2016-11-03T14:11:40

Invasive mammals can be important reservoirs for human pathogens. A recent study showed that 12% of mongooses carried Salmonella spp. in their large intestines. We investigated whether anthropogenic, environmental and climatic variables predicted Salmonella status in mongooses (Herpestes auropunctatus) in Grenada. Using multivariate logistic regression and contingency table analysis, we found that increased human density, decreased distance from roads, and low monthly precipitation were associated with increased probability of Salmonella carriage. Areas with higher human density likely support a higher abundance of mongooses because of greater food availability. These areas also are a likely source for infection to mongooses due to high densities of livestock and rodents shedding Salmonella. The higher probability of Salmonella carriage in mongooses during drier months and closer to roadsides is likely due to water drainage patterns and limited water availability. Although the overall prevalence of Salmonella in mongooses was moderate, the strong patterns of ecologic correlates, combined with the high density of mongooses throughout Grenada suggest that the small Indian mongoose could be a useful sentinel for Salmonella surveillance. Its affinity for human-associated habitats suggests that the small Indian mongoose is also a risk factor in the maintenance and possible spread of Salmonella species to humans and livestock in Grenada.

Unsustainable harvest is driving population declines in tropical forest species across the globe. Despite maintaining the second highest percent forest cover in the world (85%), concern is increasing in Guyana that unmanaged commercial and subsistence hunting activities could result in defaunation, and the cascading ecological effects of "empty forests." The Rupununi region of southwestern Guyana, home to the Kanuku Mountains Protected Area (KMPA), hosts one of the world's lowest human population densities (0.42 people/km 2), as well as large, intact tracts of both Neotropical savanna and forest habitats, making it one of the country's most biodiverse regions. Indigenous Makushi and Wapichan communities that reside there have maintained subsistence lifestyles mediated by traditional beliefs and management practices for millennia. However, as human populations and access to markets increase, there is a corresponding increase in the harvest of natural resources. Protected areas have long been recognized for their role in biodiversity conservation, while also serving as a reserve for subsistence hunters. The KMPA, one of Guyana's newest protected areas, allows for the continued sustainable use of its resources by indigenous communities. It is critical to understand the patterns, impacts, and levels of hunting that are sustainable in and around the protected area so that biodiversity can be managed and conserved effectively. Our study shows that the impact of current hunting intensity in and around the KMPA remains relatively low and supports the hypothesis that Neotropical forests can support hunting pressure of <1 person/km 2. While our results show that current levels of hunting in the region can be considered sustainable, small shifts in activity patterns and distribution of preferred game species were observed in sites subject to higher hunting intensity, which in turn appears to have had cascading effects on non-hunted species. Our results serve as a caution for the Kanuku Mountains region and an indication of the truly low levels of harvest that some species can sustain before populations begin to show declines. Further, we Hallett et al. Impacts of Hunting in Guyana suggest a system-level approach to monitoring that incorporates both preferred game and non-hunted species, as well as indigenous knowledge of patterns of use and trends in populations of game species. This approach to monitoring would serve as an effective early warning system, allowing communities, managers, and policy makers to intervene before animal populations are significantly impacted by overhunting.

Baylisascaris procyonis, or raccoon roundworm, is an intestinal nematode parasite of raccoons (Procyon lotor) that is important to public and wildlife health. Historically, the parasite was uncommon in the southeastern US; however, the range of B. procyonis has expanded to include Florida, US. From 2010 to 2016, we opportunistically sampled 1,030 raccoons statewide. The overall prevalence was 3.7% (95% confidence interval=2.5–4.8%) of sampled individuals, and infection intensity ranged from 1 to 48 (mean±standard deviation 9.9±4.0). We found raccoon roundworm in 9/56 (16%) counties sampled, and the percent positive ranged from 1.1% to 13.3% of specimens collected per county. Including previously published data, B. procyonis was detected in 11 Florida counties. We used logistic regression to estimate the contribution of raccoon demographic variables and the presence of the endoparasite Macracanthorhynchus ingens to B. procyonis detection in Florida. Following the model selection process we found housing density, M. ingens presence, and urbanicity to be predictive of raccoon roundworm presence. We also found substantial among-county variation. Raccoon sex and age were not useful predictors. Public health officials, wildlife rehabilitators, wildlife managers, and others should consider any Florida raccoon to be potentially infected with B. procyonis, particularly in areas where housing density is high.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (Commission) conducts an annual harvest survey of licensed wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) hunters to determine the proportion of license holders that hunt and the estimated total harvest. The harvest survey is traditionally conducted with a mailed postcard, which is increasingly costly and timeconsuming to administer. The Commission has considered using a less costly and less protracted web-based survey. From 2012 through 2014, we conducted web and mail surveys of licensed turkey hunters to compare response rates and reported rate of hunting participation. The average response rate differed between mail and web survey respondents (25.5% and 16.5%, respectively). Rates of hunting participation also differed between the survey modes; 40.5% and 61.4%, respectively, of mail and web survey respondents said that they hunted during the previous spring season. When hunting participation rates were extrapolated to the total number of license holders in the state, the projected average number of hunters across the 3 years was 17,356 (52%) greater from the web survey than the mail survey. Demographic weighting (age class, sex, ethnicity, median household income, or urbanicity) failed to account for the difference in reported hunting participation between survey modes. Our results indicated that respondents of the 2 survey modes differed fundamentally in either their hunting behavior or in their propensity to respond to the surveys, both of which have ramifications when management decisions are based on the results of harvest