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Olson ER, Goethlich J. Changing the Tolerance of the Intolerant: Does Large Carnivore Policy Matter? Animals (Basel) 2024; 14:2358. [PMID: 39199892 PMCID: PMC11350789 DOI: 10.3390/ani14162358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2024] [Revised: 08/05/2024] [Accepted: 08/12/2024] [Indexed: 09/01/2024] Open
Abstract
Success in large carnivore conservation often hinges on local residents' tolerance towards those species. Feelings of powerlessness and frustration with wildlife policies can lead to intolerance of the species. In extreme cases, intolerance may manifest in poaching. Thus, changes in policy may influence the tolerance of wildlife. To examine the connections between policy and tolerance, we examined how policy scenarios influenced anticipated changes in tolerance to wolves Canis lupus. We administered a survey in 2015-2016 in the core wolf range within northern Wisconsin, USA. Using hierarchical cluster analysis, we clustered respondents into groups based on their current tolerance of wolves. We evaluated the behavioral intentions of the clusters and examined the influence of policy scenarios on respondents' anticipated changes in tolerance. Finally, using an information-theoretic model selection framework, we assessed the effects of tolerance clusters and demographic factors. The respondents were clustered into three clusters relative to their current tolerance towards wolves: positive, ambivalent, and negative. Each cluster exhibited significantly different behavioral intentions and anticipated changes in tolerance for all scenarios. In all scenarios, respondents who already held positive attitudes towards wolves were significantly less likely to report expected changes in tolerance toward wolves following changes in wolf management. However, respondents who held ambivalent or negative attitudes towards wolves were significantly more likely to report expected changes in tolerance towards wolves following changes in wolf management. Regarding a regulated wolf hunting and trapping season, we observed a Simpson's Paradox, wherein, when examined in aggregate, no clear pattern emerged, but when examined at the cluster level, important and intuitive patterns emerged. Our demographic model results suggest that policy changes resulting in greater state management authority over wolves, especially authority to implement certain forms of legal killing of wolves, could result in significant increases in tolerance for individuals who identify as hunters, have lost livestock to a predator, or are currently ambivalent or negative towards wolves. Our work elucidates the nuanced relationship between tolerance of wildlife and wildlife policy and identifies a potential ecological fallacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik R. Olson
- Department of Natural Resources, Northland College, Ashland, WI 54806, USA
| | - Jamie Goethlich
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA;
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2
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Santiago-Ávila FJ, Agan S, Hinton JW, Treves A. Evaluating how management policies affect red wolf mortality and disappearance. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:210400. [PMID: 35620012 PMCID: PMC9128856 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.210400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2021] [Accepted: 04/27/2022] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Poaching is the major cause of death for large carnivores in several regions, contributing to their global endangerment. The traditional hypothesis used in wildlife management (killing for tolerance) suggests reducing protections for a species will decrease poaching. However, recent studies suggest reducing protections will instead increase poaching (facilitated illegal killing) and its concealment (facilitated cryptic poaching). Here, we build survival and competing risk models for mortality and disappearances of adult collared red wolves (Canis rufus) released in North Carolina, USA from 1987 to 2020 (n = 526). We evaluated how changes in federal and state policies protecting red wolves influenced the hazard and incidence of mortality and disappearance. We observed substantial increases in the hazard and incidence of red wolf reported poaching, and smaller increases in disappearances, during periods of reduced federal and state protections (including liberalizing hunting of coyotes, C. latrans); white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and American black bear (Ursus americanus) hunting seasons; and management phases. Observed increases in hazard (85-256%) and incidence of reported poaching (56-243%) support the 'facilitated illegal killing' hypothesis. We suggest improving protective policies intended to conserve endangered species generally and large carnivores in particular, to mitigate environmental crimes and generally improve the protection of wild animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francisco J. Santiago-Ávila
- Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
- Project Coyote, Larkspur, CA, USA
- The Rewilding Institute, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | - Suzanne Agan
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, USA
| | | | - Adrian Treves
- Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
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3
