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Doster, A. R., Armstrong, D. L., & Bargar, T. W. (1989). Seminoma and parathyroid adenoma in a snow leopard (Panthera unica). J Comp Pathol, 100(4), 475–480.
Abstract: A seminoma and parathyroid adenoma were diagnosed in an aged snow leopard. The ultrastructural appearance of the seminoma was similar to that described in the dog and in man. The lack of significant amounts of rough endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi complexes and free ribosomes in the parathyroid adenoma suggested that it was non-functional. Parathyroid adenoma has not been previously described in a large wild feline.
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Kachel, S., Bayrakcismith, R., Kubanychbekov, Z., Kulenbekov, R., McCarthy, T., Weckworth, B., Wirsing, A. (2022). Ungulate spatiotemporal responses to contrasting predation risk from wolves and snow leopards. Journal of Animal Ecology, , 1–16.
Abstract: 1. Spatial responses to risk from multiple predators can precipitate emergent consequences for prey (i.e. multiple-predator effects, MPEs) and mediate indirect interactions between predators. How prey navigate risk from multiple predators may therefore have important ramifications for understanding the propagation of predation-risk effects (PREs) through ecosystems.
2. The interaction of predator and prey traits has emerged as a potentially key driver of antipredator behaviour but remains underexplored in large vertebrate systems, particularly where sympatric prey share multiple predators. We sought to better generalize our understanding of how predators influence their ecosystems by considering how multiple sources of contingency drive prey distribution in a multi-predator–multi-prey system.
3. Specifically, we explored how two sympatric ungulates with different escape tactics—vertically agile, scrambling ibex Capra sibirica and sprinting argali Ovis ammon—responded to predation risk from shared predators with contrasting hunting modes—cursorial wolves Canis lupus and vertical-ambushing, stalking snow leopards Panthera uncia.
4. Contrasting risk posed by the two predators presented prey with clear trade-offs. Ibex selected for greater exposure to chronic long-term risk from snow leopards, and argali for wolves, in a nearly symmetrical manner that was predictable based on the compatibility of their respective traits. Yet, acute short-term risk from the same predator upended these long-term strategies, increasing each ungulates' exposure to risk from the alternate predator in a manner consistent with a scenario in which conflicting antipredator behaviours precipitate risk-enhancing MPEs and mediate predator facilitation. By contrast, reactive responses to wolves led ibex to reduce their exposure to risk from both predators—a risk-reducing MPE. Evidence of a similar reactive risk-reducing effect for argali vis-à-vis snow leopards was lacking.
5. Our results suggest that prey spatial responses and any resulting MPEs and prey-mediated interactions between predators are contingent on the interplay of hunting mode and escape tactics. Further investigation of interactions among various drivers of contingency in PREs will contribute to a more comprehensive understanding and improved forecasting of the ecological effects of predators.
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Pahuja, M., Sharma, R. K. (2021). Wild Predators, Livestock, and Free Ranging Dogs: Patterns of Livestock Mortality and Attitudes of People Toward Predators in an Urbanizing Trans-Himalayan Landscape. Frontiers in Conservation Science, 2(109), 1–13.
Abstract: Livestock depredation by large carnivores is a significant source of conflicts over predators and an important conservation and economic concern. Preventing livestock loss to wild predators is a substantial focus of human-carnivore conflict mitigation programs. A key assumption of the preventive strategy is reduction in the livestock losses leading to a positive shift in the attitudes toward predators. Therefore, it is important to quantify the true extent of livestock mortality caused by wild predators and its influence on attitudes of the affected communities. We examined seasonal and spatial patterns of livestock mortality and factors influencing people’s attitudes toward wild predators i.e., snow leopards (Panthera uncia) and wolves (Canis lupus chanco) and free-ranging dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) in a Trans-Himalayan urbanizing landscape in India. We used systematic sampling to select the survey households and implemented a semi- structured questionnaire to respondents. The sampled villages (n = 16) represent a mosaic of urban and agricultural ecosystems within a radius of 40 km of Leh town. In 2016–2017, 93% of the sampled households lost livestock to predators, accounting for 0.93 animals per household per year. However, of the total events of livestock mortality, 33% were because of weather/natural events, 24% by snow leopards, 20% because of disease, 15% because of free-ranging dogs and 9% because of wolves. The annual economic loss per household because of livestock mortality was USD 371, a substantial loss given the average per capita income of USD 270 in the region. Of the total loss, weather/natural events caused highest loss of USD 131 (35%), followed by snow leopards USD 91 (25%), disease USD 87 (24%), free ranging dogs USD 48 (13%), and wolves USD 14 (4%). Despite losing a considerable proportion of livestock (33 %) to wild predators, respondents showed a positive attitude toward them but exhibited neutral attitudes toward free-ranging dogs. Gender emerged as the most important determinant of attitudes toward wild predators, with men showing higher positive attitude score toward wild predators than women. Our findings highlight the context specific variation in human-wildlife interactions and emphasize that generalizations must be avoided in the absence of site specific evidence.
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Wahlberg, C., & Tarkkanen, A. (1980). On the multiple ocular coloboma with retinal dysplasia (MOC) in snow leopards, Pantera uncia. In L. Blomqvist (Ed.), International Pedigree Book of Snow Leopards (Vol. 2, pp. 183–194). Helsinki: Helsinki Zoo.
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Wahlberg, C., Tarkkanen, A., & Blomqvist, L. (1982). Further observations on the multiple ocular coloboma (MOC) in the snow leopard, Panthers uncia. In L. Blomqvist (Ed.), International Pedigree Book of Snow Leopards (Vol. 3, pp. 139–144). Helsinki: Helsinki Zoo.
Abstract: The first observation of the occurrence of multiple ocular coloboma (MOC) in a snow leopard was reported in the International Pedigree Book of Snow Leopards Volume I in 1978 (1). The lesions in this syndrome consist of coloboma of the upper eye lid and uveal coloboma of the globe. Even colobomatous retinal cysts and retinal dysplasia have been noted. The ethiology of in all ten cases of MOC in the snow leopards kept at the Helsinki Zoo were described and discussed in detail in Volume II of the International Pedigree Book of Snow Leopards (2,3). Three cases of MOC in the snow leopards kept at Henry Doorly Zoo, Omaha, Ne., have been described by Phillips (4), one case is known of in Amsterdam (van Bree, personal communication), and two cases in Zoo Zurich (Isenbugel and Weilenmann, pers. comm.) The ethiology of the defect is still not known although various theories ranging from genetic to exogenous factors have been presented.
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