Susceptibility of targets to the vampire bat Desmodus rotundus are proportional to their abundance in Atlantic Forest fragments?

Abstract

Desmodus rotundus (É. Geoffroy, 1810) feeds preferably on mammal blood, including livestock animals, such as bovine cattle. In spite of using native preys in the wild, records of this feeding activity are scarce. In the present study, we investigated the foraging activity of D. rotundus based on video footage from camera traps in Atlantic Forest fragments in southern Goiás State, Brazil. Out of 23 mammal species recorded in the study area, four had interactions with Desmodus rotundus (Priodontes maximus, Tapirus terrestris, Mazama americana and Pecari tajacu). The records were obtained from early night to sunrise. There was a correlation between abundance of potential preys and the choice of the target by D. rotundus. Most of the bat-prey interaction occurred on the edge of fragments. The present study records for the first time the potential use of the collared peccary (P. tajacu) and the giant armadillo (P. maximus) in the diet of D. rotundus.

Evolution of Rabies in South America and Inter-Species Dynamics (2009–2018)

“…The recurrence of the disease in Uruguay in livestock and dogs [ 50 ], as well as the increase in the number of outbreaks during the last 5 years in some regions of Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, and Argentina, has been attributed to ecological changes related to the intensification of livestock production, providing the necessary conditions to maintain a high density of colonies of the common vampire bats with artificial roost sites and abundant feeding source [ 15 , 51 ]. The common vampire bat profits from the gregarious instinct and the natural behaviour of cattle which facilitates their feeding, instead of seeking for other sources of blood in wildlife [ 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 ]. On the other hand, human rabies transmitted by vampire bats is more common in sylvatic environments and related to the encroachment into the rain forest areas.…”

A review of nano and micro-encapsulated phytochemical compounds for disease management in agriculture

“…Diversos autores (Greenhall 1971;Delpietro et al 1992;Quintana y Pacheco 2007;Johnson et al 2014;Moya et al 2015;Becker et al 2018;Zortéa et al 2018) mencionan que el murciélago vampiro es abundante en áreas donde existe presencia de ganado, debido a la disponibilidad y abundancia de éste, así como por su fácil detección. Aunado a ello, otras variables influyen en la presencia y abundancia de esta especie, como la disponibilidad de refugios naturales y artificiales (Greenhall et al 1983; Flores-Crespo y Arellano-Sota 1991; Flores-Crespo 2003; Osorio-Rodriguez y Saldaña-Vázquez 2019).…”

A two-step metagenomics approach for prey identification from the blood meals of common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus)

“…The different types of methods used for the identification of common vampire bat prey include field observations (Catenazzi & Donnelly, 2008;Greenhall, 1988), camera traps (Calfayan et al, 2018;Galetti et al, 2016;Zortéa et al, 2018), precipitation tests to visualise antibody-antigen complexes (Greenhall, 1970), and stable isotope analysis (Catenazzi & Donnelly, 2008;Streicker & Allgeier, 2016;Voigt & Kelm, 2006). Field observations are challenging as bats are nocturnal (Tournayre et al, 2021), precipitation tests are labour intensive, and stable isotope analysis does not give species resolution (reviewed in (Carter et al, 2021)).…”