Explore the vast range of titles available.

This stunningly illustrated and easy-to-use field guide covers every species of the world's canids, from the Gray Wolf of North America to the dholes of Asia, from African jackals to the South American Bush Dog. It features more than 150 superb color plates depicting every kind of canid, and detailed facing-page species accounts that describe key indentification features, morphology, distribution, and subspeciation, habitat, and conservation status in the wild. The book also includes distribution maps and tips on where to observe each species, making Canids of the World the most comprehensive and user-friendly guide to these intruiging and spectacular mammals. -- Back cover.

Lions have often been discussed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild flora and fauna (CITES). While CITES decisions on species trade regimes are ostensibly based on science, species data are often inconclusive and political considerations inevitably determine outcomes. We present the context of lion conservation and the technical and political processes of CITES to illuminate how a failed uplisting proposal nonetheless resulted in an unprecedented trade restriction as well as conservation initiatives beyond the CITES trade function. We conclude on the limitations of science to guide future directions of CITES debates, leaving politics and ethics to shape decision making.

African buffalo the primary source of foot and mouth disease (FMD) infection for livestock in South Africa. Predicting the spatial drivers and patterns of buffalo–cattle contact risk is crucial for developing effective FMD mitigation strategies. Therefore, the goal of this study was to predict fine-scale, seasonal contact risk between cattle and buffaloes straying into communal lands adjacent to Kruger National Park. This study provides the first application of the cumulative resistant kernel method to calculate contact risk between two species. We built resistance surfaces from resource utilization models of buffalo and cattle and calculated the intersection of resistant kernels of the two species. This revealed that the contact risk is influenced by seasonality, water sources and fence strength, and the magnitude of contact risk is largely driven by buffalo and cattle dispersal abilities. The probability of contact was higher in the dry season, with hotspots along a main river and the weakest parts of the perimeter fence. In the wet season, contact risk was more diffuse and less concentrated along the main river and near settlements. The new approach of intersecting cumulative resistant kernels of two species can produce quantitative predictive maps of animals’ contact risk and help identify potential hotspots of disease transmission.

Rapid human population growth in Ethiopia has resulted in the degradation of vast areas of wildlife habitats due to agricultural expansion, infrastructure development, and urbanization. The Omo Valley in the southwestern part of Ethiopia has been particularly affected by land use changes, but despite its ecological importance, few relevant studies have been conducted there in the last two decades. Our aim is to provide updated and scientifically verifiable information for medium and large terrestrial mammal species richness and community structure in four Protected Areas in the Omo Valley. We used bycatch camera trap data from a large carnivore survey and nonparametric incidence‐based estimators for data analysis. A total of 52 mammals from nine orders and eighteen families were recorded, of which approximately 29.4% are listed as globally threatened and one as an endemic subspecies. We present the current species lists and compare them with historical records and observed the highest species number in Omo National Park, even though nine species were no longer recorded there. We applied the Morisita‐Horn similarity index to reveal a high degree of overlap in mammalian species among adjacent Protected Areas, but less overlap between Protected Areas far from each other, indicating distance decay of similarity. The distribution of feeding guilds was significantly different across Protected Areas, and carnivore detection frequency was relatively low in Tama Community Conservation Area compared to our other study sites. This study confirmed the conservation importance of the area in terms of mammalian diversity, albeit with low detection levels, especially of large carnivores, underscoring the importance of promoting landscape connectivity to maintain population viability across the Omo Valley. From our experience, the use of camera trap bycatch data proved to be effective in surveying large‐ and medium‐sized mammalian species, but less so in capturing the rarer species in the area. This study confirmed the conservation importance of the Omo Valley in terms of mammalian diversity, albeit with low detection levels, especially of large carnivores, underscoring the importance of promoting landscape connectivity to maintain population viability across the Omo Valley. Mammalian diversity of the Omo Valley showed a high degree of overlap in mammalian species among adjacent Protected Areas, but less overlap between Protected Areas far from each other, indicating distance decay of similarity. From our experience, the use of camera trap bycatch data proved to be effective in surveying large and medium‐sized mammalian species, but less so in capturing the rarer species in the area.