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Santiago-Ávila FJ, Agan S, Hinton JW, Treves A. Evaluating how management policies affect red wolf mortality and disappearance. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022. [PMID: 35620012 DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5980322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Poaching is the major cause of death for large carnivores in several regions, contributing to their global endangerment. The traditional hypothesis used in wildlife management (killing for tolerance) suggests reducing protections for a species will decrease poaching. However, recent studies suggest reducing protections will instead increase poaching (facilitated illegal killing) and its concealment (facilitated cryptic poaching). Here, we build survival and competing risk models for mortality and disappearances of adult collared red wolves (Canis rufus) released in North Carolina, USA from 1987 to 2020 (n = 526). We evaluated how changes in federal and state policies protecting red wolves influenced the hazard and incidence of mortality and disappearance. We observed substantial increases in the hazard and incidence of red wolf reported poaching, and smaller increases in disappearances, during periods of reduced federal and state protections (including liberalizing hunting of coyotes, C. latrans); white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and American black bear (Ursus americanus) hunting seasons; and management phases. Observed increases in hazard (85-256%) and incidence of reported poaching (56-243%) support the 'facilitated illegal killing' hypothesis. We suggest improving protective policies intended to conserve endangered species generally and large carnivores in particular, to mitigate environmental crimes and generally improve the protection of wild animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francisco J Santiago-Ávila
- Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
- Project Coyote, Larkspur, CA, USA
- The Rewilding Institute, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | - Suzanne Agan
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, USA
| | | | - Adrian Treves
- Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
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4
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Santiago-Ávila FJ, Agan S, Hinton JW, Treves A. Evaluating how management policies affect red wolf mortality and disappearance. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022. [PMID: 35620012 DOI: 10.5061/dryad.8cz8w9gsr] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Poaching is the major cause of death for large carnivores in several regions, contributing to their global endangerment. The traditional hypothesis used in wildlife management (killing for tolerance) suggests reducing protections for a species will decrease poaching. However, recent studies suggest reducing protections will instead increase poaching (facilitated illegal killing) and its concealment (facilitated cryptic poaching). Here, we build survival and competing risk models for mortality and disappearances of adult collared red wolves (Canis rufus) released in North Carolina, USA from 1987 to 2020 (n = 526). We evaluated how changes in federal and state policies protecting red wolves influenced the hazard and incidence of mortality and disappearance. We observed substantial increases in the hazard and incidence of red wolf reported poaching, and smaller increases in disappearances, during periods of reduced federal and state protections (including liberalizing hunting of coyotes, C. latrans); white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and American black bear (Ursus americanus) hunting seasons; and management phases. Observed increases in hazard (85-256%) and incidence of reported poaching (56-243%) support the 'facilitated illegal killing' hypothesis. We suggest improving protective policies intended to conserve endangered species generally and large carnivores in particular, to mitigate environmental crimes and generally improve the protection of wild animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francisco J Santiago-Ávila
- Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
- Project Coyote, Larkspur, CA, USA
- The Rewilding Institute, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | - Suzanne Agan
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, USA
| | | | - Adrian Treves
- Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
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5
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Musto C, Cerri J, Galaverni M, Caniglia R, Fabbri E, Apollonio M, Mucci N, Bonilauri P, Maioli G, Fontana MC, Gelmini L, Prosperi A, Rossi A, Garbarino C, Fiorentini L, Ciuti F, Berzi D, Merialdi G, Delogu M. Men and wolves: Anthropogenic causes are an important driver of wolf mortality in human-dominated landscapes in Italy. Glob Ecol Conserv 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01892] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022] Open
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Sunde P, Collet S, Nowak C, Thomsen PF, Hansen MM, Schulz B, Matzen J, Michler F, Vedel‐Smith C, Olsen K. Where have all the young wolves gone? Traffic and cryptic mortality create a wolf population sink in Denmark and northernmost Germany. Conserv Lett 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/conl.12812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Peter Sunde
- Department of Bioscience Aarhus University Rønde Denmark
| | - Sebastian Collet
- Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt Conservation Genetics Section Gelnhausen Germany
| | - Carsten Nowak
- Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt Conservation Genetics Section Gelnhausen Germany
| | | | | | - Björn Schulz
- Stiftung Naturschutz Schleswig‐Holstein Molfsee Germany
| | - Jens Matzen
- Stiftung Wildtiere im Norden Molfsee Germany
| | - Frank‐Uwe Michler
- Faculty of Forest and Environment, Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development Eberswalde Germany
| | | | - Kent Olsen
- Natural History Museum Aarhus Aarhus C Denmark
