1
|
Balseiro A, Herrero-García G, García Marín JF, Balsera R, Monasterio JM, Cubero D, de Pedro G, Oleaga Á, García-Rodríguez A, Espinoza I, Rabanal B, Aduriz G, Tuñón J, Gortázar C, Royo LJ. New threats in the recovery of large carnivores inhabiting human-modified landscapes: the case of the Cantabrian brown bear (Ursus arctos). Vet Res 2024; 55:24. [PMID: 38395920 PMCID: PMC10893660 DOI: 10.1186/s13567-024-01279-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2023] [Accepted: 02/02/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Understanding mortality causes is important for the conservation of endangered species, especially in small and isolated populations inhabiting anthropized landscapes where both natural and human-caused mortality may hinder the conservation of these species. We investigated the mortality causes of 53 free-ranging brown bears (Ursus arctos) found dead between 1998 and 2023 in the Cantabrian Mountains (northwestern Spain), a highly human-modified region where bears are currently recovering after being critically threatened in the last century. We detected natural traumatic injuries in 52.63% and infectious diseases in 39.47% of the 38 bears for which the mortality causes were registered, with 21.05% of these cases presenting signs of both infectious diseases and traumas. More specifically, almost 30% of the bears died during or after intraspecific fights, including sexually selected infanticide (10.53%). In addition, primary infectious diseases such as infectious canine hepatitis, distemper, clostridiosis and colibacillosis caused the death of 15.79% of the bears. The number of direct human-caused deaths (i.e., shooting, poisoning, snare) decreased over the study period. This study also reveals three new mortality causes triggered by pathogens, two of which-Clostridium novyi and verotoxigenic Escherichia coli-not previously described in ursids, and the other one, canine distemper virus, never reported in brown bears as cause of death. New management strategies for the conservation of Cantabrian bears, which are urgently needed due to the rapid expansion of the population, should consider the mortality causes described in this study and must promote further research to elucidate how the high prevalence of infectious diseases may threaten the current recovery of the population.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ana Balseiro
- Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de León, 24071, León, Spain.
| | - Gloria Herrero-García
- Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de León, 24071, León, Spain
| | | | - Ramón Balsera
- Dirección General de Medio Natural y Planificación Rural del Principado de Asturias, 33007, Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
| | - Juana María Monasterio
- Dirección General de Medio Natural y Planificación Rural del Principado de Asturias, 33007, Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
| | - David Cubero
- Dirección General de Patrimonio Natural y Política Forestal de La Junta de Castilla y León, 47014, Valladolid, Castilla y León, Spain
| | - Gabriel de Pedro
- Dirección General de Patrimonio Natural y Política Forestal de La Junta de Castilla y León, 47014, Valladolid, Castilla y León, Spain
| | - Álvaro Oleaga
- Sociedad de Servicios del Principado de Asturias S.A. (SERPA), La Laboral, 33203, Gijón, Spain
| | - Alberto García-Rodríguez
- Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de León, 24071, León, Spain
| | - Israel Espinoza
- Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de León, 24071, León, Spain
| | - Benjamín Rabanal
- Laboratorio de Técnicas Instrumentales, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de León, 24071, León, Spain
| | - Gorka Aduriz
- Departamento de Sanidad Animal, NEIKER-Instituto Vasco de Investigación y Desarrollo Agrario, 48160, Derio (Bizkaia), Spain
| | - José Tuñón
- Fundación Oso de Asturias, 33114, Proaza, Asturias, Spain
| | | | - Luis José Royo
