Thiabendazole-based taste aversions in dingoes (Canis familiaris dingo) and New Guinea wild dogs (Canis familiaris hallstromi)

Gustavson, Carl R.; Gustavson, Joan C.; Holzer, Gerald A.

doi:10.1016/0304-3762(83)90187-6

Cited by 27 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…The detectability of the aversive compound by the target species has been one of the main handicaps of CFA application for reducing predation in the wild . Several compounds have been used in previous CFA studies but only 17α‐ethinyloestradiol and thiabendazole have been proved to be undetectable until now . Despite the acceptable results obtained with 17α‐ethinyloestradiol, the risk of reproduction interference prevents its safe use in the field .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conditioned food aversion in domestic dogs induced by thiram

Tobajas

Gómez‐Ramírez

Ferreras

et al. 2019

Pest Management Science

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BACKGROUND: The conflict between predators and humans for resources such as game species or livestock is an ancient issue, and it is especially sharp in the case of medium-large wild canids. In order to manage this conflict, lethal control methods are often used, which can sometimes be illegal, such as poisoning. As an alternative, conditioned food aversion (CFA) is a non-lethal method to reduce predation in which animals learn to avoid a given food due to the adverse effects caused by the ingestion of an undetectable chemical compound added to this food. The present study aimed to test thiram as a CFA agent in penned dogs as a first approach to use this substance for reducing the predation conflict associated with wild canids. RESULTS: Thiram, with or without an additional odor cue, produced CFA in penned dogs for more than 2 months. Moreover, thiram seemed to be undetectable and safe after the third ingestion of a 40-60 mg kg −1 dose. Desirable adverse effects, such as vomits, appeared around 1 h after exposure. These characteristics make thiram optimal for its use in predation reduction through CFA. However, individual variability could prevent CFA acquisition by some animals.CONCLUSIONS: Thiram has the potential to be used as a CFA agent in wildlife management and conservation to reduce predation by wild canids. Since thiram produced CFA without the problems of detectability and toxicity caused by other substances, it may be an alternative to lethal control methods used to reduce predation on game, livestock and endangered species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conditioned food aversion in domestic dogs induced by thiram

Tobajas

Gómez‐Ramírez

Ferreras

et al. 2019

Pest Management Science

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“…The perception that animals exhibit a lower propensity towards attacking a prey item following ingestion and subsequent malaise during CTA training is non‐controversial (Gustavson et al . , , ; Gustavson ; Gustavson & Basche ; Ziegler et al . ; Gustavson & Nicolaus ; Nicolaus ; Nicolaus & Nellis ; Nicolaus et al .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…; Massei & Cowan ), wolves ( Canis lupus ) (Gustavson et al . ; Ziegler et al . ) and black bears ( Ursus americanus ) (Ternent & Garshelis ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Not such silly sausages: Evidence suggests northern quolls exhibit aversion to toads after training with toad sausages

et al. 2018

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The invasion of toxic cane toads (Rhinella marina) is a major threat to northern quolls (Dasyurus hallucatus) which are poisoned when they attack this novel prey item. Quolls are now endangered as a consequence of the toad invasion. Conditioned taste aversion can be used to train individual quolls to avoid toads, but we currently lack a training technique that can be used at a landscape scale to buffer entire populations from toad impact. Broad-scale deployment requires a bait that can be used for training, but there is no guarantee that such a bait will ultimately elicit aversion to toads. Here, we test a manufactured baita 'toad sausage'in a small captive trial, for its ability to elicit aversion to toads in northern quolls. To do this, we exposed one group of quolls to a toad sausage and another to a control sausage and compared the quolls' predatory responses when presented with a dead adult toad. Captive quolls that consumed a single toad sausage showed a reduced interest in cane toads, interacting with them for less than half the time of their untrained counterparts and showing reduced Attack behaviour. We also quantified bait uptake in the field, by both quolls and non-target species. These field trials showed that wild quolls were the most frequent species attracted to the baits, and that approx. 61% of quolls consumed toad-aversion baits when first encountered. Between 40% and 68% of these animals developed aversion to further bait consumption. Our results suggest that toad-aversion sausages may be used to train wild quolls to avoid cane toads. This opens the possibility for broad-scale quoll training with toad aversion sausages: a technique that may allow wildlife managers to prevent quoll extinctions at a landscape scale.

