. We established a large-scale field camera-trapping network to estimate tiger density, survival and recruitment in the Hunchun Nature Reserve and the surrounding area using an open population spatially explicit capture-recapture model. We then fitted an occupancy model that accounted for detectability and spatial autocorrelation to assess the relative influence of habitat, major prey, disturbance and management on tiger habitat use patterns. Our results show that the ranges of most tigers abut the border with Russia. Tiger densities ranged between 0.20 and 0.27 individuals/100 km2 over the study area; in the Hunchun Nature Reserve, the tiger density was three times higher than that in the surrounding inland forested area. Tiger occupancy was strongly negatively related to heavy cattle grazing, human settlements and roads and was positively associated with sika deer abundance and vegetation cover. These findings can help to identify the drivers of tiger declines and dispersal limits and refine strategies for tiger conservation in the human-dominated transboundary landscape. Progressively alleviating the impacts of cattle and human disturbances on the forest, and simultaneously addressing the economic needs of local communities, should be key priority actions to increase tiger populations. The long-term goal is to expand tiger distribution by improving habitats for large ungulates.

Understanding population dynamics is essential for implementing effective conservation and management of coastal sharks. Fisheries-independent surveys can offer valuable information for such data-limited situations. A 12-year (2004–2015) standardized, shallow water longline survey was conducted monthly in the coastal waters of Bimini, Bahamas. Each monthly survey comprised five longline sets, totaling 75 hooks, with a soak time of 24 h. A total of 770 sharks from nine species were caught over the course of the study, with tiger ( Galeocerdo cuvier ), nurse ( Ginglymostoma cirratum ), blacktip ( Carcharhinus limbatus ) and lemon ( Negaprion brevirostris ) sharks comprising 95% of the catch. The majority of tiger (87%), nurse (62%), blacktip (67%), and lemon (82%) sharks were of immature lengths. A greater number of captured tiger (77%) and blacktip (66%) sharks were female, while nurse (55%) and lemon sharks (73%) were predominantly male. Poisson generalized additive models were used to analyze local abundance trends and examine how catch rates were influenced by year, month, location, tide, hour of capture, and lunar cycle. Seasonal trends indicate greater catches of the nurse, blacktip and lemon sharks during the summer months. Annual trends indicated relatively stable catch rates for the tiger, blacktip and lemon shark. Nurse shark catch rates were highly variable during the survey. Results from this study improve our understanding of the coastal shark assemblage in Bimini, Bahamas, and provide important local abundance trend information that could be beneficial for conservation and regional assessments.

Climate change will accelerate the extinction rate of wildlife species in the Anthropocene. Identifying which species exhibit the capacity to be flexible in their activity patterns to avoid heat stress will help direct conservation effort to those species that lack resilience. We propose a framework for using photo capture data sets from camera trapping surveys to make conservation management decisions based on a combination of population trends and activity pattern shifts. After summarizing the basic design of typical camera trap surveys, we conduct a literature review of camera-trap-based activity pattern studies for select large tropical forest mammals. Based on our literature review we identified problems with data form and availability, data capture and image sampling, and sampling area and period, which may impede the application of camera trap technology to investigate behavioral resilience to climate warming. We conclude with eight important research questions that must be answered before our monitoring and management framework could be adopted to guide conservation efforts for large tropical mammals.

Recreational fisheries can play a significant role in the population dynamics of threatened fish species, but have received much less research and management attention than commercial fisheries. Land-based anglers are a group of recreational fishers that fish from beaches or piers; however, comparatively little is known about the practices and perceptions of this stakeholder group. In order to gather data for an initial assessment of the fishing practices of land-based anglers and their perspectives on shark conservation issues, we performed a content and discourse analysis of an online discussion forum used by the largest land-based shark fishing club in Florida. Discussion board content analysis can identify evidence that certain perceptions or practices exist within a studied sample, but cannot be used to estimate how common those perceptions and practices are among the wider population. We found evidence that forum users are demographically distinct from other recreational anglers in Florida, and are mostly young males. Some forum users perceive themselves as relatively low-income compared with other fishing stakeholder groups. There was no evidence in forum discussions that patterns of reported landing and release of hammerhead and tiger sharks changed following the introduction of new legal protections for these species in 2012. This study identified a minimum of dozens of cases of illegal shark fishing practices among forum users, and found evidence that some users are aware that these practices are illegal. There was evidence that some users believe that their own practices have no effect on shark populations and should not be regulated. Additionally, this study found the existence of mixed attitudes and levels of trust towards scientific researchers and environmentalists.

