학술논문

IMPACT OF ANTHROPOGENIC STRESSORS IN THE MORTALITY OF ENDANGERED VERTEBRATE SPECIES: A 10-YEAR STUDY IN NORTHERN PORTUGAL
Document Type
article
Source
Exploratory Animal and Medical Research, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 14-23 (2021)
Subject
endangered animals
wildlife mortality
pls-pm
anthropogenic pressures
conservation
Veterinary medicine
SF600-1100
Language
English
ISSN
2277-470X
2319-247X
Abstract
This study was focused to gather the data available concerning the mortality of 440 wild animals admitted in the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in Parque Biológico de Gaia from 2008-2017. Only the species with unfavorable conservation status according to the Portuguese Red Book of Vertebrates were included. The animals belonged to the classes Mammalia (5.68%), Aves (86.14%), Reptilia (7.95%), and Amphibia (0.22%), 19 different orders. Overall, the most common cause of death was trauma (72%), mainly due to an unknown origin (75.5%) and shooting (2.5%). The nontraumatic causes were mainly of unknown origin (n= 18.4%) and due to nutritional problems (4.7%). Amongst the identified pressures, the proximity to a high density of small and medium companies was the most significant. There were high coefficients of redetermination (R2>0.8) which relates pressures with endangered animals’ mortality. It is, therefore, possible to conclude that according to our results human activity has an important impact on the mortality of these species.