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The attitudes of community members living around protected areas are an important and often overlooked consideration for effective conservation strategies. Around Kibale National Park (KNP) in western Uganda, communities regularly face the threat of crop destruction from wildlife, including from a variety of endangered species, such as African elephants (Loxodonta africana), common chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), and red colobus monkeys (Piliocolobus tephrosceles), as well as other nonhuman primates, including olive baboons (Papio anubis). These frequent negative interactions with wildlife lead many community members to resent the park and the animals that live within it. To mitigate these issues, community members around KNP partnered with researchers to start a participatory action research project to reduce human-wildlife interactions. The project tested four sustainable human-wildlife conflict mitigation strategies: digging and maintaining trenches around the park border, installing beehive fences in swampy areas where trenches could not be dug, planting tea as a buffer, and growing garlic as a cash crop. These physical exclusion methods and agriculture-based deterrents aimed to reduce crop destruction by wild animals and improve conditions for humans and wildlife alike. We conducted oral surveys with members of participating communities and a nonparticipating community that border KNP to determine the impact of these sustainable human-wildlife conflict mitigation strategies on attitudes toward KNP, wildlife officials, and animal species in and around KNP. We found that there is a positive correlation between participation in the project and perceived benefits of living near KNP. We also found that respondents who participated in the project reported more positive feelings about the Uganda Wildlife Authority, the organization that oversees KNP. This research will help inform future conservation initiatives around KNP and other areas where humans and animals face conflict through crop damage.
Lev Kolinski; Krista Milich. Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation Impacts Community Perceptions around Kibale National Park, Uganda. Diversity 2021, 13, 145 .
AMA StyleLev Kolinski, Krista Milich. Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation Impacts Community Perceptions around Kibale National Park, Uganda. Diversity. 2021; 13 (4):145.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLev Kolinski; Krista Milich. 2021. "Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation Impacts Community Perceptions around Kibale National Park, Uganda." Diversity 13, no. 4: 145.
Negative interactions between humans and wildlife create one of the greatest threats to biodiversity conservation. When wild animals damage the crops in agricultural fields, subsistence farmers suffer food insecurity and economic instability. Animals can be killed or injured during these interactions, and communities may develop negative feelings about conservation. To address conservation concerns, projects should look at both sides of these interactions. A Participatory Action Research approach allows researchers and community members to work collaboratively to investigate and take action in response to this issue. Our team developed a community project to determine residents' perceptions of the benefits and costs of living around Kibale National Park, Uganda, and to implement changes to mitigate those costs. During our initial survey in 2015, we found that over 80% of our 114 respondents were subsistence farmers with no other source of income. All respondents felt that crop damage by wild animals was the biggest problem with living near the park, and they had negative feelings about the park and animals. Thus, we worked with project participants to establish the following land‐use changes throughout 2016 and 2017: (a) planting garlic as a cash crop, (b) planting tea as a buffer crop, (c) building beehive fences, and (d) maintaining a trench around the boundary of the park. Through monthly surveys, we assessed the success of these changes on reducing crop damage and improving conservation initiatives. Compliance with land‐use changes was significantly associated with a reduction in the events of crop damage, which has implications for economic stability and an individual's attitude about conservation. This project provides guidelines for using Participatory Action Research methods to develop sustainable interventions to improve human‐wildlife interactions.
Krista M. Milich; Kayce Sorbello; Lev Kolinski; Richard Busobozi; Moses Kugonza. Case study of participatory action research for wildlife conservation. Conservation Science and Practice 2020, 3, 1 .
AMA StyleKrista M. Milich, Kayce Sorbello, Lev Kolinski, Richard Busobozi, Moses Kugonza. Case study of participatory action research for wildlife conservation. Conservation Science and Practice. 2020; 3 (2):1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKrista M. Milich; Kayce Sorbello; Lev Kolinski; Richard Busobozi; Moses Kugonza. 2020. "Case study of participatory action research for wildlife conservation." Conservation Science and Practice 3, no. 2: 1.
