Twenty-eight white-throated woodrats (Neotoma albigula) collected in Pima County, Arizona were screened for Leishmania using culture and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Two rodents were culture positive. Isoenzyme analysis determined the isolates to be Leishmania mexicana.The two culture-positive and four additional rodents were determined to be Leishmania-positive by the PCR. These isolates extend the geographic and ecologic range of enzootic leishmaniasis in the United States and represent a new host record. The leishmaniases are vector-borne, parasitic diseases caused by protozoans in the genus Leishmania. Leishmania mexicana, which causes cutaneous leishmaniasis, infects hu- mans and a variety of vertebrate hosts in North, Central and South America and occurs in a wide variety of ecologic set- tings. 1 Twenty-nine autochthonous cases of human cutane- ous leishmaniasis are known from the United States, all in southern or central Texas. 2 Enzootic foci have been identified only in the semi-arid brush country of southern Texas, in a southern plains woodrat (Neotoma micropus)-sand fly ( Lut- zomyia anthophora) cycle. 3-5 We hypothesized that enzootic foci of L. mexicana could exist in the United States wherever sand flies occur in close association with rodents or other potential hosts of Leish-

Wildlife Management Techniques

Short report: a focus ofleishmania mexicananear tucson, arizona

A design-based strategy for estimating wildlife ungulate abundance in a Mediterranean protected area (Maremma Regional Park) is considered. The estimation is based on pellet group count (clearance count technique) in a set of plots, whose size and number is established on the basis of practical considerations and available resources. The sampling scheme involves a preliminary stratification and subsequent two-stage sampling. In the first stage, large strata (defined through habitat features) are partitioned into spatial units and a sample of units is selected by means of a sampling scheme ensuring inclusion probabilities proportional to unit size, but avoiding the selection of contiguous units. Then, the abundances of the selected units are estimated in a second stage, in which plots are located using a random scheme ensuring an even coverage of the units. In small strata, only the second stage is performed. Unbiased estimators of abundance and conservative estimators of their variances are derived for each strata and for the whole study area. The proposed strategy has been applied since the Summer of 2006 and the estimation results reveal substantial improvement with respect to the previous results obtained by means of an alternative strategy.

Two-stage estimation of ungulate abundance in Mediterranean areas using pellet group count

Wildlife research often uses radio-telemetry to track habitat use and movement of individual animals. This method may cause suffering or changes in the behaviour of radio-collared animals. The behavioural data collected may not be representative of the wild population, if the transmitter affects the behaviour of the animals. We therefore assessed the effect of radio-collars on some aspects of behaviour of alpine chamois Rupicapra rupicapra rupicapra in the Swiss Alps. We also determined if collared animals were isolated from non-collared animals. We observed in 30-minute focal animal sampling periods the behaviour of nine female alpine chamois carrying a radio-collar for > 2 years and 40 non-collared females. Analysed behaviour included grazing (head down, head up), alert, scratching and licking. Furthermore, we compared distances between a non-collared female chamois and her collared and non-collared neighbours. Multivariate analysis revealed no significant difference in the behaviour of collared and non-collared chamois. For a non-collared chamois, there was no preference to be nearer to a non-collared than to a collared neighbour. We conclude that the tested radio-collars did not affect the behaviour of the chamois and that collared animals were not isolated from non-collared animals.

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Effects of radio-collars on behaviour of alpine chamois Rupicapra rupicapra rupicapra

Wild mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) were observed in pothole habitat near Minnedosa, Manitoba. The breeding mallards behaved territorially: both members of a pair were attached to a fixed area, and ...

Wildlife Management Techniques

Citations

Short report: a focus ofleishmania mexicananear tucson, arizona

Two-stage estimation of ungulate abundance in Mediterranean areas using pellet group count

Effects of radio-collars on behaviour of alpine chamois Rupicapra rupicapra rupicapra

Spacing and Three-bird Flights of mallards breeding in pothole habitat

Diurnal and nocturnal foraging by Semipalmated Sandpipers Calidris pusilla

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