Large carnivores in Ethiopia are declining in numbers and range due to human population pressure, habitat fragmentation and loss, compounded by low political interest for conservation. To conserve large carnivores, it is important to study the impact of these factors on their occupancy. For this purpose, un‐baited camera traps were deployed in Chebera Churchura, Maze and Omo National Parks and Tama Community Conservation Area using a 25 km 2 grid for 2‐month periods in each Protected Area from 2020 to 2022. We tested the effects of environmental and anthropogenic covariates on carnivore occupancy while accounting for imperfect detection using a multispecies occupancy model. We recorded all six large carnivores from Omo Valley. However, the number of large carnivores and their level of detection vary across the study sites; Omo National Park is the only Protected Area where all species were recorded. Maze National Park had the highest number of lion detections and the lowest number of leopard and spotted hyaena detections, but its small size led to inconclusive results from any further analysis. Due to low densities, detections were insufficient to analyse the occupancy of lion, cheetah, striped hyaena and African wild dog in Omo and Chebera Churchura National Parks and the occupancy of any large carnivores in Maze and Tama. The mean marginal occupancy probability of the leopard was highest in Chebera Churchura and lowest in Omo, and this was the reverse for the spotted hyaena. The occupancy of the spotted hyaena and leopard was determined by prey in Omo and by elevation in Chebera Churchura National Parks. Furthermore, both species visit areas with human settlement in Omo and Chebera Churchura National Parks. Practical implication : We explore strategies to improve large carnivore conservation in the area. We highlight the limitations of camera trapping and the importance of conserving large carnivores in the larger landscape of Omo Valley.

Ecological terms like mesopredator and mesocarnivore have distinct meanings, the former denoting trophic rank, the latter diet composition. Yet these terms are frequently conflated, leading to conceptual ambiguity. We argue for returning to original definitions and advocate for context‐sensitive, precise language to improve clarity and accuracy in scientific communication about fundamental ecological characteristics of species. Ecological terms like mesopredator and mesocarnivore have distinct meanings, the former denoting trophic rank, the latter diet composition, yet are frequently conflated, leading to conceptual ambiguity. We argue for returning to original definitions and advocate for context‐sensitive, precise language to improve clarity and accuracy in scientific communication about fundamental ecological characteristics of species.

The Himalayan wolf Canis sp. and snow leopard Panthera uncia are found in the Nepalese Himalayas where conservation efforts target the latter but not the former. We conducted semistructured questionnaire surveys of 71 residents in upper Humla, upper Dolpa, and Kanchenjunga Conservation Area (KCA) during 2014–2016 to understand people's knowledge, perceptions, attitudes and interactions with these two carnivores. We fitted a cumulative link mixed model to predict Likert scale ordinal responses from a series of Generalized Linear Mixed Models. Overall, attitudes were more positive toward snow leopards than wolves. Livestock depredation was the main predictor of the general negative attitude toward wolves (Estimate = −1.30873; p = .029866) but there was no evidence for an effect for snow leopards (Estimate = −0.3640; p = .631446). Agropastoralists had more negative attitudes than respondents with other occupations toward both carnivores and men had more positive attitudes than women. Among our study areas, respondents in the community‐owned KCA had the most positive attitudes. Our findings illustrate the need to reduce human–carnivore conflict through a combined approach of education, mitigation, and economic cost‐sharing with respectful engagement of local communities. Specifically, to encourage more villagers to participate in livestock insurance schemes, they should be improved by including all large carnivores and adjusting compensation to the market value of a young replacement of the depredated livestock type. Carnivore conservation interventions should target the whole predator guild to achieve long‐term success and to protect the Himalayan ecosystem at large. The first author conducting a questionnaire survey with a yak herder in Kanchenjunga Conservation Area.

