Winter severity or supplementary feeding—which matters more for wild boar?

2014 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 553-559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ragne Oja ◽  
Ants Kaasik ◽  
Harri Valdmann
2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (7) ◽  
pp. 590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ježek Miloš ◽  
Holá Michaela ◽  
Kušta Tomáš ◽  
Červený Jaroslav

Context Supplementary feeding and baiting of wild ungulates is a common management practice. Wild boar is among the most frequently fed species and its numbers are rapidly increasing throughout Europe. It has been suggested that supplementary feeding throughout the year can have intentional and unintentional impacts on the species as well as on European forests and agricultural landscapes, and biodiversity. It is, therefore, important to identify the dependence of wild boar on supplemental foods to determine and predict its feeding patterns under alternative population and land-use management scenarios. Aims We investigated the diet composition of wild boar from stomach contents to identify its dependence on food resources of human origin (i.e. agricultural crops and supplemental foods) throughout the year in the Czech Republic. Methods We collected 345 samples from four study sites during spring, summer and winter seasons, over a 3-year period, and from different wild boar ages and sex classes. Key results Foods of human origin (mainly cereals) were the dominant food category and constituted the bulk of wild boar diet throughout the year (>50% of total stomach-content biomass), especially in winter, and in all the study sites. Cereals found in the stomachs of wild boar in summer might come from both crop fields as well as supplementary feeding. However, cereals identified in the stomachs in winter and spring come predominantly from baiting and supplementary feeding conducted by hunters. Cereals were consumed in different proportions by different ages and sexes. Males fed on cereals more than did females, whereas juveniles depended on such food less than did subadults. Conclusions Our finding of a consistent dependence of wild boar on food of human origin throughout the year in all study sites confirmed that supplementary feeding is important in the diet, which is a potential reason for the rapid increase of wild boar numbers in the Czech Republic. Implications Wildlife management agencies need to target feeding practices and design restrictive measures for supplementary feeding and baiting of wild boar in the Czech Republic. This should include defining maximum amounts of food and precise periods for supplementary feeding, and reducing non-target species at feeding sites.


1994 ◽  
Vol 233 (4) ◽  
pp. 631-648 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. W. T. A. Groot Bruinderink ◽  
E. Hazebroek ◽  
H. van der Voot

2017 ◽  
Vol 116 (8) ◽  
pp. 2131-2137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ragne Oja ◽  
Kaisa Velström ◽  
Epp Moks ◽  
Pikka Jokelainen ◽  
Brian Lassen

1981 ◽  
Vol 21 (111) ◽  
pp. 395 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Juwarini ◽  
B Howard ◽  
BD Siebert ◽  
JJ Lynch ◽  
RL Elwin

A preliminary experiment with sheep in pens demonstrated that wheat grain could be labelled with tritiated water so that when fed it could provide data that would allow accurate calculation of individual feed consumption. This techinque was used with two groups of sheep fed supplementary wheat grain in paddocks. Half of the animals had previous experience of grain feeding some eight months earlier and the others had not eaten grain. Individual diversity of intake could be estimated usefully by tritium labelling of wheat, which was fed to the sheep in a group. The experiment showed that there was a threefold difference in the amount of wheat eaten between the lowest and highest intakes. Further, animals with previous experience of grain feeding consumed the entire ration initially, but those without previous experience did not consume all of the ration until two weeks after wheat feeding began. Over the period of measurement the experienced sheep consumed about 13% more wheat than the non-experienced group. There were insufficient aggressive acts to establish a dominance hierarchy in either group, although the experienced sheep were more aggressive than the others. Aggressiveness by one sheep towards other sheep did not result in higher wheat intakes by the former compared with other sheep in the group. The results are discussed in terms of the variability in acceptance of such supplements by animals, and of the value, later in life, of early introduction of supplementary feeding.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 1585
Author(s):  
Ana C. Reis ◽  
Liliana C. M. Salvador ◽  
Suelee Robbe-Austerman ◽  
Rogério Tenreiro ◽  
Ana Botelho ◽  
...  

Classical molecular analyses of Mycobacterium bovis based on spoligotyping and Variable Number Tandem Repeat (MIRU-VNTR) brought the first insights into the epidemiology of animal tuberculosis (TB) in Portugal, showing high genotypic diversity of circulating strains that mostly cluster within the European 2 clonal complex. Previous surveillance provided valuable information on the prevalence and spatial occurrence of TB and highlighted prevalent genotypes in areas where livestock and wild ungulates are sympatric. However, links at the wildlife–livestock interfaces were established mainly via classical genotype associations. Here, we apply whole genome sequencing (WGS) to cattle, red deer and wild boar isolates to reconstruct the M. bovis population structure in a multi-host, multi-region disease system and to explore links at a fine genomic scale between M. bovis from wildlife hosts and cattle. Whole genome sequences of 44 representative M. bovis isolates, obtained between 2003 and 2015 from three TB hotspots, were compared through single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) variant calling analyses. Consistent with previous results combining classical genotyping with Bayesian population admixture modelling, SNP-based phylogenies support the branching of this M. bovis population into five genetic clades, three with apparent geographic specificities, as well as the establishment of an SNP catalogue specific to each clade, which may be explored in the future as phylogenetic markers. The core genome alignment of SNPs was integrated within a spatiotemporal metadata framework to further structure this M. bovis population by host species and TB hotspots, providing a baseline for network analyses in different epidemiological and disease control contexts. WGS of M. bovis isolates from Portugal is reported for the first time in this pilot study, refining the spatiotemporal context of TB at the wildlife–livestock interface and providing further support to the key role of red deer and wild boar on disease maintenance. The SNP diversity observed within this dataset supports the natural circulation of M. bovis for a long time period, as well as multiple introduction events of the pathogen in this Iberian multi-host system.


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