Anticoagulant rodenticides in urban bobcats: exposure, risk factors and potential effects based on a 16-year study.

Anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs) are increasingly recognized as a threat to nontarget wildlife. High exposure to ARs has been documented globally in nontarget predatory species and linked to the high prevalence of an ectoparasitic disease, notoedric mange. In southern California, mange associated with AR exposure has been the proximate cause of a bobcat (Lynx rufus) population decline. We measured AR exposure in bobcats from two areas in southern California, examining seasonal, demographic and spatial risk factors across landscapes including natural and urbanized areas. The long-term study included bobcats sampled over a 16-year period (1997-2012) and a wide geographic area. We sampled blood (N = 206) and liver (N = 172) to examine exposure ante- and post-mortem. We detected high exposure prevalence (89 %, liver; 39 %, blood) and for individuals with paired liver and blood data (N = 64), 92 % were exposed. Moreover, the animals with the most complete sampling were exposed most frequently to three or more compounds. Toxicant exposure was associated with commercial, residential, and agricultural development. Bobcats of both sexes and age classes were found to be at high risk of exposure, and we documented fetal transfer of multiple ARs. We found a strong association between certain levels of exposure (ppm), and between multiple AR exposure events, and notoedric mange. AR exposure was prevalent throughout both regions sampled and throughout the 16-year time period in the long-term study. ARs pose a substantial threat to bobcats, and likely other mammalian and avian predators, living at the urban-wildland interface.

Frequent transmission of immunodeficiency viruses among bobcats and pumas.

With the exception of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which emerged in humans after cross-species transmissions of simian immunodeficiency viruses from nonhuman primates, immunodeficiency viruses of the family Lentiviridae represent species-specific viruses that rarely cross species barriers to infect new hosts. Among the Felidae, numerous immunodeficiency-like lentiviruses have been documented, but only a few cross-species transmissions have been recorded, and these have not been perpetuated in the recipient species. Lentivirus seroprevalence was determined for 79 bobcats (Lynx rufus) and 31 pumas (Puma concolor) from well-defined populations in Southern California. Partial genomic sequences were subsequently obtained from 18 and 12 seropositive bobcats and pumas, respectively. Genotypes were analyzed for phylogenic relatedness and genotypic composition among the study set and archived feline lentivirus sequences. This investigation of feline immunodeficiency virus infection in bobcats and pumas of Southern California provides evidence that cross-species infection has occurred frequently among these animals. The data suggest that transmission has occurred in multiple locations and are most consistent with the spread of the virus from bobcats to pumas. Although the ultimate causes remain unknown, these transmission events may occur as a result of puma predation on bobcats, a situation similar to that which fostered transmission of HIV to humans, and likely represent the emergence of a lentivirus with relaxed barriers to cross-species transmission. This unusual observation provides a valuable opportunity to evaluate the ecological, behavioral, and molecular conditions that favor repeated transmissions and persistence of lentivirus between species.

Ectoparasites of the island fox on Santa Cruz Island.

The ectoparasite fauna for island foxes (Urocyon littoralis) on Santa Cruz Island (California, USA) in April (wet season) and September (dry season) 1998 was evaluated. Three taxa of ectoparasites were identified. These were fleas (Pulex irritans), lice (Neotrichodectes mephitidis), and ticks (Ixodes pacificus). Ectoparasite abundances varied seasonally. Typical of insular endemic species, island foxes may be especially vulnerable to the introduction of novel disease organisms and their vectors.

Hematology and serum chemistry of the island fox on Santa Cruz Island.

Serum and hematologic biochemistry values for island foxes (Urocyon littoralis) on Santa Cruz Island (California, USA) in April (wet season) and September (dry season) 1998 were evaluated. Serum chemistry of island foxes generally varied seasonally; 10 (40%) of the 25 serum characteristics were higher in the wet season, and three (12%) of the 25 serum characteristics were higher in the dry season. No hematologic parameters varied between seasons, although some measures varied between sexes. Blood analytes also varied with age; fox pups had higher values than adults for one hematologic and four serum parameters, whereas adult foxes had higher values for five hematologic characteristics. The information on blood chemistry provides baseline data useful in the monitoring of this threatened insular endemic carnivore.