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Louchouarn NX, Santiago-Ávila FJ, Parsons DR, Treves A. Evaluating how lethal management affects poaching of Mexican wolves. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2021; 8:200330. [PMID: 33959305 PMCID: PMC8074884 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.200330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2020] [Accepted: 02/18/2021] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Despite illegal killing (poaching) being the major cause of death among large carnivores globally, little is known about the effect of implementing lethal management policies on poaching. Two opposing hypotheses have been proposed in the literature: implementing lethal management may decrease poaching incidence (killing for tolerance) or increase it (facilitated illegal killing). Here, we report a test of the two opposed hypotheses that poaching (reported and unreported) of Mexican grey wolves (Canis lupus baileyi) in Arizona and New Mexico, USA, responded to changes in policy that reduced protections to allow more wolf-killing. We employ advanced biostatistical survival and competing risk methods to data on individual resightings, mortality and disappearances of collared Mexican wolves, supplemented with Bayes factors to assess the strength of evidence. We find inconclusive evidence for any decreases in reported poaching. We also find strong evidence that Mexican wolves were 121% more likely to disappear during periods of reduced protections than during periods of stricter protections, with only slight changes in legal removals by the agency. Therefore, we find strong support for the 'facilitated illegal killing' hypothesis and none for the 'killing for tolerance' hypothesis. We provide recommendations for improving the effectiveness of US policy on environmental crimes, endangered species and protections for wild animals. Our results have implications beyond the USA or wolves because the results suggest transformations of decades-old management interventions against human-caused mortality among wild animals subject to high rates of poaching.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naomi X. Louchouarn
- Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Francisco J. Santiago-Ávila
- Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Project Coyote Science Advisory Board, Larkspur, CA, USA
| | | | - Adrian Treves
- Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Project Coyote Science Advisory Board, Larkspur, CA, USA
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Santiago-Ávila FJ, Chappell RJ, Treves A. Liberalizing the killing of endangered wolves was associated with more disappearances of collared individuals in Wisconsin, USA. Sci Rep 2020; 10:13881. [PMID: 32807840 PMCID: PMC7431570 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-70837-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2020] [Accepted: 08/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Although poaching (illegal killing) is an important cause of death for large carnivores globally, the effect of lethal management policies on poaching is unknown for many populations. Two opposing hypotheses have been proposed: liberalizing killing may decrease poaching incidence ('tolerance hunting') or increase it ('facilitated poaching'). For gray wolves in Wisconsin, USA, we evaluated how five causes of death and disappearances of monitored, adult wolves were influenced by policy changes. We found slight decreases in reported wolf poaching hazard and incidence during six liberalized killing periods, but that was outweighed by larger increases in hazard and incidence of disappearance. Although the observed increase in the hazard of disappearance cannot be definitively shown to have been caused by an increase in cryptic poaching, we discuss two additional independent lines of evidence making this the most likely explanation for changing incidence among n = 513 wolves' deaths or disappearances during 12 replicated changes in policy. Support for the facilitated poaching hypothesis suggests the increase (11-34%) in disappearances reflects that poachers killed more wolves and concealed more evidence when the government relaxed protections for endangered wolves. We propose a refinement of the hypothesis of 'facilitated poaching' that narrows the cognitive and behavioral mechanisms underlying wolf-killing.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Richard J Chappell
- Department of Biostatistics & Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, USA
| | - Adrian Treves
- Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, USA
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Jiang HH, Li B, Ma Y, Bai SY, Dahmer TD, Linacre A, Xu YC. Forensic validation of a panel of 12 SNPs for identification of Mongolian wolf and dog. Sci Rep 2020; 10:13249. [PMID: 32764603 PMCID: PMC7413520 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-70225-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2020] [Accepted: 07/24/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Wolf (Canis lupus) is a species included in appendices of CITES and is often encountered in cases of alleged poaching and trafficking of their products. When such crimes are suspected, those involved may attempt to evade legal action by claiming that the animals involved are domestic dogs (C. l. familiaris). To respond effectively to such claims, law enforcement agencies require reliable and robust methods to distinguish wolves from dogs. Reported molecular genetic methods are either unreliable (mitogenome sequence based), or operationally cumbersome and require much DNA (un-multiplexed microsatellites), or financially expensive (genome wide SNP genotyping). We report on the validation of a panel of 12 ancestral informative single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers for discriminating wolves from dogs. A SNaPshot multiplex genotyping system was developed for the panel, and 97 Mongolian wolves (C. l. chanco) and 108 domestic dogs were used for validation. Results showed this panel had high genotyping success (0.991), reproducibility (1.00) and origin assignment accuracy (0.97 ± 0.05 for dogs and 1.00 ± 0.03 for wolves). Species-specificity testing suggested strong tolerance to DNA contamination across species, except for Canidae. The minimum DNA required for reliable genotyping was 6.25 pg/μl. The method and established gene frequency database are available to support identification of wolves and dogs by law enforcement agencies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hong Hui Jiang
- College of Wildlife and Protected Areas, Northeast Forestry University, No. 26, Hexing Road, Xiangfang District, Harbin, 150040, China
| | - Bo Li
- College of Wildlife and Protected Areas, Northeast Forestry University, No. 26, Hexing Road, Xiangfang District, Harbin, 150040, China.
