Little is known on the role played by Neotropical wild carnivores in the Trypanosoma cruzi transmission cycles. We investigated T. cruzi infection in wild carnivores from three sites in Brazil through parasitological and serological tests. The seven carnivore species examined were infected by T. cruzi, but high parasitemias detectable by hemoculture were found only in two Procyonidae species. Genotyping by Mini-exon gene, PCR-RFLP (1f8/Akw21I) and kDNA genomic targets revealed that the raccoon (Procyon cancrivorus) harbored TcI and the coatis (Nasua nasua) harbored TcI, TcII, TcIII-IV and Trypanosoma rangeli, in single and mixed infections, besides four T. cruzi isolates that displayed odd band patterns in the Mini-exon assay. These findings corroborate the coati can be a bioaccumulator of T. cruzi Discrete Typing Units (DTU) and may act as a transmission hub, a connection point joining sylvatic transmission cycles within terrestrial and arboreal mammals and vectors. Also, the odd band patterns observed in coatis’ isolates reinforce that T. cruzi diversity might be much higher than currently acknowledged. Additionally, we assembled our data with T. cruzi infection on Neotropical carnivores’ literature records to provide a comprehensive analysis of the infection patterns among distinct carnivore species, especially considering their ecological traits and phylogeny. Altogether, fifteen Neotropical carnivore species were found naturally infected by T. cruzi. Species diet was associated with T. cruzi infection rates, supporting the hypothesis that predator-prey links are important mechanisms for T. cruzi maintenance and dispersion in the wild. Distinct T. cruzi infection patterns across carnivore species and study sites were notable. Musteloidea species consistently exhibit high parasitemias in different studies which indicate their high infectivity potential. Mesocarnivores that feed on both invertebrates and mammals, including the coati, a host that can be bioaccumulator of T. cruzi DTU’s, seem to take place at the top of the T. cruzi transmission chain.

Satellite telemetry is an increasingly utilized technology in wildlife research, and current devices can track individual animal movements at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions. However, as we enter the golden age of satellite telemetry, we need an in-depth understanding of the main technological, species-specific and environmental factors that determine the success and failure of satellite tracking devices across species and habitats. Here, we assess the relative influence of such factors on the ability of satellite telemetry units to provide the expected amount and quality of data by analyzing data from over 3,000 devices deployed on 62 terrestrial species in 167 projects worldwide. We evaluate the success rate in obtaining GPS fixes as well as in transferring these fixes to the user and we evaluate failure rates. Average fix success and data transfer rates were high and were generally better predicted by species and unit characteristics, while environmental characteristics influenced the variability of performance. However, 48% of the unit deployments ended prematurely, half of them due to technical failure. Nonetheless, this study shows that the performance of satellite telemetry applications has shown improvements over time, and based on our findings, we provide further recommendations for both users and manufacturers.

ABSTRACT:There has been growing interest in the specific impacts of anthropogenic factors on the health of wildlife. This study examined hematology and serum chemistry status of a prominent carnivore, the maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus), living in, on the boundaries to, or on adjacent farmlands to the Serra da Canastra National Park, Brazil. Twenty-eighty wolves were captured, and values were compared 1) between subadults (n58 animals) and adults (n520 animals), 2) males (n512 animals) and females (n516 animals), and 3) among wolves living inside the park (n511), near the park border (n511 animals), and in neighboring farming areas (n56 animals). Age, gender, and wolf locations influenced (P,0.05) hematology and serum biochemistry values. Specifically, adults had lower (P,0.05) circulating phosphorus than subadults. Males had lower (P,0.05) serum glucose, creatinine phosphokinase, and cholesterol and higher (P,0.05) potassium than females. Erythrocyte count and serum cholinesterase were lower (P,0.05) in wolves living within the park compared with near the park border or on farmlands. Mean corpuscular volume was lower (P,0.05) in wolves living near the park border than those ranging within the park and on farmlands. Aspartate transaminase and chloride were higher (P,0.05) in wolves living inside the park compared with those ranging near the park border. Creatinine phosphokinase was lower (P,0.05) in wolves living on farmland compared with the other two locations. These results clearly reveal a relationship between age and gender on hematology and serum biochemistry values in free-living maned wolves. More importantly, certain traits indicative of health are potentially compromised in wolves living in areas under anthropogenic pressure. These data lay a foundation for examining the influence of farming and local domestic species on disease susceptibility and fitness in the maned wolf.

We surveyed infection by Trypanosoma spp. and Leishmania spp. in small wild mammals from Cumari, Goiás State aiming to investigate the diversity of trypanosomatid in a modified landscape of the Brazilian Cerrado (and possible infection overlapping with canids from the same area). Blood, skin, spleen, and liver samples were collected for parasitological, serological, and molecular assays. Gracilinanus agilis was the most abundant species (N = 70; 48.6%) and it was the only one with patent parasitemia. Characterization by mini-exon and 18SrDNA targets were achieved in 7/10 hemocultures with positive fresh blood examination, which confirmed the T. cruzi infection by Discrete Typing Units (DTU) TcI in single (N = 2) and mixed infections with other DTUs (N = 5). T. rangeli and T. dionisii were detected in skin fragments from Didelphis albiventris and Oecomys cleberi, respectively. G. agilis were found to be infected by L. braziliensis and L. guyanensis, while Leishmania sp. DNA was detected in the liver of Oligoryzomys nigripes and Calomys expulsus. Subpatent infection by T. cruzi and Leishmania sp. was serologically detected in 15% and 9% of the small mammal fauna, respectively. Small mammals from Cumari are included in T. cruzi and Leshmania spp. transmission cycles, showing a higher diversity of trypanosomatid species and/or genotypes than that observed in canids of the same agroecosystem.

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