Urinary C-peptide (UCP) is a biomarker for insulin that can be used as a non-invasive physiological measure of energy balance. Previous research has validated the use of UCP to quantify energy balance in catarrhines; however, there have been no such studies in platyrrhines. Validation is necessary in this lineage of primates as divergent evolution has resulted in varied organization of insulin genes. Here, we evaluate a method for quantifying UCP in platyrrhines to measure energetic expenditure, a key component of calculating energy balance. Urine samples were opportunistically collected from laboratory-housed tufted capuchins (Sapajus apella) during exercise activities. To examine the efficacy of using UCP as a means for assessing energetic condition, we analyzed urine samples collected before and after exercise. Urinary C-peptide concentrations were measured using a commercial C-peptide radioimmunoassay. We found that on average, UCP concentrations were 0.34 ng/mL lower after exercise than they were prior to exercise (range =0.04 to 0.71 ng/mL). The rate of energy expenditure per unit time was greater when capuchins were exercising at faster speeds. Concordantly, UCP concentrations decreased more following exercise at those faster speeds. Parallelism of serial dilutions of samples was calculated to assess the precision of UCP concentrations produced using these methods. Measured UCP concentrations decreased at expected intervals in accordance with each dilution factor. Our results provide biological validation of the use of a commercial assay for quantifying UCP as a measure of energy expenditure in this platyrrhine species.
Alexandra J. Sacco; Michael C. Granatosky; Myra F. Laird; Krista M. Milich. Validation of a method for quantifying urinary C-peptide in platyrrhine monkeys. General and Comparative Endocrinology 2020, 300, 113644 .
AMA StyleAlexandra J. Sacco, Michael C. Granatosky, Myra F. Laird, Krista M. Milich. Validation of a method for quantifying urinary C-peptide in platyrrhine monkeys. General and Comparative Endocrinology. 2020; 300 ():113644.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlexandra J. Sacco; Michael C. Granatosky; Myra F. Laird; Krista M. Milich. 2020. "Validation of a method for quantifying urinary C-peptide in platyrrhine monkeys." General and Comparative Endocrinology 300, no. : 113644.
Based on sexual selection theory, the reproductive potential of male primates is expected to be limited by access to fertile females. Alpha males, the highest ranking males in a social group, are predicted to have better access to mates and produce more offspring until they are no longer dominant, which usually corresponds with age. Little is known about male reproductive senescence independent of rank changes in nonhuman primates. Here, we examine variation in the reproductive success of high-ranking male rhesus macaques on Cayo Santiago. We recorded behavioral data for 21 adult males across 9 social groups during the 2013 mating season. Additionally, we used paternity data from the long-term database to determine the number of offspring each subject sired over his lifetime and during the study period. Older high-ranking males in stable groups had fewer offspring than younger high-ranking males in stable groups in 2013. The low reproductive output for the older males was not a result of lower mating effort, and reproductive output in 2013 was not predicted by total prior reproductive success. Our results provide novel evidence of post-copulatory reproductive senescence in high-ranking male nonhuman primates.
Krista M. Milich; Angelina Ruiz-Lambides; Elizabeth Maldonado; Dario Maestripieri. Age negatively impacts reproduction in high-ranking male rhesus macaques on Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico. Scientific Reports 2020, 10, 1 -10.
AMA StyleKrista M. Milich, Angelina Ruiz-Lambides, Elizabeth Maldonado, Dario Maestripieri. Age negatively impacts reproduction in high-ranking male rhesus macaques on Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico. Scientific Reports. 2020; 10 (1):1-10.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKrista M. Milich; Angelina Ruiz-Lambides; Elizabeth Maldonado; Dario Maestripieri. 2020. "Age negatively impacts reproduction in high-ranking male rhesus macaques on Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico." Scientific Reports 10, no. 1: 1-10.