The Shark Bay trawl fishery is Western Australia's most valuable prawn fishery (worth AUD$25 million in 2014). The 18-vessel fleet targets western king prawns ( Penaeus latisulcatus ), brown tiger prawns ( P. esculentus ) and also retains saucer scallops ( Ylistrum balloti ) and blue swimmer crabs ( Portunus armatus ). Increased fuel prices, falling prawn prices and lower catches of other species, following extreme environmental events, have impacted fishery profits. A biomass dynamics model with an economic component indicated that total revenue levels start to decline when annual effort increases beyond ~ 200 fishing days per boat. Annual effort required to achieve MEY, when based solely on prawn fishing, is 115–150 days per boat after accounting for fixed and variable fishing costs and annual fishing efficiency increases of 1–2%. From 2007–2014, the adjusted effort was 188–192 days per boat. Fishing occurred between March and November during 7–8 fishing periods, separated by 5–8 day (low catchability) moon closure periods. An empirical daily profit assessment (2007–2015), accounting for recruitment variation, daily prawn size compositions, monthly market prices for different prawn species and sizes, and daily fishing costs, showed vessels made profits on ~ 115–160 days and losses on ~ 15–55 days per year, when fishing occurred near the full moon. The fishery benefitted in 2013–2015 by starting later in the year and better targeting within-season effort. This management strategy within the effort-control framework, which improved profitability, maintained higher spawning stocks and reduced ecosystem fishing impacts, has wider application in prawn fishery management.

Faecal glucocorticoid (GC) and triiodothyronine (T3) metabolites and their interactions are increasingly used to monitor perceived stress and nutritional challenges in free-ranging animals. However, a number of extrinsic and intrinsic factors including hormone-inert dietary materials, inorganic matters etc. are known to affect reliable hormone metabolite quantifications. In this study, the impacts of inorganic matter (IOM) on faecal GC (fGCMs) and T3 (fT3Ms) metabolite measure were addressed in wild tiger (n = 193 from Terai Arc landscape, India) and captive lion (n = 120 from Sakkarbaug Zoological Garden, Gujarat, India) and possible corrective measures were evaluated. The wild tiger samples contained highly variable IOM content (9-98%, mostly with > 40% IOM) compared to captive Asiatic lion (17-57%, majority with

Our study assessed the influence of leader type (monofilament vs stainless steel cable) and gear strength (i.e., hook size and leader thickness) on species composition, catch rates, and size distribution of sharks captured in a fisheries independent longline survey near Bimini, The Bahamas. A total of 28 surveys were conducted, resulting in 50,400 hook hours. Catches consisted of 167 sharks from eight species. Overall, catches were higher on monofilament leaders for light duty gear, but there was no difference for heavy duty gear. When bite-offs were combined with catches to form ‘total shark contacts’ the rates were not significantly different between the two leader types. Tiger sharks were the only species to show differences in mean pre-caudal lengths between light and heavy duty gear, likely due to the wide range of size classes encountered for this species. These results further highlight the importance of understanding selectivity of terminal gear (gear strength and leader material), especially for comparing catches across surveys conducted by multiple agencies or organizations.

Over the last century, wild tiger (Panthera tigris) numbers have declined from over 100 000 individuals to fewer than 4 000, with animals now confined to less than 5% of their historic range due to habitat loss, persecution, inadequate management, and poaching. In contrast, 15 000–20 000 tigers are estimated to be housed in captivity, experiencing conditions vastly different than their wild counterparts. A total of 280 tigers are currently held at 44 different facilities within South Africa, including zoos, semi-captive ‘re-wilded’ populations, and pets; these animals provide a unique opportunity to measure the impact of extrinsic factors, found in exotic habitats, on the adrenocortical activity of tigers. By monitoring and comparing stress-related faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGCM) concentrations of tigers housed at different locations, and free ranging tigers in natural tiger reserves, this project aimed to get a better understanding of the impact of extrinsic factors on adrenocortical function as a measure of stress. The results of this study showed no significant difference in fGCM concentrations between captive, re-wilded, and free-ranging tigers with the exception of one site. Furthermore, factors such as sex and season were not significant drivers of fGCM concentrations. One study group had elevated fGCM concentrations, showing population variation in the stress response. This indicates that populations are able to cope with exotic environments, however, as population-specific differences in the stress response exist, we suggest management protocols be created for each population. This study offered the unique opportunity to see how well tigers are faring outside of their native range and if having re-wilded tigers in exotic locations is a potential welfare-acceptable management option for tiger conservation globally.

