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What we learn f rom t he dead: post -mort em wolf research and monit oring in Germany
Heribert Hofer#, Claudia A. Szent iks*, Guido Frit sch‡, Ol iver
Krone*, Ines Lesniak*, Krist in Mühldorfer*, Gudrun Wibbelt *,
Gabriela Galat eanu‡, Anne Berger#, Christ ian C. Voigt #, Sven
Kühlmann#, Thomas B. Hildebrandt ‡, Alex D. Greenwood*
* Depart ment of Wildl i fe Diseases, ‡ Depart ment of Reproduct ion Management , # Depart ment of Evolut ionary Ecology
Leibniz Inst it ut e for Zoo & Wildl i fe Research (IZW)
Berl in, Germany; www. izw-berl in.de
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Underst and: Int erdiscipl inary research on evolut ionary adapt at ions of
wildl i fe and it s l imit s, part icularly diseases, and t he relat ionship
bet ween wildl i fe and it s habit at and environment
Mission of t he IZW
Improve: cont ribut e t o t he scient if ic basis of biological conservat ion
in order t o assist t he prot ect ion of t hreat ened wildl i fe
To underst and and – where appropriat e – improve t he
adapt abil i t y of wildl i fe t o (ant hropogenic) global change
© C.A. Szentiks, IZW © B. Wachter, IZW
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Research on wolf healt h & causes of deat h
Init iat ed a research & monit oring programme on healt h of German
wolves
Post mor t em invest igat ions since 1999
Collect evidence for forensic invest igat ion
Wide range of diagnost ic met hods
Programme combines bot h invasive and non-invasive met hods
o virology o bacteriology o electron microscopy o toxicology
o computed tomography o necropsy o histology o parasitology
o stable isotope ecology o morphology
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Healt h monit oring of wolves: aims
© C.A. Szentiks, IZW
Cause of death
Car accidents Natural causes Illegal killing
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Healt h monit oring of wolves: aims
© C.A. Szentiks, IZW
Cause of death
assessment of health and condition
Body condition, nutritional state Infectious diseases (viruses, bacteria…) Parasite load Environmental pollutants
Car accidents Natural causes Illegal killing
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Healt h monit oring of wolves: aims
© C.A. Szentiks, IZW
Cause of death
assessment of health and condition
Body condition, nutritional state Infectious diseases (viruses, bacteria…) Parasite load Environmental pollutants
Stable isotope analysis
Geographical origin Diet over a longer period
Car accidents Natural causes Illegal killing
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assessment of health and condition
Body condition, nutritional state Infectious diseases (viruses, bacteria…) Parasite load Environmental pollutants
stable isotope analysis
Geographical origin Diet over a longer period
cause of death
development of diagnostics
Fast morphological separation of wolves from domestic dogs
Healt h monit oring of wolves: aims
© C.A. Szentiks, IZW
Car accidents Natural causes Illegal killing
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© C.A. Szentiks, IZW
Healt h monit oring of wolves: Process
1. Del ivery of / col lect ing wolf bodies
From f reshly dead t o rot t en t o bones and bit s of skelet on
© C.A. Szentiks, IZW
© C.A. Szentiks, IZW © C.A. Szentiks, IZW
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1. Del ivery of / col lect ing wolf bodies
2. Comput ed t omography
First assessment
Locat ion of bul let (f ragment s)
Fract ures
Unusual sof t t issue present at ion
Bone densit y
From f reshly dead t o rot t en t o bones and bit s of skelet on
Healt h monit oring of wolves: Process
© G. Fritsch, IZW
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3. Necropsy / dissection
Ident it y: sex, age (cat egory), body measurement s, body mass
© C.A. Szentiks, IZW
Healt h monit oring of wolves: Process
© C.A. Szentiks, IZW
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Ext ernal examinat ion
Document at ion and col lect ion of forensic evidence and t races
o f ibres
o car paint part icles
o ent ry point s of bul let s
o DNA
© C.A. Szentiks, IZW
Healt h monit oring of wolves: Process
3. Necropsy / dissection
© C.A. Szentiks, IZW