- National Forestry and Grassland Administration Research Center of Engineering Technology for Wildlife Conservation and Utilization, No. 26, Hexing Road, Xiangfang District, Harbin, 150040, China.
- National Forestry and Grassland Administration Detecting Center of Wildlife, No. 26, Hexing Road, Xiangfang District, Harbin, 150040, China.
| | - Yue Ma
- College of Wildlife and Protected Areas, Northeast Forestry University, No. 26, Hexing Road, Xiangfang District, Harbin, 150040, China
- National Forestry and Grassland Administration Research Center of Engineering Technology for Wildlife Conservation and Utilization, No. 26, Hexing Road, Xiangfang District, Harbin, 150040, China
| | - Su Ying Bai
- College of Wildlife and Protected Areas, Northeast Forestry University, No. 26, Hexing Road, Xiangfang District, Harbin, 150040, China
- National Forestry and Grassland Administration Research Center of Engineering Technology for Wildlife Conservation and Utilization, No. 26, Hexing Road, Xiangfang District, Harbin, 150040, China
| | | | - Adrian Linacre
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, 5042, Australia
| | - Yan Chun Xu
- College of Wildlife and Protected Areas, Northeast Forestry University, No. 26, Hexing Road, Xiangfang District, Harbin, 150040, China.
- National Forestry and Grassland Administration Research Center of Engineering Technology for Wildlife Conservation and Utilization, No. 26, Hexing Road, Xiangfang District, Harbin, 150040, China.
- National Forestry and Grassland Administration Detecting Center of Wildlife, No. 26, Hexing Road, Xiangfang District, Harbin, 150040, China.
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Bassi E, Gazzola A, Bongi P, Scandura M, Apollonio M. Relative impact of human harvest and wolf predation on two ungulate species in Central Italy. Ecol Res 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/1440-1703.12130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Elena Bassi
- Department of Veterinary Medicine University of Sassari Sassari Italy
| | - Andrea Gazzola
- Association for the Conservation of Biological Diversity (ACDB) Focşani Romania
| | - Paolo Bongi
- Department of Veterinary Medicine University of Sassari Sassari Italy
| | - Massimo Scandura
- Department of Veterinary Medicine University of Sassari Sassari Italy
| | - Marco Apollonio
- Department of Veterinary Medicine University of Sassari Sassari Italy
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Sonne C, Hansen HP, Alstrup AKO, Olsen K, Jensen TH, Haugaard L, Sunde P. Discussion: Illegal kills of protected wolves call for public reasoning. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 665:617-619. [PMID: 30776633 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.01.432] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2018] [Revised: 01/14/2019] [Accepted: 01/17/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Illegal wolf kills happens around in Europe despite the European wolf is protected under the EU Habitats Directive. The reason for this is conflicts with farmers and local hunters and in some instances also direct fear. In April 2018, a wolf was killed in Denmark after 1st recolonization since the 18th century. This caused a heated debate and calls for better communication and management of the Danish and entire European wolf population. Here we discuss the challenges of illegal wolf kills and call for European governments to take action. We specifically encourage European governments to create facilitated spaces for public deliberation on wildlife management by integrating facts and values, not separating them.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Sonne
- Aarhus University, Department of Bioscience, Arctic Research Centre (ARC), Frederiksborgvej 399, PO Box 358, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark.
| | - Hans Peter Hansen
- Aarhus University, Department of Bioscience, Grenåvej 14, DK-8410 Rønde, Denmark.
| | - Aage K O Alstrup
- Aarhus University, Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET Center, Nørrebrogade 44, 10C, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
| | - Kent Olsen
- Natural History Museum Aarhus, Wilhelm Meyers Allé 10, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
| | - Trine Hammer Jensen
- Aalborg University, Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Fredrik Bajers Vej 7H, DK-9220 Aalborg, Denmark; Aalborg Zoo, Mølleparkvej 63, DK-9000 Aalborg, Denmark.
| | - Lars Haugaard
- Aarhus University, Department of Bioscience, Grenåvej 14, DK-8410 Rønde, Denmark.
| | - Peter Sunde
- Aarhus University, Department of Bioscience, Grenåvej 14, DK-8410 Rønde, Denmark.
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