Tigers are killed to supply a demand for many wildlife products despite a ban on commercial international trade. As populations decrease, products from substitute species (i.e. lions and leopards) have been fraudulently sold as tiger. DNA forensic techniques are needed to definitively identify tiger in order to secure prosecutions although this is complicated by the presence of numts. Therefore, we have developed and validated a CO1 genetic marker that preferentially amplifies the mtDNA CO1 region and excludes the nuclear CO1 pseudogene, which we expect to be of use in tiger forensic casework.

Energy-intensive activities have been increasingly outsourced to developing countries. Many researchers investigated this trend, and in recent years, consumption-based accounting of energy use and emissions have gained attention. This study contributes to this literature by analyzing the effect of changing the accounting method for energy use on the resulting drivers identified from a decomposition analysis study. Specifically, the analysis is done on the increasing energy use in six ASEAN countries. The authors argue that since policy recommendations on energy and emissions are anchored significantly on these drivers, their sensitivity to the accounting approach used must be understood. The results show that the effect is not the same for all countries, and they can be grouped into 3 categories. The findings provide insights and raise questions regarding the sustainability of growing economies in the ASEAN region. To conclude, the results are reflected on from both a national and international perspective, and potential policy implications are discussed. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The green tiger shrimp Penaeus semisulcatus is one of most productive fisheries in the Saudi waters of the Arabian Gulf. Currently, two artisanal fleets harvest the stock and management is limited to input control measures. Progress to quantitatively-based, sustainability-oriented management is precluded by the lack of basic ecological and biological knowledge. In this study we identify nursery and juvenile habitats, spawning seasons, estimate maturity of females, cohort composition, individual growth, natural mortality, and derive biological reference points. Beach seining and trawl surveys show that coastal embayment systems are important nursery grounds. The population is composed of a maximum of three cohorts born at 6 months intervals. Among three growth models, a 2-parameters version of the Gompertz model was the most supported by the data with individual growth parameters of 57 mm carapace length (CL) asymptotic length and 1.9 yr−1 growth rate coefficient. Spawning is continuous along the year with two main peaks in early summer and in December. At 23 mm of CL 50% of females are mature, and at 29 mm CL 95% have reached maturity. Natural mortality was estimated at 2.391 yr−1. Fishing mortality corresponding to a target of 40% of virgin spawning biomass per recruit is 1.3 yr−1. All parameters are estimated with good precision. These life history traits correspond to a short-lived stock whose abundance is driven by recent recruitment pulses.

A paradigm of venom research is adaptive evolution of toxins as part of a predator-prey chemical arms race. This study examined differential co-factor dependence, variations relative to dietary preference, and the impact upon relative neutralisation by antivenom of the procoagulant toxins in the venoms of a clade of Australian snakes. All genera were characterised by venoms rich in factor Xa which act upon endogenous prothrombin. Examination of toxin sequences revealed an extraordinary level of conservation, which indicates that adaptive evolution is not a feature of this toxin type. Consistent with this, the venoms did not display differences on the plasma of different taxa. Examination of the prothrombin target revealed endogenous blood proteins are under extreme negative selection pressure for diversification, this in turn puts a strong negative selection pressure upon the toxins as sequence diversification could result in a drift away from the target. Thus this study reveals that adaptive evolution is not a consistent feature in toxin evolution in cases where the target is under negative selection pressure for diversification. Consistent with this high level of toxin conservation, the antivenom showed extremely high-levels of cross-reactivity. There was however a strong statistical correlation between relative degree of phospholipid-dependence and clotting time, with the least dependent venoms producing faster clotting times than the other venoms even in the presence of phospholipid. The results of this study are not only of interest to evolutionary and ecological disciplines, but also have implications for clinical toxinology.