scholarly journals Capture from the wild has long-term costs on reproductive success in Asian elephants

2019 ◽  
Vol 286 (1912) ◽  
pp. 20191584 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirkka Lahdenperä ◽  
John Jackson ◽  
Win Htut ◽  
Virpi Lummaa
Keyword(s):  
Elephas Maximus ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Asian Elephants ◽  
Lifetime Fitness ◽  
Life History Data ◽  
Captive Populations ◽  
In Captivity ◽  
Fitness Measures ◽  
Long Term Consequences

Capturing wild animals is common for conservation, economic or research purposes. Understanding how capture itself affects lifetime fitness measures is often difficult because wild and captive populations live in very different environments and there is a need for long-term life-history data. Here, we show how wild capture influences reproduction in 2685 female Asian elephants ( Elephas maximus ) used in the timber industry in Myanmar. Wild-caught females demonstrated a consistent reduction in breeding success relative to captive-born females, with significantly lower lifetime reproduction probabilities, lower breeding probabilities at peak reproductive ages and a later age of first reproduction. Furthermore, these negative effects lasted for over a decade, and there was a significant influence on the next generation: wild-caught females had calves with reduced survival to age 5. Our results suggest that wild capture has long-term consequences for reproduction, which is important not only for elephants, but also for other species in captivity.

scholarly journals Illegal capture and internal trade of wild Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Sri Lanka

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 51-69
Author(s):  
T. G. Supun Lahiru Prakash ◽  
W. A. A. D. Upul Indrajith ◽  
A. M. C. P. Aththanayaka ◽  
Suranjan Karunarathna ◽  
Madhava Botejue ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Captive Breeding ◽  
Elephas Maximus ◽  
Wildlife Trade ◽  
Court System ◽  
Asian Elephants ◽  
Illicit Trade ◽  
Illegal Wildlife Trade ◽  
Domestic Trade ◽  
Captive Populations

The illegal wildlife trade is considered one of the major threats to global biodiversity. Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) have been highly valued by various cultures for use in religious and spiritual contexts, as a draft animal, and more recently, as a tourist attraction. Thus, the demand for captive elephants is high. Wild Asian elephants are taken from the wild, often illegally, to maintain these captive populations due to the unviability of captive breeding programs. For the first time, we documented the extent to which wild elephants are being illegally captured and traded in Sri Lanka between January 2008 and December 2018. We collected data from case records maintained by the Sri Lanka court system where the suspects of illegal elephant trade were prosecuted in addition to information gathered by archives and interviews with various stakeholders. We documented 55 cases where elephants were illegally traded. This is probably an underestimate due to the mortality rate of elephants during capture operations, and challenges in collecting data on this highly organized illicit trade. Nearly equal numbers of male and female elephants were traded and more than 50% of them were juveniles, aged ≤5 years. Significantly more elephants were found to be seized in 2014–2015 than in the other time periods combined. We found evidence of the illegal capture of wild elephants from wildlife protected areas and state forests. More importantly, we identified evidence of corruption of wildlife officers, involvement of politicians and other high-ranking personnel in the illegal wildlife trade, and lack of active enforcement of wildlife law as major challenges to overcome if the illegal capture and domestic trade of wild elephants in Sri Lanka are to be halted. Based on our study, we make a series of recommendations that should result in implementing policy to reduce the trafficking of Asian elephants in Sri Lanka and improve the conservation management of the species.

scholarly journals Demographic and genetic factors in the recovery or demise ofex situpopulations following a severe bottleneck in fifteen species of Hawaiian tree snails

PeerJ ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. e1406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa R. Price ◽  
David Sischo ◽  
Mark-Anthony Pascua ◽  
Michael G. Hadfield
Keyword(s):  
Life History Traits ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Wild Populations ◽  
Captive Populations ◽  
Introduced Predators ◽  
In Captivity ◽  
Term Data

Wild populations of endangered Hawaiian tree snails have declined precipitously over the last century due to introduced predators and other human impacts. Life history traits, such as very low fecundity (<5 offspring per year across taxa) and maturity at approximately four years of age have made recovery difficult. Conservation efforts such asin situpredator-free enclosures may increase survival to maturity by protecting offspring from predation, but no long-term data existed prior to this study demonstrating the demographic and genetic parameters necessary to maintain populations within those enclosures. We evaluated over 20 years of evidence for the dynamics of survival and extinction in captiveex situpopulations of Hawaiian tree snails established from wild-collected individuals. From 1991 to 2006, small numbers of snails (<15) from fifteen species were collected from the wild to initiate captive-reared populations as a hedge against extinction. This small number of founders resulted in a severe bottleneck in each of the captive-reared populations. We identified key demographic parameters that predicted population recovery from this bottleneck. Species with captive populations that produced between two and four offspring per adult per year and had 20–50% of those offspring survive to maturity recovered to numbers above 100 individuals, and maintained viable populations following a decline that occurred between 2009 and 2014. Those populations that had less than two offspring per adult per year and less than 20% survival to maturity did not reach 100 individuals in captivity, and many of these populations died out during the recent decline. We suggest that small reductions in fitness may contribute to extirpation in taxa with inherently low fecundity, by keeping populations below a threshold number essential to long-term recovery. Futureex situpopulations should be founded with no less than 15 adults, and maintained in conditions closely approximating the temperature and humidity of source locations to optimize fitness. Permanent translocations of wild populations for conservation purposes will be more likely to succeed with greater than 100 adults, and should be limited to locations with a similar climate to source locations.

scholarly journals Are you still watching?

