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Despite substantial progress in understanding global biodiversity loss, major taxonomic and geographic knowledge gaps remain. Decision makers often rely on expert judgement to fill knowledge gaps, but are rarely able to engage with sufficiently large and diverse groups of specialists. To improve understanding of the perspectives of thousands of biodiversity experts worldwide, we conducted a survey and asked experts to focus on the taxa and freshwater, terrestrial, or marine ecosystem with which they are most familiar. We found several points of overwhelming consensus (for instance, multiple drivers of biodiversity loss interact synergistically) and important demographic and geographic differences in specialists' perspectives and estimates. Experts from groups that are underrepresented in biodiversity science, including women and those from the Global South, recommended different priorities for conservation solutions, with less emphasis on acquiring new protected areas, and provided higher estimates of biodiversity loss and its impacts. This may in part be because they disproportionately study the most highly threatened taxa and habitats. Front Ecol Environ 2022; [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Cats (Felis catus) are the only felines that live in close contact with humans. Since cats can act as vectors, carriers, reservoirs and definitive hosts of many gastrointestinal (GI) parasites, parasitic assessment could contribute to their survival and well‐being. Aims: The current study aimed to assess the diversity and prevalence of GI parasites in domestic and feral cats from Ratnanagar in Chitwan in Central Nepal. Methods: A total of 107 fresh faecal samples of cats (90 household cats and 17 feral cats) of varied ages and sex were collected and transported to the laboratory. The copromicroscopic examination was carried out following direct wet mount, formalin‐ethyl acetate sedimentation, saturated salt flotation, acid‐fast staining and sporulation techniques. Furthermore, associated risk factors were evaluated to ascertain the predictor of risks for parasitic acquisition. Results: The current study revealed an overall 95.3% prevalence rate with a 100% rate in feral cats and 94.4% in household cats. Altogether, 18 (17 known and one unknown) different species of GI parasites were reported with the helminths (95.3%; 11 species) and the protozoa (55.1%; seven species). Besides age and sex, outdoor lifestyle, absence or unknown history of medication and hunting behaviour of the felines are the predictors of risk. Furthermore, mixed infection was comparatively higher than single infection in the faecal samples. Conclusions: Cats harbour a higher prevalence and greater diversity of GI parasites, and parasitism varies with age and sex. This finding can be essential for veterinarians and public health authorities for strategic treatment and for assessing the zoonotic transmission of the parasites from these felines. Importantly, an effective medication strategy for cats and owners is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The marbled cat Pardofelis marmorata is a Near Threatened small felid. The cat's presence in Nepal is based on an anecdote. A camera trap-based study to access diversity and abundance of terrestrial mammals in eastern Nepal accumulated 3,014 camera trap days and resulted in 5,176 photographs of 17 mediumlarge sized mammal species. Amongst them, a marbled cat was captured at a single camera trap station in January 2018. The camera trap-capturing the marbled cat was located in the secondary forest at an altitude of 2,750 m a.s.l., dominated by free-ranging cattle close to a permanent human settlement (1.4 km) and a temporary cattle herding camp (0.4 km). This is the first photographic evidence of a marbled cat in Nepal. In this survey, we also recorded three other felid species: common leopard Panthera pardus, Asiatic golden-cat Catopuma temminckii and leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis. We recommend detailed yearround camera trap surveys in the mid-hills of eastern Nepal along with research on adaptation of the small felids to human-dominated areas and assessment of immediate threats for preparing sound conservation management plans of the marbled cat and its sympatric species. Initiation of conservation programmes engaging local dokpa (herders) is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phylogenetic niche conservatism implies that sister taxa will have similar niches, although the niches of disjunct subspecies may evolve differently. This study uses Macaca assamensis, subspecies assamensis and pelops, to investigate the similarities of realized climatic niches of two disjunct subspecies (separated by the Brahmaputra River) along with a similarity analysis of their respective regions' climate. Modeled distributions were used to quantify their potential distribution under current and future climate scenarios. The climatic similarity between regions of each subspecies was tested with principal component analysis (PCA), and the realized climatic niche overlap between two subspecies was tested with a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) on a subset of the least correlated variables out of 24 publicly available topo‐bioclimatic variables. Tukey's honest significance difference (HSD) was used to test the range differences (on all 24 variables) between subspecies. The potential distribution of both taxa in the current climate and projected future climate was model‐predicted using MaxEnt and Random Forest. We found significantly different climatic ranges for 21 predictors (HSD; p < 0.05) for the two subspecies, significantly different climatic conditions for their regions (using PCA; p < 0.001), and significantly different realized climatic niches for the two subspecies (MANOVA; p < 0.001). The distribution models generated a larger potential area than the currently known distributions. Although literature show that the Brahmaputra River is an effective dispersal barrier, we found some of the neighboring geographic range for both subspecies appears to be potentially suitable for the other taxon. The projected future potential areas indicate that some parts of the currently occupied geography, mostly southern parts, may become climatically unsuitable, whereas other new geographical areas may become suitable. Most of these new potential areas will be toward the north where higher and fragmented mountains, which has conservation implications. This study used Macaca assamensis subspecies assamensis and pelops to investigate the similarities of realized climatic niches of two disjunct subspecies We found significantly different ranges for 21 (of 24) predictors (p < 0.05) and significantly different realized climatic niches (p < 0.001). The distribution models generated a larger potential area than the currently known distribution as some of the neighboring areas of the current geographic range of each sister taxa appear to have climatically suitable geography for both subspecies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Snow Leopard Panthera uncia is a rare top predator of high-altitude ecosystems and insufficiently surveyed outside of protected areas in Nepal. We conducted a rapid camera-trapping survey to assess the presence of Snow Leopard in the Limi valley of Humla District. Three individuals were recorded in two camera locations offering the first photographic evidence of this elusive cat outside the protected area network of Nepal. In addition to Snow Leopard, the Blue Sheep Pseudois nayaur, Beech Marten Martes foina, Pika Ochotona spp. and different species of birds were also detected by camera-traps. More extensive surveys and monitoring are needed for reliably estimating the population size of Snow Leopard in the area. The most urgent needs are community-based conservation activities aimed at mitigating immediate threats of poaching, retaliatory killing, and rapid prey depletion to ensure the survival of this top predator in the Himalaya. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Red Panda Ailurus fulgens is a small carnivore that is adapted to a mainly herbivorous diet. The present study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of parasitic infections in a free-ranging population of Red Pandas in a community forest in Nepal. A total of 23 faecal samples were collected and examined. Protozoa infections were the most common and cestode infections occurred the least. Our findings suggest that parasites might be a significant problem for the health of the Red Pandas in the study area. Molecular methods should be used to further investigate the taxonomic position of the parasites and their role in threatening the resilience of Red Panda populations in Nepal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]