Effects of anthropogenic disturbance on indri (Indri indri) health in Madagascar

Abstract

Anthropogenic habitat disturbance impairs ecosystem health by fragmenting forested areas, introducing environmental contamination, and reducing the quality of habitat resources. The effect of this disturbance on wildlife health is of particular concern in Madagascar, one of the world's biodiversity hotspots, where anthropogenic pressures on the environment remain high. Despite the conservation importance of threatened lemur populations in Madagascar, few data exist on the effects of anthropogenic disturbance on lemur health. To examine these impacts, indri (Indri indri) populations were evaluated from two forest reserves that differ in their exposure to anthropogenic disturbance. We compared the health status of 36 indri individuals from two sites: one population from a protected, undisturbed area of lowland evergreen humid forest and the other population from a reserve exposed to frequent tourism and forest degradation. Comparison of indri health parameters between sites suggests an impact of anthropogenic disturbance, including significant differences in leukocyte count and differential, 12 serum parameters, 6 trace minerals, and a higher diversity of parasites, with a significant difference in the presence of the louse, Trichophilopterus babakotophilus. These data suggest that indri living in disturbed forests may experience physiological changes and increased susceptibility to parasitism, which may ultimately impair reproductive success and survival.

Blood transcriptomes reveal novel parasitic zoonoses circulating in Madagascar's lemurs

“…The demographic effects of these pressures have likely influenced pathogen transmission within wild lemurs and may negatively impact the health and long-term survival of these endangered species, but also alter dynamics of disease transmission between wildlife and humans. Empirical data from Madagascar show elevated parasite densities in several lemur species and spillover of pathogenic enterobacteria and viruses from domesticated species and humans into wild lemurs [4,6,[8][9][10]. Relatively few studies, however, have focused on pathogen discovery in lemurs and none has implemented modern nextgeneration disease surveillance methods [1,11,12].…”

Lemuralges propithecus sp. n. (Acariformes: Psoroptidae), an ectoparasite of the diademed sifaka Propithecus diadema (Primates: Indriidae)

“…n. is described based on all postembryonic instars. Junge et al 2011). Some hosts showed 4-5 cm diameter regions of matted fur and thick, irregular scabs and crusts.…”

Body mass of wild bornean orangutans living in human‐dominated landscapes: Implications for understanding their ecology and conservation

“…Assessing the impact of disturbance on primate populations and the potential conservation value of degraded landscapes requires information on how such landscapes influence population viability. Since demographic information generally used to measure population viability (e.g., natality, mortality, immigration) are difficult to obtain, recent research has emphasized that more direct measures of health, including body mass, can be used to assess the impact of fragmentation on populations and to monitor population status (Dutton et al, 2003Junge and Louis, 2005a, 2005bJunge et al, 2008;Irwin et al, 2010;Junge et al, 2011).…”