Wildlife rehabilitation is widely practiced to help injured animals recover and return to the wild, particularly benefiting endangered species that have small local populations. Here, we report the first case of a rehabilitated Ethiopian wolf that was successfully released back in the Simien Mountains. Through this case study, we documented the clinical treatment provided, recovery, and behavior of this individual during captivity, and post‐release monitoring in the wild using a GPS collar. After 51 days of captivity, during which a bone fracture in the hind leg caused by a gunshot was treated, the wolf was released back. After remaining with his pack members for 22 days, the wolf dispersed and settled in an unoccupied territory, where he paired with a female and successfully sired a litter. This study provides important insights on rehabilitation and post‐release monitoring that will inform conservation management of the Ethiopian wolf. Wildlife rehabilitation is widely practiced to help injured animals recover and return to the wild, particularly benefiting endangered species that have small local populations. Here, we report the first case of a rehabilitated Ethiopian wolf that was successfully released back in the Simien Mountains. After 51 days of captivity, during which a bone fracture in the hind leg was treated, the wolf was returned to the wild. After remaining with his pack members for ca. 22 days, the wolf dispersed and settled in an unoccupied territory, where he paired with a female and successfully raised a litter.

Unlike most canids, versatile and capable of navigating vast landscapes, endangered Ethiopian wolves (Canis simensis) are endemic to an archipelago of Afroalpine islands. As a habitat specialist, the Ethiopian wolf is ill‐equipped to move across a highly transformed and densely populated agriculture matrix. Hard borders imposed by expanding subsistence agriculture lock Ethiopian wolves into further isolation, with few opportunities for dispersal and recolonisation. We report and evaluate empirical information from long‐term monitoring across the species' range to understand processes of habitat loss, recolonisation and extinction in recent and historical times, and to assess what conservation measures and strategies would ensure their persistence. Ethiopian wolves occurred in six isolated populations, totalling 454 wolves (population sizes ranged between 281 and 24) occupying 2700 km2 of Afroalpine habitat. We describe three population extinctions and three local extinctions within fragmented populations, and present evidence of factors accelerating the extinction process, such as disease (rabies and canine distemper virus), persecution, road kills and poisoning. Of all the suitable habitat available to wolves, 86% was included within nine protected areas, including three new Community Conservation Areas and two national park extensions in the past 10 years. As all Ethiopian wolf populations are small and vulnerable to stochastic events and environmental perturbation, conservation efforts to ensure the long‐term survival of the species need to integrate: 1) support for protected areas to halt agriculture encroachment and to regulate sustainable uses of natural resources; 2) efforts to minimise all causes of mortality, including but not limited to disease; and 3) conservation translocations to overcome fundamental barriers to dispersal in the highlands of Ethiopia.

Recovering populations of large carnivores impact the people that live alongside them, sometimes leading to conflict and lethal retaliation. One such carnivore, the black caiman (Melanosuchus niger) has been implicated in the destruction of fishing equipment, depredation of livestock and pets, and attacks on humans. In order to understand how various stakeholder groups are affected by the negative impacts of living alongside caiman, and their resulting attitudes and behaviors towards caiman, we conducted semistructured interviews in seven Indigenous communities in southwestern Guyana from November 2017 to October 2019. We used logistic and ordinal regression to identify demographic indicators of fishing behavior and factors that are associated with negative attitudes and antagonistic behavior. Loss of pets in addition to an effect of gender, rather than competition overfishing resources (as hypothesized) may drive conflict between Indigenous communities and black caiman. We propose site differences, such as ecotourism may affect attitudes about and behavior towards caiman. The presence of impacts on communities and retaliatory behavior indicates that human–wildlife and wildlife–human impacts involving black caiman may be a concern for the recovery of the species' populations, and the communities that coexist with them.