scholarly journals Warble infestations in some Canadian caribou and their significance

Rangifer ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald D. Thomas ◽  
Hendrick P. L. Kiliaan

Warble fly larvae (Oedemagena tarandi) occurred in 97-100% of barren-ground caribou (R.t. groen-landicus) sampled in March from the Beverly herd. In December, they occurred in 98% of males and 75% of females. Larvae numbers increased up to several-fold from December to March. Within age classes, males generally were more heavily infected than females. Annual differences were small. Larvae occurred in 14 and 26% of two populations of Peary caribou (Rangifer tarandus pearyi) on the Canadian Arctic Islands. In them, incidences of larvae were unrelated to sex or age. Greater than average numbers of larvae in barren-ground caribou sometimes were associated with females in relatively poor condition and therefore less fecund. These results are discussed in relation to current hypotheses of the factors that affect warble infections.

1982 ◽  
Vol 60 (10) ◽  
pp. 2442-2454 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. C. Thomas ◽  
P. Everson

Analyses of body, leg bone, skull, and pelage data indicated a cline in the characters of caribou (Rangifer tarandus) from central Boothia Peninsula to the western Queen Elizabeth Islands. The main difference between the skulls of barren-ground caribou (R. t. groenlandicus) on central Boothia Peninsula and the more northerly Peary caribou (R. t. pearyi) was a shorter muzzle in the latter. Pelage tone was markedly lighter in Peary caribou and they were smaller in most body measurements, most notably in the length of long bones. Two major populations of Peary caribou were identified: one on the western Queen Elizabeth Islands (Parry Islands), the other on Somerset and Prince of Wales islands. Differences in skull size and form suggest that each population was composed of two or more subpopulations. The larger and darker R. t. groenlandicus occurred on north-central Boothia Peninsula and the two subspecies and apparent intergrades were present in winter on northern regions of the peninsula. The morphological similarity of Peary caribou on Somerset and Prince of Wales islands is explained by interisland movements resulting in genetic mixing. The same is true for caribou on the western Queen Elizabeth Islands and that population apparently has little genetic interchange with the other.


Rangifer ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald C. Thomas ◽  
Samuel J. Barry

The age-specific fecundity of the Beverly herd of barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) was monitored each winter from 1979-80 through 1986-87. Fecundity in 840 females increased with age from 12% in yearlings to 86% at age 5 years and it did not decline in old (> 11 yr) females. Significant variations occurred among winters and even between two subherds in one winter. Reproductive abnormalities were detected in 2 of 840 females and a probable resorption in 1 of 420 females collected in March. Only about 5% of the fetuses were conceived late, possibly by repeat ovulators. Combining survival and fecundity data yielded age-specific calf production, which indicated that, for example, 54% of calves were born to females 3-6 years old.


Rangifer ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine L. Parker

<p>Body weights, leg lengths, and surface area were monitored for bottle-raised barren-ground caribou calves (Rangifer tarandus granti) from the Porcupine herd up to 1 year of age. Body weights were compared with maternally-raised calves from the same cohort in the wild and from the Delta herd. A successful feeding regime for bottle-raising caribou calves is presented.</p><p>Veksthastigheter og morfologiske m&aring;l hos Porcupine karibu-kalver.</p><p>Abstract in Norwegian / Sammendrag: Kroppsvekter, visse knokkel-lengder og kropps-overflate areal ble m&aring;lt hos flaske-oppf&oslash;dde kalver av barren-ground karibu (Rangifer tarandus granti) fra Porcupine-stammen opp til 1 &aring;rs alder. Kroppsvekter ble sammelignet med normalt oppf&oslash;dde kalver av samme type i det fri og fra Delta-stam-men. Det presenteres et vellykket system for flaske-oppforing av karibu-kalver.</p><p>Porcupine-lauman karibuvasojen kasvunopeus ja morfologiset mitat.</p><p>Abstract in Finnish / Yhteenveto: Porcupine -lauman pulloruokinnalla olleiden tundrakaribuvasojen ruumiinpainot, jalanpituu-det ja ruumiin pinta-alat mitattiin 1 vuoden ik&auml;&auml;&auml;n saakka. Ruumiinpainoja verrattiin vastaaviin luonnon-oloissa kasvaneisiin saman lauman ja Delta -lauman vasoihin. Tutkimus kuvaa toimivan vasojen pulloruo-kintamenetelm&auml;n.</p>


Parasitology ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 118 (4) ◽  
pp. 407-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. D. M. MÜLLER-GRAF ◽  
M. E. J. WOOLHOUSE ◽  
C. PACKER

