Establishing blood serum profiles is important for understanding animal disease ecology and nutrition, the effects of capture and immobilization, and general physiological variation among individuals and populations. Elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) have been successfully translocated to several states for reintroduction or population augmentation, including most recently in Kentucky, where over the course of three years (2011-13) wild elk were captured, temporarily quarantined, and subsequently moved to Missouri and Virginia to establish populations in those states. I used this opportunity to collect a variety of biological samples, including blood from which I present and compare serological profiles for a variety of elk age and sex classes. Additionally, I took the opportunity to investigate the effects of the translocation process on some morphological and physiological parameters of elk. Quarantine and processing of elk can be stressful for animals and lead to injury or death. I characterized how elk respond to this process by measuring biochemical serum values along with various physiological parameters at 5 handling events from the time of capture until final transport to recipient states. Changes observed in parameters between paired workups were indicative of the physical exertion and stress associated with handling activities.

This study was conducted in the ‘Uruq Bani Ma’arid Protected Area, on the western edge of the ‘Rub al Khali of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The dispersal of different groups of Arabian oryx Oryx leucoryx (Pallas, 1777) was investigated, along with the seasonal range use patterns of the animals. The dispersal distances from the release site stabilised after a period of one year. The animals show seasonal differences in their range use patterns, associated with changes in their mobility. The dynamics of the relationship between the oryxes and their habitat were investigated. The structure and the condition of the vegetation, as well as some climatic variables were important determinants of seasonal habitat use. The diurnal activity patterns of the animals correspond with that characteristic of ungulates generally and the animals showed seasonal changes in their feeding preferences. The productivity of the population was high during the study period, with 34 live births, while six of the reintroduced animals died. Population viability analysis, however, shows that the population is vulnerable over the medium term (100 years) and that management should target the juvenile and especially adult females as they are keys to population growth and recovery. / Dissertation (MSc (Wildlife Management))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Centre for Wildlife Management / unrestricted

Reintroduction of captive-bred Western Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) in the Nicola Valley, British Columbia, has had limited success in increasing the local breeding population. Traditionally, yearling captive-hatched Burrowing Owls that were paired and released into artificial burrows in the field, held overnight, and provided with supplemental food throughout the breeding season (hard release) have had high post-release dispersal and mortality. In 2005 and 2006, I used an alternative soft-release technique to test for an improvement upon the hard-release technique. The soft release followed the same procedure as the traditional hard release but also included enclosures around burrow entrances to contain the owls for a 2-week period in the field prior to release. I compared immediate post-release dispersal, seasonal survival, and reproductive success for 37 hard-released and 30 soft-released pairs. I radio-tagged 39 of these released owls in order to accurately monitor their activities, regardless of whether they remained at release sites or dispersed. The soft-release technique led to 20% more owls remaining at the release sites, 14% more owls surviving the breeding season, and 20% more owl pairs fledging juveniles. In addition to investigating adult survival and reproductive success, I examined post-fledging juvenile survival, local recruitment, and habitat use, and adult prey consumption behaviour in order to assess the potential of these aspects to limit the success of the reintroduction. Survival and local recruitment rates of the juveniles of captive-bred adults released with two different techniques were similar to that of juveniles of wild adults in the same study area or in other parts of the Burrowing Owl's range. Juvenile habitat-selection analyse sidentified the importance of rangeland, and comparisons of prey consumption revealed the rapid development of foraging abilities by captive-bred Burrowing Owls. I concluded that these aspects of the owl's ecology were not negatively affected by a captive upbringing, and therefore not likely limiting the success of the reintroduction. Overall, the use of an enclosure-based soft-release technique addresses major limitations to the success of releases, and shows promise for increasing the breeding population in this region. This approach can also be applied to recovery efforts throughout the Burrowing Owls' range, and provide guidelines for other species' reintroduction programs. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

