wildlife Archives

Microbiomes – the key to a healthier planet?

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Andrew Bartlow and colleagues are researching the importance of microbiomes to animal and human health.

Microbiomes are communities of microorganisms living on or in animals, helping to keep them healthy. Changes in the composition of microbiomes could make wildlife more vulnerable to diseases which may be zoonotic – transmissible to humans – so monitoring them could help us to predict outbreaks of disease and protect global health. Dr Andrew Bartlow and colleagues at the Los […]

How to behave in sloth bear territory

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Sloth bears are considered to be one of the most dangerous mammals in India. The number of sloth bear attacks annually rivals and may even exceed the total number of all bear attacks from the seven other extant bear species combined. Communities sharing their environment with these bears need clear-cut advice on how to behave to avoid bears and what […]

That’s disgusting! How primates decide what not to eat

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Many species either avoid food contaminated with faeces or thoroughly handle the food, trying to clean it before eating.

All animals need to find a way to avoid contact with pathogens when they are eating. For primates, Dr Cécile Sarabian, based at Kyoto University Primate Research Institute in Japan, shows that many species either avoid food contaminated with faeces or thoroughly handle the food, trying to clean it before eating. For the researcher, this is proof that this behaviour […]