Infection with the cestode Spirometra spp. was studied in 2 populations of lions in the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, East Africa. These 2 lion populations lived in different habitats and were known to differ genetically: lions in the Serengeti were outbred, whereas lions in the Ngorongoro Crater were inbred. Faecal samples were collected from 112 individually known lions between March 1991 and November 1992. Over 60% of lions were infected and the median intensity of infection was 975 eggs per g of faeces. The distribution of egg counts was overdispersed. There was variability through time, though this was unrelated to seasons delimited by rainfall. There were no significant differences in levels of infection between age classes; cubs less than 9 months were already heavily infected. Sex and reproductive status did not have a significant effect. However, there were significant differences in intensities of infection between the Crater and the Serengeti populations – Spirometra spp. showed a higher level of infection intensity in the Crater population – with some variation between prides within these populations. Allozyme heterozygosity scores were available for a subset of 28 lions but were unrelated to levels of Spirometra infection. It was not possible to ascribe differences in levels of parasite infection to genetic rather than ecological factors.


2004 ◽  
Vol 118 (2) ◽  
pp. 239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Gau ◽  
Philip D. McLoughlin ◽  
Ray Case ◽  
H. Dean Cluff ◽  
Robert Mulders ◽  
...  

Between May 1995 and June 1999, we equipped eight subadult male (3-5 yrs old) Grizzly Bears (Ursus arctos) with satellite radio-collars within a study area of 235,000 km2, centred 400 km northeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. Subadult male annual home ranges were extraordinarily large (average = 11,407 km2, SE = 3849) due, in part, to their movement's occasional linear directionality. We believe their long-range linear movements may reflect some individuals tracking the migration of Caribou (Rangifer tarandus). Seasonal daily movement patterns were similar to adult males that were previously reported. The areas used by these bears are the largest ranges reported for any Grizzly Bears and the scale of their movements may put individual bears in contact with humans even when developments are hundreds of kilometres from the central home range of an animal.


1978 ◽  
Vol 56 (8) ◽  
pp. 1684-1696 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Charles Dauphiné Jr.

Reproductive tracts were collected from 532 female caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) in northern Canada over a [Formula: see text]-year period. Ovaries were weighed and scrutinized by gross and histological techniques. Ovaries of nulliparous and nongravid, parous cows responded to follicular fluctuations by increasing in weight in summer and declining in winter. Weights of ovaries from calves, yearlings, and 2 year olds overlapped extensively. Formation of corpora lutea of pregnancy more than doubled ovary weight. During gestation ovary weight declined and then partially recovered; it increased with age in pregnant cows. The number and size of follicles [Formula: see text] diameter increased with age until puberty, reaching greatest development just before the autumn rut. After puberty the seasonal incidence of such follicles remained stable except during gestation, when it declined. Corpora lutea of pregnancy regressed to form apparently permanent scars composed of vascular and connective tissue remnants. Secondary corpora lutea developed in 35% of the cows at or before conception and upon regression produced scars which were not permanent. Regressing corpora lutea of estrus also disappeared into the ovarian stroma, apparently within 1 year. In individual cows one ovary, selected at random, dominated in the production of ova and corpora lutea.


2001 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 867-876 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. R. Walton ◽  
H. D. Cluff ◽  
P. C. Paquet ◽  
M. A. Ramsay

Parasitology ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 97 (3) ◽  
pp. 469-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. P. Bundy ◽  
E. S. Cooper ◽  
D. E. Thompson ◽  
J. M. Didier ◽  
I. Simmons

SummaryThe study examines the rate of re-acquisition of Trichuris trichiura infection after treatment in two populations, one of mixed age and the other of children with known preintervention infection intensity. A population living in a Caribbean village was treated with mebendazole and the rate of reacquisition of infection of four age classes (2–4, 5–10, 11–30, 30+ years) monitored over a 20-month period. The reinfection rate was higher in the child age-classes indicating either that children are more exposed to infection or that adults slowly develop a partially effective acquired immunity. A cohort of children (mean age 4·5 years) was separated into 3 intensity categories on the basis of expelled worm burdens and their rate of reacquisition of infection monitored over a 12-month period. The rate of reinfection was directly and positively associated with initial infection status. This may indicate that children with low intensity infections are consistently less exposed to infection or that they have effective immune responses. The latter conclusion, however, would imply that they had acquired this immunity early in life, and so appears to contradict the suggestion that resistance is only slowly acquired by adults. Reconciling these two conclusions may require more sophisticated immunological models than have been suggested previously for geohelminthiases.


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