Evaluation of Community-Based Dog Welfare and Rabies Project in Sanur, a Sub-district of the Indonesian Island Province of Bali.

The Indonesian island province of Bali experienced its first rabies incursion in 2008. Mass vaccination of the dog population has proven effective and rabies cases in dogs and people have decreased, however the virus is still circulating among the dog population. Vaccination coverage must be maintained until rabies elimination. Increasing efficiency and effectiveness of vaccination campaigns is therefore desired. Community engagement leading to preventative health actions by community members can reduce disease incidence and costs of control. Here we evaluate 2 years of a novel community-based dog welfare and rabies control project (Program Dharma) in the Sanur sub-district. The project engaged the services of people living in the project area with an interest or experience in dogs or community health services. These people spoke with owners within their own community about dog welfare and health, monitored owned and unowned dogs and increased owner and carer efforts to access vaccination and further veterinary services. The evaluation focused on a sample of dogs whose owners had been regularly engaged with project. Vaccination coverage was increased and there were no dog or human rabies cases reported in the project area; the percentage of the dogs that had never been vaccinated was reduced by an average 28.3% (baseline unvaccinated 41-49%, post-project unvaccinated 11-19%). The welfare of dogs improved from an average of 20.7% of dogs with visible welfare problems at baseline to 2.7% after project implementation. Roaming dog density observed on street surveys also decreased in all project areas (24-47% reduction dependent on desa). A participatory evaluation event with a sample of Program Dharma community-based agents highlighted several additional successes, including that the community appeared to welcome and value their services and were beginning to support the cost of project activities. Conversely, challenges included identifying dogs in the database during revisits, sustaining the costs of community member time spent working on Program Dharma activities and the costs of veterinary care, whilst avoiding dependency of owners on free veterinary services. The benefits revealed by the evaluation were judged to be sufficient to extend Program Dharma to new areas, whilst evolving activities to resolve challenges.

Estimating densities of large herbivores in tropical forests: Rigorous evaluation of a dung-based method.

When sighting-based surveys to estimate population densities of large herbivores in tropical dense forests are not practical or affordable, surveys that rely on animal dung are sometimes used. This study tested one such dung-based method by deriving population densities from observed dung densities of six large herbivores (chital, elephant, gaur, muntjac, sambar, and wild pig) in two habitats, dry deciduous forests (DDF) and moist deciduous forests (MDF), within Nagarahole National Park, southern India. Using the program DUNGSURV, dung pile counts, decay rates estimated from field experiments, and defecation rates derived from literature were analyzed together by a model that allows for random events affecting dung decay. Densities of chital were the highest, followed by sambar. Wild pig densities were similar in the two habitats, sambar densities were higher in DDF, and densities of the other species were higher in MDF than in DDF. We compared DUNGSURV estimates with densities estimated using distance sampling in the same season. DUNGSURV estimates were substantially higher for all species in both habitats. These differences highlight the challenges that researchers face in computing unbiased estimates of dung decay rates and in relying on defecation rates from literature. Besides the elephant, this study is the first to rigorously test the efficacy of using a dung-based approach to estimate densities of large herbivore species in Asia, and based on this evaluation, we provide specific recommendations to address issues that require careful consideration before observed dung densities are used to derive animal densities. Our results underline the need for an experimental study of a known population in a fenced reserve to validate the true potential of using dung-based approaches to estimate population densities.

Dog Ecology and Rabies Knowledge of Owners and Non-Owners in Sanur, A Sub-District of the Indonesian Island Province of Bali.

