Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) running the gauntlet: an evaluation of translocations into free-range environments in Namibia

Following dramatic range and population declines, the cheetah is Africa’s most endangered large felid. In Namibia, private land managers still trap cheetahs but increasingly consider moving animals instead of killing them. Across Africa, managers have translocated perceived conflict carnivores for decades, but rarely evaluated their actions. We analyse the outcomes of 15 cheetah translocations (for 23 adults and 10 dependent offspring) into free-range environments in Namibia. We released cheetahs at an average distance of 419.6 km ± 216.1 km SD (range: 71–816 km) after captive periods ranging from 1–1,184 days (350.6 days ± 439.0 days SD). An individual’s ability to survive the first year predominantly determined the overall translocation success of 40%. Post-release conflict and homing had less impact on success. Cheetah survival was lowest in the first three months after release. Human persecution (50% of deaths) and spotted hyaenas (29% of deaths) had the highest effect on survival. The degree of habituation to humans acquired during captivity significantly influenced chances of survival. Cheetahs surviving the initial post-release period (∼90 days) often settled into ranges and females reproduced successfully. However, all individuals exhibited extensive movements, frequently roaming >4,000 km2in the first six months after release (with a maximum of 19,743 km2in 112 days), resulting in low release site fidelity. Soft release and larger recipient area size did not improve site fidelity. Based on these outcomes, we evaluated which unfenced conservation areas in Namibia could potentially receive cheetahs. We found that there are currently few public and/or private reserves large enough to contain the movement profiles we observed in this study. This suggests that most translocations will result in cheetahs re-entering farmlands where they face a high risk of persecution. In conclusion, translocations into unconfined areas can successfully conserve individual cheetahs. Due to high mortality and unpredictable outcomes, however, conservation efforts need to focus on improving tolerance of cheetahs in commercial livestock and game farming areas in order to reduce the number of indiscriminately trapped animals.

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Fuelling in front of the barrier - are there age based behavioral differences in Garden Warblers Sylvia borin?

10.7287/peerj.preprints.244v1 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Christos Barboutis ◽

Ian Henshaw ◽

Cecilia Kullberg ◽

Stamatina Nikolopoulou ◽

Thord Fransson

Keyword(s):

Body Mass ◽

Site Fidelity ◽

Release Site ◽

Fuel Load ◽

First Year ◽

Sahara Desert ◽

Behavioral Differences ◽

Stopover Site ◽

Sylvia Borin ◽

Fig Trees

Garden Warblers Sylvia borin were studied during autumn stopover in Crete before crossing the barrier of the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara desert. Birds followed with transmitters show extensive stopover periods, which were longer in first-year birds, 16 days, compared with adult birds, 14 days. The distribution of body masses from birds trapped in fig trees were used to estimate the departure body mass and the results found indicate that both age categories on average depart with a fuel load close to 100% of lean body mass. The movement of transmitter birds shows differences between first-year and adult birds. Adult birds move further away from the release site and many also left the study area. Several were found settled outside the study area, up to 17 km away, indicating that they regularly make longer stopover movements. It is suggested that this might be a result of that they return to a place where they stayed during an earlier migration. It was shown that stopover site fidelity exists and nine garden warblers were recaptured in the area during a following autumn. The results found highlights the importance of stopover areas close to the Sahara desert.

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Fuelling in front of the barrier - are there age based behavioral differences in Garden Warblers Sylvia borin?

10.7287/peerj.preprints.244 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Christos Barboutis ◽

Ian Henshaw ◽

Cecilia Kullberg ◽

Stamatina Nikolopoulou ◽

Thord Fransson

Keyword(s):

Body Mass ◽

Site Fidelity ◽

Release Site ◽

Fuel Load ◽

First Year ◽

Sahara Desert ◽

Behavioral Differences ◽

Stopover Site ◽

Sylvia Borin ◽

Fig Trees

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The Influence of Curricular-based Interventions within First-year "Success" Courses on Student Alcohol Expectancies and Engagement in High-risk Drinking Behaviors

NASPA Journal ◽

10.2202/0027-6014.1907 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 45 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Matt J Mayhew ◽

Rebecca J Caldwell ◽

Aimee Hourigan

Keyword(s):

High Risk ◽

Alcohol Expectancies ◽

First Year ◽

Alcohol Intervention ◽

Grade Point ◽

Student Affairs Practitioners ◽

Drinking Behaviors ◽

High Risk Drinking ◽

Success Courses ◽

First Year Success

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of curricular-based interventions housed within first-year success courses on alcohol expectancies and high-risk drinking behaviors. Specifically, we longitudinally assessed 173 students enrolled in one of ten first-year success courses, including five that received the alcohol intervention and five that did not. We then created a series of models accounting for demographic information (i.e., gender and self-reported expected grade point average), the pretest scores for the six outcome measures, and the intervention effect (i.e., whether students received the intervention or not). ANCOVA results showed that the intervention was effective in reducing high-risk drinking behaviors and alcohol expectancies for students enrolled in the success courses that received the intervention. Implications for student affairs practitioners and higher education scholars are discussed.

