Journal of Wildlife and Biodiversity
Volume:6 Issue: 3, Summer 2022

This study explores the extent to which habitat characteristicsare affecting nest-group encounter rates of Chimpanzees in the southeastpart of the BNP. We carried out areconnaissance recce survey at a sampling intensity of 85% of 1×1sq km per grid cell.Accordingly, field operations includedaccessingthe data collection zone within the Southeast sectionfrom the East to the South and then to the North. Reconnaissance recce walks were done within a 1km×1km grid cell.Compass, secateurs, GPSs,and Cyber trackers were usedto orientate field operations.All nests irrespective ofthe distance from the reconnaissance recce walks, feeding signs, tree nest-groupcount, tree height, and water points wererecordedin the cyber tracker.GPS ID and waypointscollected irrespective of the distance within the recce survey cell were recorded. For 28 surveyed grid cells, four nest sitesof mixed agescontaining34 recent and eightoldnestswere recorded. Chimpanzee presence/signswereonly recorded in themontane forest(encounter rate of 1.2/Km), and in areas of close(visibility of 5 –10m)to open(visibility of 10 –15m)canopies, with no sign observed in areas of highlyopen canopies(visibility of >15m). Also, these areas fall within an altitude of 1235 to 1325 m asl.with the presence of available water especially from waterfalls. The presence of available food for chimpanzeeswas also recorded in this area, and all the nestsobserved were tree nests. Thisindicates that the montane forest area provides favorablehabitat conditions for chimpanzeesthan the sub-montane forest and montane grassland where no sign of this specie was observed.

Biodiversity pivots life and it's crucial for global sustainable development. Global communities have rich indigenous knowledge systems for biodiversity conservation which are often identified with the older members of the society. Involving children in biodiversity projects is very helpful in 'catching them young' in engaging and campaigning for friendly, sound, and sustainable environmental practices. Unfortunately, efforts have not been dispensed much in instructing and/or involving children in educational projects onindigenous knowledge systems related to biodiversity conservationin Ghanadue to the domination of Western knowledge systems. This conceptual paper discusses the possibility of decolonizing the Early Childhood Education curriculum by instructing children,who are the future leaders,to be knowledgeable in the indigenous knowledge systems for biodiversity conservationby picking lessons from similar practices in various countries around the globe. This would incite childrenin Ghana to engage in helpful biodiversity projects by tapping into the wealth of insight into indigenous ecological knowledge to engage in helpful biodiversity projects. This would charge them in joining forceswith the older members of the society in repudiating all negative practices that often result in biodiversity degradationin Ghana.

Three of the four known feline species in Jordan are categorized as critically endangered, according to the latest Red List assessment of mammals in Jordan, of which caracal: Caracal caracal,sand cat Felis margarita,and jungle cat Felis chaus. The fourthspecies, discussed within this paper –the wild cat Felis silvestris,is a species of least concern. Human activities such as hunting, poisoning, habitat destruction,and fragmentation are among the pressures seriously affecting the small and restricted populations of critically endangered felines. This study is the first to provide predictions on habitat suitability for the four species based on the two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), predictions of how greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere, of 2.6 (representing “very stringent” corrections to the numberof greenhouse gases accumulating in the atmosphere) and 8.5 (the “business-as-usual” or also known as the “worst-case scenario”). Results showed an alarming decline in suitable habitats for all species. The sand cat is predicted to lose its entire suitable habitats in 2050 and 2070 according to RCP 8.5, while both the caracal and jungle cat are to face the very precarious pressure of declined areas of suitable habitat. Jordan’s network of protected areas wasdeemed inadequate, according to this study, toprotect the feline species and maintain their population. As potential solutions to counter the Research Article combined anticipated impacts occurring from both human activities and anticipated climate forecasts, it is necessary to strengthen the enforcement of environmental policies intended to protect reserves and natural areas, strengthen ex-situ conservation measures, minimizehuman pressures, to cope with the predicted habitats loss in the future,and to review the current network of protected areas.

Despitethe efforts conducted on the identification of species of the genus Pelophylaxfrom Iran, recent studies revealed that the taxonomy and identification of localpopulations within this genus havebeen still unresolved. Here, the morphological and morphometricvariations of waterfrog populations (Pelophylax) from different localitiesof Iran were studied.To assess suitable morphological andmorphometric diagnosis for taxonomic identification of the genus, 13morphological and 23morphometric charactersof 160 specimens were analyzed. Our result indicated P.cf. bedriagaeand Pelophylax sp.show cryptic variation in morphology and melanistic diversity.In water frogs, this characteris much more influenced by compatibility to special habitat, so its value is less to be considered as a taxonomic trait or key characterfor identification.However, the morphometricvariables of Pelophylax sp. are larger than P.cf. bedriagaefrom the west of Iran. Followinggeneralized Gloger's rule, a comparison of character states of 12 biological variables revealed that dorsal coloration of waterfrog populations become paler from north to south in eastern Iran,while the ventral part shows low variation in color.This pattern indicates the low selective value of ventral coloration in the viability of waterfrogsin eastern Iran. Moreover, natural selection stabilized olive coloration on the populations of waterfrogsliving in the green habitats of north Iran while compromisinglight grey and dark brown in contrasting ecosystems through the semi-desert and humid oases of south Iran viaa disruptive selection mechanism.

