Acknowledgements We would like to dedicate this article to the memory of Dr. AntsJohannes Martin,... more Acknowledgements We would like to dedicate this article to the memory of Dr. AntsJohannes Martin, the best and foremost myrmecologist in Estonia, whose contribution to this work was crucial. He helped to identify large majority of the ant species for this study and assisted in planning the field works for the ant inventory. We are very grateful also to Ave Lind, a former student of A-J. Martin, for helping to identify the ant species. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions. This study was supported by the Environmental Investment Centre at the Estonian Ministry of Finance, The European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (Center of Excellence FIBIR), target financing grants SF0180122 and SF0170057, and institutional research funding grant IUT20-32 from the Estonian Ministry of Education and Science. Abstract
The outbreak of the African swine fever (ASF) in Estonia in 2014 caused heavy hunting pressure on... more The outbreak of the African swine fever (ASF) in Estonia in 2014 caused heavy hunting pressure on wild boar issued by authorities to stop further spread of the virus. To investigate the effects of wild boar shortage to wolf diet, we analysed 120 wolf scats from November to April in 2017-2018 from five Estonian counties and compared the results with the wolf dietary data from 1998. To eliminate possible dog scats from the material collected from areas close to settlements, genetic analysis was used. We found that ungulates still formed the bulk of the wolf diet, however, the occurrence of moose, wild boar, small rodents and hares has dropped considerably. The proportion of the roe deer and mammalian predators has increased from 51% to 55% and 4% to 10%, respectively. Moreover, plants, being totally absent in the previous study, were found in 25% of scats, in many cases representing the only food item. Food niche breadth has widened from 1.54 to 2.3. While roe deer was found to be a h...
Fordi rovdyr kræver så store arealer, kan de ikke bevares udelukkende indenfor beskyttede områder... more Fordi rovdyr kræver så store arealer, kan de ikke bevares udelukkende indenfor beskyttede områder. Derfor må bevarelsen af dem ske i landskaber, der bruges til mange formål, og hvor konflikter med mennesker opstår. Disse konflikter er forskellige af natur og består bl.a. af tab af husdyr og konkurrence om vilde hovdyr. Men en af de mest alvorlige er frygten for at blive såret eller dræbt af et stort rovdyr. Drab på mennesker af tigre, løver, leoparder, pumaer og bjørne (brun bjørn, sortbjørn, isbjørn og læbebjørn) forekommer regelmæssigt med hundredvis af årlige dødsfald på verdensplan til følge. Selvom det stadig er kontroversielt, hvor stor en fare ulven rent faktisk udgør for mennesket, fortæller mange mennesker, der lever i ulveområder, at de er bange for ulve. Denne rapport undersøger de data, der findes om ulveangreb igennem de seneste århundreder verden over.
Background Reduction of genetic diversity can lead to reduced fitness of species, such as the los... more Background Reduction of genetic diversity can lead to reduced fitness of species, such as the loss of adaptability to changing environments. The native Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) was hunted to extinction from Finland and many other countries in Europe in the nineteenth century. In Finland, the species was re-introduced in the 1930s with only a few individuals from Norway. Re-introductions were performed also in other countries of northern Europe and as a result, Eurasian beaver populations have undergone population bottlenecks leading to low levels of genetic diversity. Materials and Methods Here, 200 Eurasian beaver samples from Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Russian Karelia were investigated using 12 microsatellite markers to examine the level of genetic diversity and relationship between the populations. Results While Russian and Estonian populations were genetically the closest, the Finnish population was clearly distinct from all others and had the lowest genetic variabil...
Knowledge of space use is central to understand animals' role in ecosystems. The raccoon dog Nyct... more Knowledge of space use is central to understand animals' role in ecosystems. The raccoon dog Nyctereutes procyonoides is considered as one of the most influential alien mesopredator species in Europe, having the potential to cause loss of local biodiversity and act as a vector for zoonotic diseases. We collared 12 animals to study their home range and habitat use in two areas with different management regimes in Estonia: in a protected natural area and in an intensively managed area. From May to October raccoon dogs inhabiting the natural area had considerably smaller home ranges compared to the managed area, 193.3ha ±37.3SD and 391.9ha±292.9SD, respectively. This result contradicts somewhat earlier findings in other European raccoon dog populations, where the home range sizes in natural areas in summer and autumn period have usually been larger compared to managed areas. In both study areas raccoon dogs preferred watersides, where amphibians and other semiaquatic prey are abundant, to other habitats available in their home ranges. We also studied movements of a raccoon dog pair in the managed study area in winter period. Due to mild weather conditions during the study period, raccoon dogs changed their resting sites quite often, covering a relatively large 599 ha area from November 2012 to January 2013, indicating the absence of usual winter lethargy during the mild winters.