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Early Diagnostics and Early Intervention in Neurodevelopmental Disorders—Age-Dependent Challenges and Opportunities

Journal of Clinical Medicine ◽

10.3390/jcm10040861 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 861

Author(s):

Mijna Hadders-Algra

Keyword(s):

Early Intervention ◽

High Risk ◽

Early Detection ◽

Developmental Disorders ◽

Familial Risk ◽

Brain Structures ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

First Year ◽

Early Diagnostics ◽

Challenges And Opportunities

This review discusses early diagnostics and early intervention in developmental disorders in the light of brain development. The best instruments for early detection of cerebral palsy (CP) with or without intellectual disability are neonatal magnetic resonance imaging, general movements assessment at 2–4 months and from 2–4 months onwards, the Hammersmith Infant Neurological Examination and Standardized Infant NeuroDevelopmental Assessment. Early detection of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is difficult; its first signs emerge at the end of the first year. Prediction with the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers and Infant Toddler Checklist is possible to some extent and improves during the second year, especially in children at familial risk of ASD. Thus, prediction improves substantially when transient brain structures have been replaced by permanent circuitries. At around 3 months the cortical subplate has dissolved in primary motor and sensory cortices; around 12 months the cortical subplate in prefrontal and parieto-temporal cortices and cerebellar external granular layer have disappeared. This review stresses that families are pivotal in early intervention. It summarizes evidence on the effectiveness of early intervention in medically fragile neonates, infants at low to moderate risk, infants with or at high risk of CP and with or at high risk of ASD.

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Physiological Biomarkers Assessed by Low-Tech Exercise Tests Predict Complications and Overall Survival in Patients Undergoing Pneumonectomy Due to Lung Cancer

Cancers ◽

10.3390/cancers13040735 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 735

Author(s):

Tomasz Marjanski ◽

Damian Wnuk ◽

Robert Dziedzic ◽

Marcin Ostrowski ◽

Wioletta Sawicka ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lung Cancer ◽

Overall Survival ◽

High Risk ◽

Odds Ratio ◽

Cardiac Complications ◽

First Year ◽

Exercise Tests ◽

Walking Test ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Surgery Department

Due to its debilitating character pneumonectomy this is last-resort procedure. Preoperative results of the 6-min walking test (6MWT) help to identify high risk of postoperative complications and increased mortality in patients undergoing lobectomy for lung cancer. The aim of the study was to validate the value of 500 m in 6MWT as an indicator, which differentiates risk of complications in patients undergoing pneumonectomy. 125 patients who underwent pneumonectomy at Thoracic Surgery Department between 2009 and 2018. On the day preceding the surgery, patients underwent 6MWT. The patients were in median age of 63 years. The cut-off value of 500 m identified patients with increased 90-day mortality [17.9% vs. 3.5%, odds ratio (OR) 6.271, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.528–25.739], first-year mortality (30.7% vs. 11.6%, OR 3.378, 95% CI 1.310–8.709), and overall survival (p = 0.02). Patients who covered a distance ≤ 500 m had an increased risk of atrial fibrillation (35.9% vs. 16.3%, OR 2.880, 95% CI 1.207–6.870) and cardiac complications (38.4% vs. 19.8%, OR 2.537, 95% CI 1.100–5.849). Patients unable to reach 500 m in 6MWT are in a high risk of postoperative death after pneumonectomy, what may be a result of increased frequency of postoperative cardiac complications. Poor result of 6MWT is a predictor of worse overall survival.