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“…It is fast acting and peak concentration occurs in the plasma one hour after consumption (Tocco et al 1966). Thiabendazole has produced strong aversions to treated foods in lab rats (Gill, Whiterow & Cowan 2000; Massei & Cowan 2002), wolves ( Canis lupus ) (Gustavson, Gustavson & Holzer 1983; Ziegler et al 1983), and black bears ( Ursus americanus ) (Ternent & Garshelis 1999). Thiabendazole induces a robust CTA after a single oral dose (Nachman & Ashe 1973; O'Donnell, Webb & Shine 2010) and is physically stable at ambient conditions in the bait substrate (Gill, Whiterow & Cowan 2000; Massei, Lyon & Cowan 2003).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because of this we used bootstrapping to obtain confidence intervals for the mean time engaged in each behaviour, and to test the null hypothesis that there was no difference between treatments in mean time spent in each activity. The perception that animals exhibit a lower propensity towards attacking a prey item following ingestion and subsequent malaise during CTA training is non-controversial (Gustavson et al 1974; Gustavson et al 1976; Gustavson 1982; Gustavson & Basche 1983; Gustavson, Gustavson & Holzer 1983; Ziegler et al 1983; Gustavson & Nicolaus 1987; Nicolaus 1987; Nicolaus & Nellis 1987; Nicolaus et al 1989; Schneider & Pinnow 1994; Smith et al 2000; Riley & Freeman 2004; Sevelinges et al 2009; O'Donnell, Webb & Shine 2010; Thornton & Raihani 2010; Thornton & Clutton-Brock 2011). More relevant to this study is the outcomes of previous trails by O'Donnell, Webb and Shine (2010) and Kelly and Phillips (2017) where quolls exhibited less interest in prey items after consuming a toad metamorph laced with thiabendazole.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Not such silly sausages: Northern quolls exhibit aversion to toads after training with toad sausages

Indigo

Smith

Webb

et al. 2017

Preprint

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The invasion of toxic cane toads (Rhinella marina) is a major threat to northern quolls (Dasyurus hallucatus) which are poisoned when they attack this novel prey item. Quolls are now endangered as a consequence of the toad invasion. Conditioned taste aversion can be used to train individual quolls to avoid toads, but we currently lack a training technique that can be used at a landscape scale to buffer entire populations from toad impact. Broad scale deployment requires a bait that can be used for training, but there is no guarantee that such a bait will ultimately elicit aversion to toads. Here we test a manufactured bait—a ‘toad sausage’—for its ability to elicit aversion to toads in northern quolls. To do this, we exposed one group of quolls to a toad sausage and another to a control sausage and compared the quolls’ predatory responses when presented with a dead adult toad. Captive quolls that consumed a single toad sausage showed substantially reduced interest in cane toads, interacting with them for less than half the time of their untrained counterparts and showing substantially reduced attack behaviour. We also quantified bait uptake in the field, by both quolls and non-target species. These field trials showed that wild quolls were the most frequent species attracted to the baits, and that approximately 61% of quolls consumed toad-aversion baits when first encountered. Between 40-68% of these animals developed aversion to further bait consumption. Our results suggest that toad-aversion sausages can be used to train wild quolls to avoid cane toads. This opens the possibility for broad-scale quoll training with toad aversion sausages: a technique that may allow wildlife managers to prevent quoll extinctions at a landscape scale.

show abstract

Thiabendazole-based taste aversions in dingoes (Canis familiaris dingo) and New Guinea wild dogs (Canis familiaris hallstromi)

Cited by 27 publications

References 5 publications

Conditioned food aversion in domestic dogs induced by thiram

Conditioned food aversion in domestic dogs induced by thiram

Not such silly sausages: Evidence suggests northern quolls exhibit aversion to toads after training with toad sausages

Not such silly sausages: Northern quolls exhibit aversion to toads after training with toad sausages

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