- Departamento de Biología Funcional, Genética, Universidad de Oviedo, 33006, Oviedo, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Penteriani V, Etchart L, González-Bernardo E, Hartasánchez A, Falcinelli D, Ruiz‑Villar H, Morales‑González A, Delgado MDM. Sex-, age-, and time-specific visual communication in brown bears. J Mammal 2023; 104:279-291. [PMID: 37032703 PMCID: PMC10075341 DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyac126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/22/2022] [Indexed: 02/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Intraspecific communication in mammals is well-documented but generally restricted to chemical and acoustic signaling. However, other overlooked channels, such as visual signaling, may be used to communicate among conspecifics. Here, by using experimental manipulations together with camera traps on 13 brown bear (Ursus arctos) rubbing trees in the Cantabrian Mountains (northwestern Spain), we document detailed temporal patterns and behavioral aspects of a recently discovered novel communication channel for this species, visual signaling through the trunk debarking of focal trees. Video footage showed that visual marking is a sex-, age-, and time-specific means of communication in brown bears, being performed exclusively by adult males during the mating season (mainly April–June in the study area). Trunk debarking was always associated with chemical marking and was never an isolated behavior, suggesting that visual and chemical signals might be complementary. Visual and chemical marks may provide different information; for example, visual marks could be an indicator of individual size and, thus, the dominance status of adult males looking for mating opportunities. This is the first time that evidence is provided showing that visual signaling in a large carnivore is exclusive to a specific class of individuals (adult males) and linked to reproductive needs only. Bear visual signaling not only represents an advance in our comprehension of animal communication but may also serve to easily locate the mating areas of mammals, which are crucial for large carnivore species, such as the brown bear, that frequently need specific and urgent plans for conservation and management.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Vincenzo Penteriani
- National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN), Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) , c/José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid , Spain
| | - Léa Etchart
- UMR 6249 Chrono-environnement, Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté , 16 route de Gray, 25000 Besançon , France
| | - Enrique González-Bernardo
- Departamento de Zoología, Universidad de Granada, Facultad de Ciencias , Avda. Fuente Nueva S/N, E-18071 Granada , Spain
| | - Alfonso Hartasánchez
- FAPAS Fondo para la Protección de los Animales Salvajes , Ctra. AS-228, km 8,9 – Tuñón, 33115 Santo Adriano, Asturias , Spain
| | - Daniele Falcinelli
- Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome , 00185 Rome , Italy
| | - Héctor Ruiz‑Villar
- Biodiversity Research Institute (IMIB, CSIC-Oviedo University-Principality of Asturias), Mieres Campus , 33600 Mieres , Spain
| | - Ana Morales‑González
- Department of Conservation Biology, Estación Biológica de Doñana , C.S.I.C, Avda. Americo Vespucio 26, 41092 Seville , Spain
| | - María del Mar Delgado
- Biodiversity Research Institute (IMIB, CSIC-Oviedo University-Principality of Asturias), Mieres Campus , 33600 Mieres , Spain
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
González‐Bernardo E, Delgado MDM, Matos DGG, Zarzo‐Arias A, Morales‐González A, Ruiz‐Villar H, Skuban M, Maiorano L, Ciucci P, Balbontín J, Penteriani V. The influence of road networks on brown bear spatial distribution and habitat suitability in a human‐modified landscape. J Zool (1987) 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.13023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- E. González‐Bernardo
- Biodiversity Research Institute (IMIB, Spanish National Research Council CSIC‐ University of Oviedo‐Principality of Asturias) Mieres Spain
| | - M. d. M. Delgado
- Biodiversity Research Institute (IMIB, Spanish National Research Council CSIC‐ University of Oviedo‐Principality of Asturias) Mieres Spain
| | - D. G. G. Matos
- Biodiversity Research Institute (IMIB, Spanish National Research Council CSIC‐ University of Oviedo‐Principality of Asturias) Mieres Spain
| | - A. Zarzo‐Arias
- Department of Applied Geoinformatics and Spatial Planning Faculty of Environmental Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Suchdol Praha Czech Republic
- Universidad de Oviedo Oviedo Asturias Spain
- Department of Biogeography and Global Change Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN‐CSIC) 28006 Madrid Spain
| | - A. Morales‐González
- Department of Conservation Biology Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD‐CSIC) Sevilla Spain
| | - H. Ruiz‐Villar