This study gained an understanding of dog demographics, owner behaviour, and knowledge, attitudes and practices relating to rabies in three villages in Sanur, Bali, providing insights for an intervention to improve responsible dog ownership. A combination of a census of all dogs, street surveys of roaming dogs, and a Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (KAP) survey was used to study both dogs and people. A total of 6009 dogs were recorded, of which only 3.3% appeared to be unowned; unowned dogs had poorer welfare and were more likely to be wary of attempted approaches by people. The source of dogs, method of confinement used by owners, and whether dogs were sterilised differed between three breed types; purebred dogs, mixed breed, and Bali dogs (native breed). Three variables were found to have significant effects on the chances of not being vaccinated: age, dog type, and confinement. A mean of 3.81 roaming dogs per km of street surveyed was recorded along 28 sub-village routes. Responses to attitude statements showed that most people had a positive attitude towards dogs and vaccination and did not agree with culling. Knowledge of appropriate bite treatment and symptoms of rabies in dogs was good.

Direct Observation of Dog Density and Composition during Street Counts as a Resource Efficient Method of Measuring Variation in Roaming Dog Populations over Time and between Locations.

Dog population management is conducted in many countries to address the public health risks from roaming dogs and threats to their welfare. To assess its effectiveness, we need to monitor indicators from both the human and dog populations that are quick and easy to collect, precise and meaningful to intervention managers, donors and local citizens. We propose that the most appropriate indicators from the roaming dog population are population density and composition, based on counting dogs along standard routes using a standard survey protocol. Smart phone apps are used to navigate and record dogs along standard routes. Density expressed as dogs seen per km predicts the number of dogs residents will encounter as they commute to work or school and is therefore more meaningful than total population size. Composition in terms of gender, age and reproductive activity is measured alongside welfare, in terms of body and skin condition. The implementation of this method in seven locations reveals significant difference in roaming dog density between locations and reduction in density within one location subject to intervention. This method provides a resource efficient and reliable measure of roaming dog density, composition and welfare for the assessment of intervention impact.

Scoping review of indicators and methods of measurement used to evaluate the impact of dog population management interventions.

BACKGROUND: Dogs are ubiquitous in human society and attempts to manage their populations are common to most countries. Managing dog populations is achieved through a range of interventions to suit the dog population dynamics and dog ownership characteristics of the location, with a number of potential impacts or goals in mind. Impact assessment provides the opportunity for interventions to identify areas of inefficiencies for improvement and build evidence of positive change. METHODS: This scoping review collates 26 studies that have assessed the impacts of dog population management interventions. RESULTS: It reports the use of 29 indicators of change under 8 categories of impact and describes variation in the methods used to measure these indicators. CONCLUSION: The relatively few published examples of impact assessment in dog population management suggest this field is in its infancy; however this review highlights those notable exceptions. By describing those indicators and methods of measurement that have been reported thus far, and apparent barriers to efficient assessment, this review aims to support and direct future impact assessment.

Ant navigation: fractional use of the home vector.

Home is a special location for many animals, offering shelter from the elements, protection from predation, and a common place for gathering of the same species. Not surprisingly, many species have evolved efficient, robust homing strategies, which are used as part of each and every foraging journey. A basic strategy used by most animals is to take the shortest possible route home by accruing the net distances and directions travelled during foraging, a strategy well known as path integration. This strategy is part of the navigation toolbox of ants occupying different landscapes. However, when there is a visual discrepancy between test and training conditions, the distance travelled by animals relying on the path integrator varies dramatically between species: from 90% of the home vector to an absolute distance of only 50 cm. We here ask what the theoretically optimal balance between PI-driven and landmark-driven navigation should be. In combination with well-established results from optimal search theory, we show analytically that this fractional use of the home vector is an optimal homing strategy under a variety of circumstances. Assuming there is a familiar route that an ant recognizes, theoretically optimal search should always begin at some fraction of the home vector, depending on the region of familiarity. These results are shown to be largely independent of the search algorithm used. Ant species from different habitats appear to have optimized their navigation strategy based on the availability and nature of navigational information content in their environment.

A mark-resight survey method to estimate the roaming dog population in three cities in Rajasthan, India.