A strain of Zika virus (ZIKV) of Asian origin associated with birth defects and neurological disorders has emerged and spread through the Americas. ZIKV was first isolated in the blood of nonhuman primates in Africa and has been detected in the blood, saliva, and urine of a few catarrhine species in both Africa and Asia, suggesting that nonhuman primates may serve as both a source and a reservoir of the virus. The recent introduction of ZIKV to human populations in the Americas presents the potential for the virus to spread into nonhuman primate reservoirs. Thus, it is critical to develop efficient and noninvasive detection methods to monitor the spread of the virus in wild nonhuman primate populations. Here, we describe a method for ZIKV detection in noninvasively collected fecal samples of a Neotropical primate. Fecal samples were collected from two captive squirrel monkeys (Saimiri boliviensis boliviensis) that were experimentally infected with ZIKV (Strain Mexico_1_44) and an additional two uninfected squirrel monkeys. Nucleic acids were extracted from these samples, and RT-qPCR was used to assay for the presence of ZIKV using primers flanking a 101 bp region of the NS5 gene. In both ZIKV-inoculated animals, ZIKV was detected 5–11 days post-infection, but was not detected in the uninfected animals. We compare the fecal results to ZIKV detection in serum, saliva, and urine samples from the same individuals. Our results indicate that fecal detection is a cost-effective, noninvasive method for monitoring wild populations of Neotropical primates as possible ZIKV reservoirs.
Krista M. Milich; Benjamin J. Koestler; Joe H. Simmons; Pramod N. Nehete; Anthony Di Fiore; Lawrence E. Williams; Jaquelin P. Dudley; John Vanchiere; Shelley M. Payne. Methods for detecting Zika virus in feces: A case study in captive squirrel monkeys (Saimiri boliviensis boliviensis). PLoS ONE 2018, 13, e0209391 .
AMA StyleKrista M. Milich, Benjamin J. Koestler, Joe H. Simmons, Pramod N. Nehete, Anthony Di Fiore, Lawrence E. Williams, Jaquelin P. Dudley, John Vanchiere, Shelley M. Payne. Methods for detecting Zika virus in feces: A case study in captive squirrel monkeys (Saimiri boliviensis boliviensis). PLoS ONE. 2018; 13 (12):e0209391.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKrista M. Milich; Benjamin J. Koestler; Joe H. Simmons; Pramod N. Nehete; Anthony Di Fiore; Lawrence E. Williams; Jaquelin P. Dudley; John Vanchiere; Shelley M. Payne. 2018. "Methods for detecting Zika virus in feces: A case study in captive squirrel monkeys (Saimiri boliviensis boliviensis)." PLoS ONE 13, no. 12: e0209391.
The relationship between male mating opportunities, stress, and glucocorticoid concentrations is complicated by the fact that physiological stress and glucocorticoid concentrations can be influenced by dominance rank, group size, and the stability of the male dominance hierarchy, along with ecological factors. We studied the three highest-ranking males in nine different social groups within the same free-ranging population of rhesus macaques on Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico, during the mating season, to examine variation in glucocorticoid concentrations in relation to number of females that conceived each month, alpha status, number of adult males in a group, and male rank hierarchy stability. We found that glucocorticoid concentrations were highest in the early mating season period when more females conceived in each group and declined linearly as the mating season progressed and the number of conceptive females decreased. Alpha males had significantly higher mean monthly glucocorticoid concentrations than other high-ranking males throughout the study period. Male age, number of adult males in a group, and hierarchy stability were not significantly associated with glucocorticoid concentrations. Our findings suggest that alpha males may experience significantly higher levels of physiological stress than their immediate subordinates and that this stress coincides with the period of the mating season when most conceptions occur.
Krista M. Milich; Alexander V. Georgiev; Rachel M. Petersen; Melissa Emery Thompson; Dario Maestripieri. Alpha male status and availability of conceptive females are associated with high glucocorticoid concentrations in high-ranking male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) during the mating season. Hormones and Behavior 2017, 97, 5 -13.
AMA StyleKrista M. Milich, Alexander V. Georgiev, Rachel M. Petersen, Melissa Emery Thompson, Dario Maestripieri. Alpha male status and availability of conceptive females are associated with high glucocorticoid concentrations in high-ranking male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) during the mating season. Hormones and Behavior. 2017; 97 ():5-13.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKrista M. Milich; Alexander V. Georgiev; Rachel M. Petersen; Melissa Emery Thompson; Dario Maestripieri. 2017. "Alpha male status and availability of conceptive females are associated with high glucocorticoid concentrations in high-ranking male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) during the mating season." Hormones and Behavior 97, no. : 5-13.