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Financing the Market-Based Redistribution of Land to Disadvantaged Farmers and Farm Workers in South Africa: Recent Performance of the Land Reform Credit Facility

Sociological Research Online ◽

10.5153/sro.495 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 57-65 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Michael Lyne ◽

Paul Zille ◽

Douglas Graham

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Land Reform ◽

Farm Workers ◽

First Year ◽

Private Land ◽

Mortgage Loans ◽

Public And Private ◽

Credit Facility ◽

Flow Problems ◽

Kwazulu Natal

This paper compares the results of public and private land redistribution in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It identifies problems that constrain access to the land market, and describes recent efforts to address the liquidity problem associated with mortgage finance. The Land Reform Credit Facility (LRCF) was launched by government in May 1999 to help alleviate cash flow problems on farms purchased by disadvantaged buyers and financed with mortgage loans from commercial banks. The LRCF does not offer subsidies. Rather it offers loans with deferred or graduated repayment schedules to reputable banks and venture capital investors who finance, on similar terms, equity-share projects and land purchased by aspiring farmers. The paper outlines the LRCF experience and considers reasons for its promising start. The loan target of R15 million (US$2.15 million) set for the first year was reached after only eight months.

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Survival of Patients with High-Risk Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Associated with Congenital Heart Disease

Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand ◽

10.35755/jmedassocthai.2021.06.12404 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 104 (6) ◽

pp. 895-901

Keyword(s):

Congenital Heart Disease ◽

Heart Disease ◽

High Risk ◽

Congenital Heart ◽

First Year ◽

Pulmonary Arterial ◽

Group 3 ◽

Group 2 ◽

Group 1

Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a common complication of congenital heart disease (CHD) with uncorrected left-to-right shunts. Currently, no consensus guideline exists on the management of PAH-CHD in children, especially those who do not meet operability criteria. Objective: To compare survival between three groups of high-risk PAH-CHD, group 1: total correction including both surgical and percutaneous intervention, group 2: palliative treatment, and group 3: conservative with medical treatment group. Materials and Methods: All pediatric patients with PAH-CHD that underwent cardiac catheterization between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. Inclusion criteria were high risk PAH-CHD patients who had pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) greater than 6 Wood unit·m² and PVR-to-SVR ratio greater than 0.3 evaluated in room air. Exclusion criteria were younger than three months of age, severe left side heart disease with pulmonary capillary wedge pressure greater than 15 mmHg, obstructive total pulmonary venous return, and single ventricle physiology. The Kaplan-Meier analysis was performed from the date of PAH diagnosis to the date of all-cause mortality or to censored date at last follow-up. Results: Seventy-six patients with a median age at diagnosis of 27.5 months (IQR 14.5 to 69.0 months) were included in this study. The patients were divided into three subgroups and included 38 patients (50.0%) in group 1, six patients (7.9%) in group 2, and 32 patients (42.1%) in group 3. The median follow-up time was 554 days (IQR 103 to 2,133 days). The overall mortality was 21.7%. One-year survival in patients with simple lesion in group 1 and 3 were 79.5% and 87.5% and patients with complex lesions in group 1, 2, and 3 were 93.8%, 83.3%, and 73.1%, respectively. The results showed that most mortalities occurred in the first year. There were no statistically significant differences in survival among difference types of treatment (log rank test, p=0.522). Conclusion: The mortality of high-risk PAH-CHD patients were not different among those who underwent corrective surgery, palliative, or conservative treatment. The mortality was high in the first year after PAH diagnosis and remain stable afterward. Management decision for an individual with high-risk PAH-CHD patients requires comprehensive clinical assessment to balance the risks and benefits before making individualized clinical judgment. Keywords: Pulmonary hypertension; Congenital heart disease; High-risk patients

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Observations of Long-distance Post-release Dispersal by Reintroduced Bison (Bison bison)

The Canadian Field-Naturalist ◽

10.22621/cfn.v131i3.1825 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 131 (3) ◽

pp. 221-224 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Thomas S. Jung ◽

Nicholas C. Larter

Keyword(s):

Site Fidelity ◽

Performance Metrics ◽

Survival Rates ◽

Release Site ◽

Bison Bison ◽

Dispersal Ability ◽

Initial Population ◽

High Survival ◽

Long Distance ◽

Straight Line Distance

Key objectives of wildlife reintroduction projects should include encouraging post-release site fidelity and high survival rates of founding individuals. Yet, few studies empirically evaluate these performance metrics for released individuals. Bison(Bison bison) restoration is receiving renewed interest by wildlife managers. To inform new bison reintroduction projects, we provide an observation of a 375-km (straight-line distance) post-release movement of three bison bulls from a release site in Yukon, Canada, in 1988. In addition, we note 250-km and 155-km post-release movements of bison in the Northwest Territories, Canada, in 1980 and 1998, respectively. These observations demonstrate the dispersal ability of bison encountering new environments. Wildlife managers planning for new bison reintroductions should consider means to enhance post-release site fidelity to limit long-distance dispersal and mortality and maximize initial population growth.

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