BACKGROUND: Dog population management is required in many locations to minimise the risks dog populations may pose to human health and to alleviate animal welfare problems. In many cities in India, Animal Birth Control (ABC) projects have been adopted to provide population management. Measuring the impact of such projects requires assessment of dog population size among other relevant indicators. METHODS: This paper describes a simple mark-resight survey methodology that can be used with little investment of resources to monitor the number of roaming dogs in areas that are currently subject to ABC, provided the numbers, dates and locations of the dogs released following the intervention are reliably recorded. We illustrate the method by estimating roaming dog numbers in three cities in Rajasthan, India: Jaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer. In each city the dog populations were either currently subject to ABC or had been very recently subject to such an intervention and hence a known number of dogs had been permanently marked with an ear-notch to identify them as having been operated. We conducted street surveys to record the current percentage of dogs in each city that are ear-notched and used an estimate for the annual survival of ear-notched dogs to calculate the current size of each marked population. RESULTS: Dividing the size of the marked population by the fraction of the dogs that are ear-notched we estimated the number of roaming dogs to be 36,580 in Jaipur, 24,853 in Jodhpur and 2,962 in Jaisalmer. CONCLUSIONS: The mark-resight survey methodology described here is a simple way of providing population estimates for cities with current or recent ABC programmes that include visible marking of dogs. Repeating such surveys on a regular basis will further allow for evaluation of ABC programme impact on population size and reproduction in the remaining unsterilised dog population.

A tiger cannot change its stripes: using a three-dimensional model to match images of living tigers and tiger skins.

The tiger is one of many species in which individuals can be identified by surface patterns. Camera traps can be used to record individual tigers moving over an array of locations and provide data for monitoring and studying populations and devising conservation strategies. We suggest using a combination of algorithms to calculate similarity scores between pattern samples scanned from the images to automate the search for a match to a new image. We show how using a three-dimensional surface model of a tiger to scan the pattern samples allows comparison of images that differ widely in camera angles and body posture. The software, which is free to download, considerably reduces the effort required to maintain an image catalogue and we suggest it could be used to trace the origin of a tiger skin by searching a central database of living tigers' images for matches to an image of the skin.

Fecundity and longevity of roaming dogs in Jaipur, India.

BACKGROUND: Estimates of demographic parameters, such as age-specific survival and fecundity, age at first pregnancy and litter size, are required for roaming dogs (i.e. dogs that are neither confined nor restricted) to assess the likely effect of proposed methods of population control. Data resulting from individual identification of dogs spayed as part of an Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme in Jaipur, India, are used to derive such parameters for the roaming dog population of that city. RESULTS: The percentage of females becoming pregnant in any given year was estimated by inspection of over 25,000 females caught for spaying from 1995 to 2006. The point estimate is 47.5% with a 95% confidence interval from 44% to 51%. Adult annual survival of spayed females was estimated by recapture of 62 spayed females from 2002 to 2006. The point estimate is 0.70 (95% confidence interval from 0.62 to 0.78), corresponding to an expected total lifespan of 3.8 years for a spayed female at one year old. CONCLUSION: Recording the pregnancy status of dogs collected for spaying and individual marking of dogs released following spaying can provide estimates of some of the demographic parameters essential for predicting the future effectiveness of an ABC programme. Further, we suggest that recording the number and location of spayed and unspayed dogs encountered by the catching teams could be the most effective way to monitor the size and composition of the roaming dog population.

Photo-identification, site fidelity, and movement of female gray seals (Halichoerus grypus) between haul-outs in the Baltic Sea.

The growing gray seal population in the Baltic Sea has led to increased conflicts with fisheries. Despite limited data on gray seal ecology, management measures, such as culling, have been implemented recently. We studied movements and site fidelity of Baltic gray seals using mark-recapture analysis based on photographic identification of individuals (photo-id). Seals were photographed at the major summer haul-out sites. Profile photographs of the head and neck were matched using purpose-written software to generate a database of capture histories from 1995-2000. The haul-outs were grouped into seven areas. Darroch's method (20) for a two-sample capture-recapture census was adapted to estimate rates of movement between the areas. The majority of seals were estimated to remain within the same area, suggesting that Baltic gray seals exhibit a high degree of site fidelity during the summer, and that fidelity to a site lasts for more than one season.