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-187
Author(s):  
Ilakkiah Chandran
Keyword(s):  
Physical Health ◽  
Self Care ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Online Services ◽  
Streaming Services ◽  
Long Term Consequences ◽  
Mental And Physical Health

Netflix and other streaming services have become extremely popular over the last few years. Although streaming through online services is often thought of as self-care and relaxation, binge-watching has become a common watching pattern. This opinion-editorial will report upon the ways binge-watching leads to daily challenges and long-term consequences when it comes to our mental and physical health, socialization and ability to reach goals. Furthermore, it will discuss important implementations that will reduce the negative effects associated with binge-watching to aid in the pursuit of self-control. 

scholarly journals Forecasting the Long-Term Effects of the Pandemic on Children: Towards a COVID-Generation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pelekasis Panagiotis
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Early Diagnosis ◽  
Personality Disorders ◽  
Special Educational Needs ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Digital World ◽  
Long Term Consequences

This study focuses on mapping the existing effects of the pandemic and the measures taken to address it on the mental health of children in order to investigate the long-term consequences that it is expected to have. For infants, preschool, school and adolescent children it seems that intense stress develops for different reasons. As adults these children may experience an increased incidence of anxiety, depressive, obsessive–compulsive and personality disorders, while they are also expected to develop a strong External Locus of Control, low Faith in the Just World and low happiness. At the same time, an absence of distinction within the limits of the physical and digital world is expected. As for children with special educational needs, they are particularly affected due to the pandemic, as early diagnosis and the development of interventions to improve their educational and psychosocial progress are hampered and this might have negative long-term effects on their development. In overall, these negative effects and related experiences seem to be homogeneous across humanity for those who are currently minors and are expected to lead to the view of an autonomous generation, the COVID-generation.

scholarly journals Reduced fitness in progeny from old parents in a natural population

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (13) ◽  
pp. 4021-4025 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Schroeder ◽  
Shinichi Nakagawa ◽  
Mark Rees ◽  
Maria-Elena Mannarelli ◽  
Terry Burke
Keyword(s):  
Natural Population ◽  
Parental Age ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
House Sparrows ◽  
Lifetime Fitness ◽  
Evolution Of Aging ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Cross Fostering ◽  
Insular Population

A nongenetic, transgenerational effect of parental age on offspring fitness has been described in many taxa in the laboratory. Such a transgenerational fitness effect will have important influences on population dynamics, population age structure, and the evolution of aging and lifespan. However, effects of parental age on offspring lifetime fitness have never been demonstrated in a natural population. We show that parental age has sex-specific negative effects on lifetime fitness, using data from a pedigreed insular population of wild house sparrows. Birds whose parents were older produced fewer recruits annually than birds with younger parents, and the reduced number of recruits translated into a lifetime fitness difference. Using a long-term cross-fostering experiment, we demonstrate that this parental age effect is unlikely to be the result of changes in the environment but that it potentially is epigenetically inherited. Our study reveals the hidden consequences of late-life reproduction that persist into the next generation.

Barriers to Physical Activity in Adolescents

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadine Langguth ◽  
Tanja Könen ◽  
Simone Matulis ◽  
Regina Steil ◽  
Caterina Gawrilow ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Leisure Activities ◽  
Outcome Expectations ◽  
Multidimensional Approach ◽  
Factor Analyses ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Tailored Interventions ◽  
Long Term Consequences ◽  
Age Range

During adolescence, physical activity (PA) decreases with potentially serious, long-term consequences for physical and mental health. Although barriers have been identified as an important PA correlate in adults, research on adolescents’ PA barriers is lacking. Thus reliable, valid scales to measure adolescents’ PA barriers are needed. We present two studies describing a broad range of PA barriers relevant to adolescents with a multidimensional approach. In Study 1, 124 adolescents (age range = 12 – 24 years) reported their most important PA barriers. Two independent coders categorized those barriers. The most frequent PA barriers were incorporated in a multidimensional questionnaire. In Study 2, 598 adolescents (age range = 13 – 21 years) completed this questionnaire and reported their current PA, intention, self-efficacy, and negative outcome expectations. Seven PA barrier dimensions (leisure activities, lack of motivation, screen-based sedentary behavior, depressed mood, physical health, school workload, and preconditions) were confirmed in factor analyses. A multidimensional approach to measuring PA barriers in adolescents is reliable and valid. The current studies provide the basis for developing individually tailored interventions to increase PA in adolescents.

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