Marc Ancrenaz

Ape Conservation Physiology: Fecal Glucocorticoid Responses in Wild Pongo pygmaeus morio following Human Visitation

Nature-based tourism can generate important revenue to support conservation of biodiversity. However, constant exposure to tourists and subsequent chronic activation of stress responses can produce pathological effects, including impaired cognition, growth, reproduction, and immunity in the same animals we are interested in protecting. Utilizing fecal samples (Nu200a=u200a53) from 2 wild habituated orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus morio) (in addition to 26 fecal samples from 4 wild unhabituated orangutans) in the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, we predicted that i) fecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations would be elevated on the day after tourist visitation (indicative of normal stress response to exposure to tourists on the previous day) compared to samples taken before or during tourist visitation in wild, habituated orangutans, and ii) that samples collected from habituated animals would have lower fecal glucocorticoid metabolites than unhabituated animals not used for tourism. Among the habituated animals used for tourism, fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels were significantly elevated in samples collected the day after tourist visitation (indicative of elevated cortisol production on the previous day during tourist visitation). Fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels were also lower in the habituated animals compared to their age-matched unhabituated counterparts. We conclude that the habituated animals used for this singular ecotourism project are not chronically stressed, unlike other species/populations with documented permanent alterations in stress responses. Animal temperament, species, the presence of coping/escape mechanisms, social confounders, and variation in amount of tourism may explain differences among previous experiments. Acute alterations in glucocorticoid measures in wildlife exposed to tourism must be interpreted conservatively. While permanently altered stress responses can be detrimental, preliminary results in these wild habituated orangutans suggest that low levels of predictable disturbance can likely result in low physiological impact on these animals.

Minimizing Pathogen Transmission at Primate Ecotourism Destinations: The Need for Input from Travel Medicine

Tourism generates more than 9% of the global gross domestic product and may account for almost half of the gross domestic product in developing countries with biodiversity‐rich areas.1,2 Nature‐based tourism accounts for a growing proportion of international tourism activity. Ecotourism is a sustainable version of nature tourism with the following components:nnnnnnEcotourism accounts for a significant proportion of all international tourism, and revenue generated by these activities could enhance economic opportunities for local residents, support environmental education, and protect the natural and cultural heritage of the area, including the conservation of biodiversity and improvement of local facilities.4 Ecotourism is increasingly seen as a means to promote wildlife conservation, increase public awareness, and raise revenue for protecting endangered species. Unfortunately, rapid, unmonitored development of ecotourism projects can lead to degradation of habitats and deleterious effects on animal well‐being. Habituation of animals to human presence can increase the likelihood that animals will actively seek out contact with humans, particularly in the form of crop raiding and invasion of garbage pits, latrines, and human households. Habituation may lead to alterations in animal stress responses, and this may lead to immunosuppression, increasing susceptibility to infectious diseases, and decreasing reproductive success. Other risks may include pollution, crowding, introduction of invasive species, and transmission of pathogens through direct and indirect infection routes. Zoonotic (nonhuman animal to human) and anthropozoonotic (human to nonhuman animal) infection transmission are of vital consideration, given the increasing demand from tourists to … nnCorresponding Author: Michael P. Muehlenbein, PhD, MsPH, Department of Anthropology, Indiana University, 701 E. Kirkwood Ave., Student Building 130, Bloomington, IN 47405‐7000, USA. E‐mail: mpm1{at}indiana.edu

Quantity and configuration of available elephant habitat and related conservation concerns in the Lower Kinabatangan floodplain of Sabah, Malaysia.

The approximately 300 (298, 95% CI: 152–581) elephants in the Lower Kinabatangan Managed Elephant Range in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo are a priority sub-population for Borneos total elephant population (2,040, 95% CI: 1,184–3,652). Habitat loss and human-elephant conflict are recognized as the major threats to Bornean elephant survival. In the Kinabatangan region, human settlements and agricultural development for oil palm drive an intense fragmentation process. Electric fences guard against elephant crop raiding but also remove access to suitable habitat patches. We conducted expert opinion-based least-cost analyses, to model the quantity and configuration of available suitable elephant habitat in the Lower Kinabatangan, and called this the Elephant Habitat Linkage. At 184 km2, our estimate of available habitat is 54% smaller than the estimate used in the States Elephant Action Plan for the Lower Kinabatangan Managed Elephant Range (400 km2). During high flood levels, available habitat is reduced to only 61 km2. As a consequence, short-term elephant densities are likely to surge during floods to 4.83 km−2 (95% CI: 2.46–9.41), among the highest estimated for forest-dwelling elephants in Asia or Africa. During severe floods, the configuration of remaining elephant habitat and the surge in elephant density may put two villages at elevated risk of human-elephant conflict. Lower Kinabatangan elephants are vulnerable to the natural disturbance regime of the river due to their limited dispersal options. Twenty bottlenecks less than one km wide throughout the Elephant Habitat Linkage, have the potential to further reduce access to suitable habitat. Rebuilding landscape connectivity to isolated habitat patches and to the North Kinabatangan Managed Elephant Range (less than 35 km inland) are conservation priorities that would increase the quantity of available habitat, and may work as a mechanism to allow population release, lower elephant density, reduce human-elephant conflict, and enable genetic mixing.

Natural licks are required for large terrestrial mammals in a degraded riparian forest, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia

Although the importance of natural licks for terrestrial mammals is widely acknowledged, we report here for the first time its importance for large terrestrial mammals in a degraded riverine forest in Borneo. Our results clearly demonstrated that various mammals, including bearded pig, sambar deer, and endangered orang-utans, were using the natural lick, though large arboreal/avian herbivore/omnivore animals were not attracted to the natural lick. In addition, the diversity of mammal species recorded in this study was lower than those recorded in the dry lowland forest. Possible reasons for this difference between the different forest types are discussed.