Sarcoptic mange is a highly contagious zoonotic skin disease that can have severe effect on popul... more Sarcoptic mange is a highly contagious zoonotic skin disease that can have severe effect on population dynamics of many wild mammals. However, very little is known about its effect on the activity and space use of infected animals. In this study we equipped two raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) in a mange outbreak area with radio-collars and observed the spatial and temporal effects of sarcoptic mange to these individuals. Initially, the raccoon dogs had no external symptoms of mange infection, but developed these during the study period. One of the raccoon dogs died just 32 and the other 52days after collaring. During a relatively short period before their death, there was an abrupt and drastic decline in their home range size. For one of the animals it started about 1 month before its death and the home range size reduced >1000×, whereas for the other raccoon dog it took place within the last week, decreasing >200×. The daily covered distances also declined considerably. These results indicate that at the later stage sarcoptic mange affected the physiological state of the diseased animals so forcefully that made them almost immobile. Our results show for the first time how rapid and severe could the impact of sarcoptic mange be for one of its most important reservoir and vector species.
SUMMARYRed fox (Vulpes vulpes) is the most widely distributed canid in the world and an important... more SUMMARYRed fox (Vulpes vulpes) is the most widely distributed canid in the world and an important source of multiple zoonotic pathogens capable of causing life-threatening diseases, such as rabies and alveolar echinococcosis. Informing general public of potential risks related to foxes is becoming more important since the fox densities have increased in many countries and the species is colonizing urban areas in Europe and around the world with increasing pace, bringing zoonotic pathogens to the immediate neighbourhood of humans and their companion animals. The aim of this study was to examine the parasite fauna of red foxes in Estonia. We found in Estonian foxes a total of 17 endoparasite taxa, including ten zoonotic species. All the analysed individuals were infected and the average parasite species richness was 6·37. However, the infection rates varied to a very large extent for different parasite species, ranging from 0·9 to 91·5%. Of zoonotic species, the highest infection rate...
... Baltic Forestry 10(2): 8386. Viltrop A., Lõhmus K., Must K., Jauram A., Viigipuu M. and Rand... more ... Baltic Forestry 10(2): 8386. Viltrop A., Lõhmus K., Must K., Jauram A., Viigipuu M. and Rander L. 2000. [Results of study on infectious diseases of mammals]. Eesti Loomaarstlik Ringvaade 3: 100114. [In Estonian] Weber J.-M. and Weissbrodt M. 1999. ...
Acknowledgements We would like to dedicate this article to the memory of Dr. AntsJohannes Martin,... more Acknowledgements We would like to dedicate this article to the memory of Dr. AntsJohannes Martin, the best and foremost myrmecologist in Estonia, whose contribution to this work was crucial. He helped to identify large majority of the ant species for this study and assisted in planning the field works for the ant inventory. We are very grateful also to Ave Lind, a former student of A-J. Martin, for helping to identify the ant species. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions. This study was supported by the Environmental Investment Centre at the Estonian Ministry of Finance, The European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (Center of Excellence FIBIR), target financing grants SF0180122 and SF0170057, and institutional research funding grant IUT20-32 from the Estonian Ministry of Education and Science. Abstract
The outbreak of the African swine fever (ASF) in Estonia in 2014 caused heavy hunting pressure on... more The outbreak of the African swine fever (ASF) in Estonia in 2014 caused heavy hunting pressure on wild boar issued by authorities to stop further spread of the virus. To investigate the effects of wild boar shortage to wolf diet, we analysed 120 wolf scats from November to April in 2017-2018 from five Estonian counties and compared the results with the wolf dietary data from 1998. To eliminate possible dog scats from the material collected from areas close to settlements, genetic analysis was used. We found that ungulates still formed the bulk of the wolf diet, however, the occurrence of moose, wild boar, small rodents and hares has dropped considerably. The proportion of the roe deer and mammalian predators has increased from 51% to 55% and 4% to 10%, respectively. Moreover, plants, being totally absent in the previous study, were found in 25% of scats, in many cases representing the only food item. Food niche breadth has widened from 1.54 to 2.3. While roe deer was found to be a h...
Fordi rovdyr kræver så store arealer, kan de ikke bevares udelukkende indenfor beskyttede områder... more Fordi rovdyr kræver så store arealer, kan de ikke bevares udelukkende indenfor beskyttede områder. Derfor må bevarelsen af dem ske i landskaber, der bruges til mange formål, og hvor konflikter med mennesker opstår. Disse konflikter er forskellige af natur og består bl.a. af tab af husdyr og konkurrence om vilde hovdyr. Men en af de mest alvorlige er frygten for at blive såret eller dræbt af et stort rovdyr. Drab på mennesker af tigre, løver, leoparder, pumaer og bjørne (brun bjørn, sortbjørn, isbjørn og læbebjørn) forekommer regelmæssigt med hundredvis af årlige dødsfald på verdensplan til følge. Selvom det stadig er kontroversielt, hvor stor en fare ulven rent faktisk udgør for mennesket, fortæller mange mennesker, der lever i ulveområder, at de er bange for ulve. Denne rapport undersøger de data, der findes om ulveangreb igennem de seneste århundreder verden over.