- Biodiversity Research Institute (IMIB, Spanish National Research Council CSIC‐ University of Oviedo‐Principality of Asturias) Mieres Spain
| | - M. Skuban
- Carpathian Wildlife Society Zvolen Slovakia
- Slovak State Nature Conservancy Banská Bystrica Slovakia
| | - L. Maiorano
- Department of Biology and Biotechnologies “Charles Darwin” University of Rome “La Sapienza” Rome Italy
| | - P. Ciucci
- Department of Biology and Biotechnologies “Charles Darwin” University of Rome “La Sapienza” Rome Italy
| | - J. Balbontín
- Departament of Zoology Faculty of Biology University of Seville Sevilla Spain
| | - V. Penteriani
- Biodiversity Research Institute (IMIB, Spanish National Research Council CSIC‐ University of Oviedo‐Principality of Asturias) Mieres Spain
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Uzal A, Martinez-Artero J, Ordiz A, Zarzo-Arias A, Penteriani V. Habitat characteristics around dens in female brown bears with cubs are density dependent. MAMMAL RES 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s13364-022-00640-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
The mechanisms determining habitat use in animal populations have important implications for population dynamics, conservation, and management. Here, we investigated how an increase in annual numbers of brown bear females with cubs of the year (FCOY) in a growing, yet threatened population, could explain differences in the habitat characteristics around reproductive dens. Habitat characteristics around FCOY dens were compared between a low bear density period (1995–2005) and a period when the population was increasing (2006–2016). We also compared the distance to the nearest breeding area and to all other breeding areas observed during the same year. The results suggested that during the second period, breeding areas were closer to rivers, fruit trees, and anthropogenic sources of disturbance (trails, highways) than in 1995–2005. There were also shorter distances to the closest neighboring breeding area, while the mean distance among FCOY breeding areas increased as the population grew and expanded at the landscape level. These changes may reflect that the best den locations were increasingly occupied (i.e., ideal-despotic distribution), and may be further explained by the avoidance of conspecifics by FCOY in a critical time of the year, when newborn cubs are most vulnerable. We suggest that both density-dependent factors and human-related features of the landscape are crucial to understanding long-term dynamics in the habitat use of a threatened species.
Collapse
|
5
|
Huffman MA. Folklore, Animal Self-Medication, and Phytotherapy-Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Some Things True. PLANTA MEDICA 2022; 88:187-199. [PMID: 34624907 DOI: 10.1055/a-1586-1665] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The use of medicines was long considered by Western schools of thought to be a a domain unique to humans; however, folklore/Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) from around the world suggests that animals have also long provided inspiration for the discovery of some medicinal plants used to treat humans and their livestock. Searching for medicinal knowledge from animals depends on the recognition of their ability to select and effectively use medicinal plants to prevent or actively ameliorate disease and other homeostatic imbalances. The interdisciplinary field of animal self-medication is providing scientific evidence for this ability in species across the animal kingdom and lends support to animal-origin medicinal plant folklore and recent ethnomedicinal information. Here, 14 case studies of purported animal-inspired plant medicines used by cultures around the world are presented together with ethnomedicinal and pharmacological evidence. Based on this evidence, the diversity and potential mode of self-medicative behaviors are considered. Over 20 animal species, including llama, sloth and jaguar in South America, reindeer and yak in Eurasia, langur and macaque in Asia, and chimpanzee, wild boar, porcupine and elephant in Africa, are linked to these case studies, representing a variety of potential preventative or therapeutic self-medicative behaviors. These examples provide an important perspective on what is likely to have been a much wider practice in the development of human traditional medicine. A role for animal self-medication research in the rejuvenation of old therapies and possible new discoveries of phytotherapies for human and livestock health is encouraged.