Understanding how African elephants (Loxodonta africana) respond to human interactions in ecotourism operations is critical to safeguarding animal and human welfare and sustaining wildlife ecotourism activities. We investigated the stress response of elephants to a variety of tourist activities over a 15-month period at Abu Camp in northern Botswana. We compared fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) concentrations across three elephant groups, including: eight elephants in an elephant-tourism operation (Abu herd), three elephants previously reintroduced back into the wild from the Abu herd, and wild elephants. There were no differences in FGM concentrations between the three groups of elephants. The highest observed FGM concentrations were associated with episodic events (e.g. intraherd conflict, loud noise, physical injury) unrelated to tourist activities. FGM concentrations differed between the elephant-tourist activities with ride only and mixed ride/walk activities eliciting higher FGM concentrations compared to days when there were no elephant-tourist interactions. The elephant experience tourism industry faces challenges in managing elephants who’s aggressive or unpredictable behavior makes them ill-suited to captivity, training, and interaction with handlers and tourists. Reintroduction of these elephants back into the wild may be a favorable solution if the welfare of released individuals, recipient wild animal populations, and human populations can be ensured. We describe the post-release movements of two African elephants, one female and one bull, from an elephant-back-safari enterprise in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. We compared the movements of the female with that of two wild females collared in the same wildlife management concession. We assess their home range size, proximity to human dwellings, and fidelity to their former home range as former members of their semi-captive, working herd from which they were released. We found significant differences between the home range size of our released elephant and that of the two wild elephants. Additionally, the released female and released bull occurred more frequently in close proximity (within 250 m) to tourist lodges throughout the Delta. The released elephants also frequented sites used by the working Abu herd with greater frequency than the wild elephants, and this visitation rate did not significantly decline during respective four- and two-year post-release monitoring periods, despite the positive growth in home range size.

The semiaquatic mammals - amongst them the beaver Castor fiber - are inhabitants of the land-water-ecotone, which is characterized by length and low depth.Due to specific adaptations to their habitats, semiaquatic mammals are highly dependent on the specific structures and resources of the ecotone riverbank. Anthropogenic influences on the ecotone riverbank often cause destruction of the resources that leads to a decrease of structural diversity.Being a primary consumer, the beaver mainly uses the water as a medium for locomotion and escape. The equipment of the riverbank, mainly the bankside vegetation, is of great importance concerning foraging. The presence and the quantity of certain biofacts like feeding or cutting places and scent mounds give a hint on the value of different structures and resources of the bankside with regard to certain modes of behaviour. They also give information on different qualities of the used and unused parts of the bankside.Biofacts of beaver-activity were recorded along 20 km of riverbank during a five-year-period. The results of the statistical analysis show that beavers - concerning species-specific mode of behaviour - prefer certain riverbank structures. Biofacts and near-natural structures such as steep bank, riparian forest and willows correlate significantly positive whereas biofacts and anthropogenic structures as slope, farmland or absence of woody plants show significantly negative correlation. There is a strong connection between the number of biofacts - that is use of the riverbank or slope - and structural diversity. Based on these results, an eco-ethological model has been developed which makes it possible to predict behaviour in dependence on the specific structures and resources of the banks and slopes of anthropogenic influenced streams.

The northern river otter (Lontra canadensis) is a semi-aquatic carnivore whose range extends throughout most of the United States and Canada. The northern river otter experienced a severe range contraction post-European settlement, but due to widespread management has in recent decades begun to recover much of its former range and habitat. We translocated 27 river otters from Utah and Idaho to the Provo River, Utah from November 2009 through January 2012 in a reintroduction effort to restore the northern river otter to its native range. Of these 27 otters, 6 died as a result of effects related to the translocation. We used linear regression and model selection to determine what factors had the most influence on the immediate mortality of translocated otters. We found that body mass was the most important factor, followed by sex. Indeed, otters at the high end of the body mass spectrum were 4 times more likely to survive a translocation than otters at the low end of body mass. Along with the reintroduction project, we determined the food habits of the northern river otter in the Provo River watershed. We located and monitored otter latrine sites from February 2010 through February 2012, collecting scats on a monthly basis. We identified prey items in otter scat and recorded data as the frequency of prey items per total number of scats, presented as a percentage. Fish was the primary class of prey taken by otters (96.5%), followed by crustaceans (16.9%). Otter diet varied among seasons for nearly all classes (G = 127.8, d. f. = 24, P < 0.001) and families (G = 132.94, d. f. = 18, P < 0.001) of prey. We conclude that otters are potentially selecting prey in the main channel according to their abundance and in inverse proportion to their swimming ability. However, with multiple habitat types that vary in species richness and diversity, it was difficult to determine which prey items otters are selecting for without direct behavioral data on location of foraging. We examined the diet of the northern river otter at the regional and continental scale. We examined 100 publications and 106 prey lists in order to determine the food habits of the northern river otter among ecoregions and seasons. Fish was found to occur in otter diet more often than any other class of prey, followed by malacostracans. At the family level, Astacoidea contributed more to otter diet than any other family of prey. Multiple classes and families varied by ecoregion and/or by season. Crayfish, while not the primary component of otter prey throughout North America, was found to be the primary component when readily available. Furthermore, we developed a model of river otter prey selection which includes factors that may have an impact on the availability of prey to otters. Otter prey selection is likely due to a variety of factors, including the habitat, detectability, catchability, and palatability of prey.

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