Background Reduction of genetic diversity can lead to reduced fitness of species, such as the los... more Background Reduction of genetic diversity can lead to reduced fitness of species, such as the loss of adaptability to changing environments. The native Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) was hunted to extinction from Finland and many other countries in Europe in the nineteenth century. In Finland, the species was re-introduced in the 1930s with only a few individuals from Norway. Re-introductions were performed also in other countries of northern Europe and as a result, Eurasian beaver populations have undergone population bottlenecks leading to low levels of genetic diversity. Materials and Methods Here, 200 Eurasian beaver samples from Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Russian Karelia were investigated using 12 microsatellite markers to examine the level of genetic diversity and relationship between the populations. Results While Russian and Estonian populations were genetically the closest, the Finnish population was clearly distinct from all others and had the lowest genetic variabil...
Knowledge of space use is central to understand animals' role in ecosystems. The raccoon dog Nyct... more Knowledge of space use is central to understand animals' role in ecosystems. The raccoon dog Nyctereutes procyonoides is considered as one of the most influential alien mesopredator species in Europe, having the potential to cause loss of local biodiversity and act as a vector for zoonotic diseases. We collared 12 animals to study their home range and habitat use in two areas with different management regimes in Estonia: in a protected natural area and in an intensively managed area. From May to October raccoon dogs inhabiting the natural area had considerably smaller home ranges compared to the managed area, 193.3ha ±37.3SD and 391.9ha±292.9SD, respectively. This result contradicts somewhat earlier findings in other European raccoon dog populations, where the home range sizes in natural areas in summer and autumn period have usually been larger compared to managed areas. In both study areas raccoon dogs preferred watersides, where amphibians and other semiaquatic prey are abundant, to other habitats available in their home ranges. We also studied movements of a raccoon dog pair in the managed study area in winter period. Due to mild weather conditions during the study period, raccoon dogs changed their resting sites quite often, covering a relatively large 599 ha area from November 2012 to January 2013, indicating the absence of usual winter lethargy during the mild winters.
Sarcoptic mange is a highly contagious zoonotic skin disease that can have severe effect on popul... more Sarcoptic mange is a highly contagious zoonotic skin disease that can have severe effect on population dynamics of many wild mammals. However, very little is known about its effect on the activity and space use of infected animals. In this study we equipped two raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) in a mange outbreak area with radio-collars and observed the spatial and temporal effects of sarcoptic mange to these individuals. Initially, the raccoon dogs had no external symptoms of mange infection, but developed these during the study period. One of the raccoon dogs died just 32 and the other 52days after collaring. During a relatively short period before their death, there was an abrupt and drastic decline in their home range size. For one of the animals it started about 1 month before its death and the home range size reduced >1000×, whereas for the other raccoon dog it took place within the last week, decreasing >200×. The daily covered distances also declined considerably. These results indicate that at the later stage sarcoptic mange affected the physiological state of the diseased animals so forcefully that made them almost immobile. Our results show for the first time how rapid and severe could the impact of sarcoptic mange be for one of its most important reservoir and vector species.
SUMMARYRed fox (Vulpes vulpes) is the most widely distributed canid in the world and an important... more SUMMARYRed fox (Vulpes vulpes) is the most widely distributed canid in the world and an important source of multiple zoonotic pathogens capable of causing life-threatening diseases, such as rabies and alveolar echinococcosis. Informing general public of potential risks related to foxes is becoming more important since the fox densities have increased in many countries and the species is colonizing urban areas in Europe and around the world with increasing pace, bringing zoonotic pathogens to the immediate neighbourhood of humans and their companion animals. The aim of this study was to examine the parasite fauna of red foxes in Estonia. We found in Estonian foxes a total of 17 endoparasite taxa, including ten zoonotic species. All the analysed individuals were infected and the average parasite species richness was 6·37. However, the infection rates varied to a very large extent for different parasite species, ranging from 0·9 to 91·5%. Of zoonotic species, the highest infection rate...
... Baltic Forestry 10(2): 8386. Viltrop A., Lõhmus K., Must K., Jauram A., Viigipuu M. and Rand... more ... Baltic Forestry 10(2): 8386. Viltrop A., Lõhmus K., Must K., Jauram A., Viigipuu M. and Rander L. 2000. [Results of study on infectious diseases of mammals]. Eesti Loomaarstlik Ringvaade 3: 100114. [In Estonian] Weber J.-M. and Weissbrodt M. 1999. ...
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