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Collect ion (and ident if icat ion) of ect o-parasit es
♀ Ixodes r icinus ♂ Dermacent or
ret iculat us
♂ Chaet opsyl la
t r ichosa
Lipopt ena
cervi
© J. Steinberg, IZW © J. Steinberg, IZW © J. Steinberg,
IZW © J. Steinberg, IZW
Healt h monit oring of wolves: Process
3. Necropsy / dissection
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© C.A. Szentiks, IZW
Dissect ion
Int ernal examinat ion
Ext ract ion of organs
diagnost ics
Ext ract ion & col lect ion of proj ect i les
Ext ract ion of samples
shot pel let s
© C.A. Szentiks, IZW
© C.A. Szentiks, IZW
3. Necropsy / dissection
bul let
Healt h monit oring of wolves: Process
© C.A. Szentiks, IZW
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histology bacteriology virology parasitology toxicology electron microscopy stable isotope analysis
© C.A. Szentiks, IZW
© C.A. Szentiks, IZW
Healt h monit oring of wolves: Process
4. Lab processing
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Infect ious disease diagnost ics
o Parvovirus
o Coronavirus
o Canine Dist emper Virus
o Canines Adenovirus-1 (HCC)
o Rabies Virus
o Pseudorabies Virus (AK)
o Polyomaviruses
o Herpesviruses
o Brucel la
o Francisel la t ularensis
o Lept ospira
o Int est inal parasit es
o Tr ichinel la
o Dirof i lar ia
Healt h monit oring of wolves: Process
4. Lab processing
© C.A. Szentiks, IZW
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Current ly 103 dead wolves
Healt h monit oring of wolves: Result s
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Causes of deat h: t raf f ic accident s
Bite wounds
Healt h monit oring of wolves: Result s
© C.A. Szentiks, IZW
area of lost skin
due t o t raf f ic
accident
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Causes of deat h: nat ural causes
Natural causes
o Fights (wolves wild boar)
o Canine distemper
o septicaemia
o Mange & starvation
(cachexia)
Bite wounds
© C.A. Szentiks, IZW
Healt h monit oring of wolves: Result s Purulent myocardit is
© C.A. Szentiks, IZW
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© G. Frisch, IZW
Projectile particles
© C.A. Szentiks,
IZW
© C.A. Szentiks,
IZW © C.A.
Szentiks, IZW
Causes of deat h: i l legal ki l l ing
© C.A. Szentiks,
IZW
Healt h monit oring of wolves: Result s
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Result s: cause of deat h
Healt h monit oring of wolves: Result s
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Cause of death vs health status
Cause of death
Underlying diseases
Healt h monit oring of wolves: Result s
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Det ect ed diseases / infect ions which were not fat al
o Canine dist emper virus infect ion
Enamel hypoplasia © C.A. Szentiks, IZW
Healt h monit oring of wolves: Result s
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Det ect ed diseases / infect ions which were not fat al
• Mange
© C.A. Szentiks, IZW
Healt h monit oring of wolves: Result s
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Det ect ed diseases / infect ions which were not fat al
o Infection with trichinae, Echinococcus multilocularis, other endoparasites such as Sarcocystis, helminths, protozoans
Sarcosporidiosis
H&E
© C.A. Szentiks, IZW
Healt h monit oring of wolves: Result s
t ape worms
© C.A. Szentiks, IZW
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Not det ect ed
o Rabies
o Pseudo rabies
o Parvovirosis
o Hepat it is cont agiosa canis
Healt h monit oring of wolves: Result s
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Most wolves are healthy: few have underlying diseases
Most die from encountering people (traffic accidents; illegal killing)
Research into and monitoring of health should be intensified
o Identify potential wolf-driven risks of infections in wildlife & domestic animals
o Risk of zoonotic infection for humans
o Exposure to environmental toxins
An intensification of health research and monitoring of German wolves
o would address concerns of various stakeholder groups
o would contribute to a German and central European integrated
conservation management plan
o would assist in preparing responses if health issues arise
Research on healt h of wolves: summary
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© M.L. East, IZW