As human populations continue to increaseand utilize highways, the potential negative impact of roadways on wildlife mortality (roadkill), is expected to increase accordingly. Documenting vertebrates killed on roadways can be time consumptive for local wildlife managers researchingpopulation trends of predominantly mammals and reptilesencountered. New citizen science observations taken on cell phones using the application iNaturalist provide a potentially powerful new tool to inform roadkill occurrence and its impact across taxonomic groups and geographic areas. To this end, I downloaded and surveyed data observations on iNaturalist for “roadkill” and “dead on road” or “DOR”, within the United States, resulting in 17,926total observationsfollowing database quality control, spanning 1973to February of 2022. Overallof the 710 distinctspecies identified as roadkill,reptiles were the most frequently reported(12,127 observations), with eight of the top ten reported observations of roadkill being snakes.Mammals represented 3,094 observations followed by birds and amphibians, with 1,363 and 1,342 observations, respectively.Interestingly,I noted some differencesfor a season of roadkill observations with summer having the highest reports of roadkill for both reptiles and amphibians, with more reports of mammalsas roadkillin fall. This study contributes to our body of knowledge on roadkill ecologyand can providewildlife diversity biologistswith a new avenue using citizen science dataas this smartphone application becomes increasingly utilizedfor research on biodiversity.

Asia Minor Spiny Mouse (Acomys Cilicicus) is one of the endemic spiny mouse species of Turkey. The species is vulnerable to environmental threats as conservation measures have not yet been determined. Understanding the genetic makeup of the species andits responses to ecological factors is, therefore, an important issue to develop applicable conservation measures.In the study, we aimed to identify the Acomys cilicicus' haplotype diversity forCytochrome b(CYTB),Growth hormone receptor(GHR), andRecombination activating gene 2(RAG2)genes and to explore spatial relationships between environmental factors and haplotype diversity of each gene. The spatial distribution pattern of haplotype diversity of genes was estimated using the Geographically weighted regression (GWR) model and Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) interpolation, respectively. Moreover, the Monte Carlo permutation test was applied to reveal the relationship pattern between environmental predictors and haplotype diversity through local coefficient estimates. As a result, a logistic prediction map of the GWR model was obtained to indicate the distribution of haplotype diversity of genes. Outputs also showed considerable spatial variability in local coefficients estimates with the negative or positive association, and it was understood that the distribution pattern of haplotype diversity is delineated accordingly. In that context, it was concluded that local fluctuations of environmental conditions might negatively affect the haplotype diversity of genes, thus decreasing the species' adaptability to environmental changes. Outputs of the study are valuable to support the conservation efforts of the target species and can be a guide for species with similar characteristics.

Lepus nigricollis is a small mammal species mainly found in South Asia. The phylogenetic position of the Sri Lankan wild hare(Lepus nigricollis singhala)is yet to be determined. Therefore, the mitochondrial DNA D-loopof three Sri Lankan wild hare samples wasstudied. Phylogenetic analysesrevealed that Sri Lankan wild hareclusteredas a basal separate branch consistent with the phylogenetic position of other isolated populations. The limitationof the current data did not permit us to make any further conclusions; therefore, more research evidence is still required.

The Patagonian seahorse Hippocampus patagonicusoccurs between the southern coast of Argentina and southern Brazil. The present study documents the first occurrence of H. patagonicus in Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, where it was taken as a fishery bycatch. Theywere caught in gillnets and had been preserved by the fishermen in absolute alcohol. The females were in reproductive stage 3, which indicates that they may migrate to Guanabara Bayto reproduce.

Bats are known to occur all over the world except in the Arctic andAntarctic regions and a few isolated oceanic islands.Bats have been on Earth for more than 50 million years. Currently,thereare more than 1,400 speciesonthe globe. Theyare the second-largestorder of mammals and are widely dispersed across six continents. According to the South Asian Chiroptera Conservation Assessment and Management Plan Workshop report, India has 114 species of bats of which 13 species are under the suborder Megachiroptera. The species Latidenssalimalii(Salim Ali’s fruit bat) found in Madurai district of Tamil Nadu and Otomopswroughtonii(Wroughton’s free-tailedbat) found in Belgaum of Karnataka are the two only Indian bat species that arelisted on Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of India, 1972 amended up-to-date. Bats or chiropteran studies at Assam along with other northeast Indiancounterparts are very meager and there is no continuous study data from any places of Assam. Besides some detailed studies on the Indian flying fox (Pteropus giganteus giganteus) most of the other studies are based on opportunistic random catches. On the basis of the available research publications of a few bat researchers of Assam, it can becometo the conclusion that currently,Assam’scounterpartof Northeast India has about a total of 39 different bat species under 16 genera. Out of those 39 species, five speciesare recorded as Megachiropteran species (fruit bats) along with 34 numbers of Microchiropteran species. Most of the Microchiropteraspecies are insectivorous in nature with a few being carnivorous. All the recorded species of the Suborder-Megachiroptera were found to be included under a single family called Pteropodidae. However,Microchiropteraspecies recorded fromAssam werefound to be spread intofive different families such as Emballonuridae, Megadermatidae, Rhinolophidae, Hipposideridae,and Vespertilionidae. The highest numbersof species were recorded under the family Vespertilionidaewhich is commonly known as “Evening bats”.Todate,19 species are recorded under this family followed by Rhinolophidae with six species. The rest ofthe recorded families shared 2-4 species.