Collapse
|
6
|
Tamatani H, Hiorns A, Yamamoto T. An apparent case of infanticide in the Asiatic black bear in Japan. URSUS 2021. [DOI: 10.2192/ursus-d-20-00019.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
|
7
|
Van Horn RC, Sheppard JK, Swaisgood RR, Appleton RD, Sanchez RI, Vallejos DJ, Vallejos J, Owen MA. Site characteristics influence Andean bear natal-den selection in dry forest habitat. URSUS 2021. [DOI: 10.2192/ursus-d-19-00036.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Robyn D. Appleton
- Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, University of British Columbia, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - R. Isaí Sanchez
- Spectacled Bear Conservation Society, Batán Grande, Lambayeque, Peru
| | - D. José Vallejos
- Spectacled Bear Conservation Society, Batán Grande, Lambayeque, Peru
| | - Javier Vallejos
- Spectacled Bear Conservation Society, Batán Grande, Lambayeque, Peru
| | - Megan A. Owen
- San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Escondido, CA 92027-7000, USA
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
González-Bernardo E, Bagnasco C, Bombieri G, Zarzo-Arias A, Ruiz-Villar H, Morales-González A, Lamamy C, Ordiz A, Cañedo D, Díaz J, Chamberlain DE, Penteriani V. Rubbing behavior of European brown bears: factors affecting rub tree selectivity and density. J Mammal 2021; 102:468-480. [PMID: 34121953 PMCID: PMC8189685 DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyaa170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2019] [Accepted: 12/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Scent-mediated communication is considered the principal communication channel in many mammal species. Compared with visual and vocal communication, odors persist for a longer time, enabling individuals to interact without being in the same place at the same time. The brown bear (Ursus arctos), like other mammals, carries out chemical communication, for example, by means of scents deposited on marking (or rub) trees. In this study, we assessed rub tree selectivity of the brown bear in the predominantly deciduous forests of the Cantabrian Mountains (NW Spain). We first compared the characteristics of 101 brown bear rub trees with 263 control trees. We then analyzed the potential factors affecting the density of rub trees along 35 survey routes along footpaths. We hypothesized that: (1) bears would select particular trees, or tree species, with characteristics that make them more conspicuous; and (2) that bears would select trees located in areas with the highest presence of conspecifics, depending on the population density or the position of the trees within the species' range. We used linear models and generalized additive models to test these hypotheses. Our results showed that brown bears generally selected more conspicuous trees with a preference for birches (Betula spp.). This choice may facilitate the marking and/or detection of chemical signals and, therefore, the effectiveness of intraspecific communication. Conversely, the abundance of rub trees along footpaths did not seem to depend on the density of bear observations or their relative position within the population center or its border. Our results suggest that Cantabrian brown bears select trees based on their individual characteristics and their location, with no influence of characteristics of the bear population itself. Our findings can be used to locate target trees that could help in population monitoring.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Enrique González-Bernardo
- Research Unit of Biodiversity (UMIB, CSIC-UO-PA), Mieres Campus, Mieres, Spain
- Pyrenean Institute of Ecology (IPE), C.S.I.C., Avda. Montañana, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Carlotta Bagnasco
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina, Turin, Italy
| | - Giulia Bombieri
- Research Unit of Biodiversity (UMIB, CSIC-UO-PA), Mieres Campus, Mieres, Spain
- Museo delle Scienze, Sezione Zoologia dei Vertebrati, Corso del Lavoro e della Scienza 3, Trento, Italy
| | - Alejandra Zarzo-Arias
- Research Unit of Biodiversity (UMIB, CSIC-UO-PA), Mieres Campus, Mieres, Spain
- Department of Applied Geoinformatics and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká, Praha – Suchdol, Czech Republic
| | - Héctor Ruiz-Villar
- Research Unit of Biodiversity (UMIB, CSIC-UO-PA), Mieres Campus, Mieres, Spain
| | - Ana Morales-González
- Estación Biológica de Doñana, C.S.I.C., Department of Conservation Biology, Avda. Americo Vespucio, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Cindy Lamamy
- Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Dpt. BIOSE, Liège University, Passage des Déportés, Gembloux, Belgium
| | - Andrés Ordiz
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
| | - David Cañedo
- Consejería de Ordenación del Territorio, Infraestructuras y Medio Ambiente, Dirección General de Biodiversidad, Principado de Asturias, Oviedo, Spain
| | - Juan Díaz
- Consejería de Ordenación del Territorio, Infraestructuras y Medio Ambiente, Dirección General de Biodiversidad, Principado de Asturias, Oviedo, Spain
| | - Daniel E Chamberlain
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina, Turin, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Penteriani
- Research Unit of Biodiversity (UMIB, CSIC-UO-PA), Mieres Campus, Mieres, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
González-Bernardo E, Bombieri G, Mar Delgado MD, Penteriani V. The role of spring temperatures in the den exit of female brown bears with cubs in southwestern Europe. URSUS 2020. [DOI: 10.2192/ursus-d-19-00015.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Giulia Bombieri
- Research Unit of Biodiversity, UMIB (CSIC/UO/PA), E-33600 Mieres, Spain
| | | | | |
Collapse
|