Acta Scientific Veterinary Sciences (ISSN: 2582-3183)

Research Article Volume 3 Issue 10

Traumatized Reptiles: A Retrospective Study of Wild Reptiles Examined in Northeastern Brazil

Roberta da Rocha Braga1* and Antônio Rafael Lima Ramos1,2

1Academic Laboratory of Wildlife Pathology (LAPS), Ophiology Department (NUROF), Federal University of Ceará (UFC), Brazil
2Systematic, Biodiversity Use and Conservation Post Graduation Program, Federal University of Ceará (UFC), Brazil

*Corresponding Author: Roberta da Rocha Braga, Academic Laboratory of Wildlife Pathology (LAPS), Ophiology Department (NUROF), Federal University of Ceará (UFC), Brazil.

Received: August 16, 2021; Published: September 20, 2021

Abstract

  Physical injuries represent one of the main threats to free-living animals, and interactions with humans perform the leading cause of their admission in veterinary care. In the USA, the main causes of physical injuries in reptiles and amphibians were run over, fishing or gardening accidents, and predation by domestic carnivores. Anthropic actions potentially increase the morbidity and mortality in reptiles due to traumatic injuries and can cause populations to be isolated in forest remnants, such as urban parks. Fortaleza is a metropolis in northeastern Brazil, that has progressively lost its vegetation cover due to urbanization processes. However, as the ERA "Matinha do Pici", few urban parks stand out as a hotspot of local fauna conservation. The objective of this work was to report and characterize a sample of traumatized reptiles, received, and examined at LAPS-UFC, in Fortaleza, from 2010 to 2020. Thirty-four cases were included, mostly lizards from the ERA "Matinha do Pici", with diverse blunt force lesions, mainly caused by domestic carnivores' predation, run over or human predation.

Keywords: Wildlife; Physical Injuries; Predation; Roadkill; Ceará

References

  1. Animal Ethics. Physical Injuries in Wild Animals (2020).
  2. Grogan A and A Kelly. "A Review of RSPCA Research into Wildlife Rehabilitation”. Veterinary Record8 (2013): 211-211.
  3. Molina-López Rafael Angel., et al. "Morbidity, Outcomes and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Wildlife Rehabilitation in Catalonia (Spain)”. PLOS ONE, edited by Antoni Margalida 12.7 (2017): e0181331.
  4. Tribe Andrew and Peter R Brown. "The Role of Wildlife Rescue Groups in the Care and Rehabilitation of Australian Fauna”. Human Dimensions of Wildlife2 (2000): 69-85.
  5. Hartup Barry K. "Rehabilitation of Native Reptiles and Amphibians in DuPage County, Illinois”. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 1 (1996): 109-112.
  6. Brown JD and Sleeman JM. “Morbidity and mortality of reptiles admitted to the Wildlife Center of Virginia, 1991 to 2000”. Journal of Wildlife Diseases4 (2002): 699-705.
  7. French SS., et al. “Town and Country Reptiles: A Review of Reptilian Responses to Urbanization”. Integrative and Comparative Biology 5 (2018): 948-966.
  8. McDonnell MJ and Pickett STA. “Ecosystem structure and function along urban-rural gradients: an unexploited opportunity for ecology”. Ecology 71 (1990): 1232-1237.
  9. Cook RP. “Potential and limitations of herpetofaunal restoration in an urban landscape”. In 'Urban Herpetology'. (Eds J. C. Mitchell, R. E. J. Brown and B. Bartholomew (2008): 465-478. (Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles: Salt Lake City, UT.
  10. “Ceará”. Informações Demográficas, Territoriais e Socioeconômicas (2021).
  11. Cruz Andressa Melany Lima da. Análise da cobertura vegetal, das áreas verdes e dos espaços livres de Fortaleza - Ceará. Dissertação de Mestrado, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Desenvolvimento e Meio Ambiente, Universidade Federal do Ceará (2009).
  12. Lei Municipal N°10.463 de 31 de Março de 2016. Dispõe sobre a criação da Área de Relevante Interesse Ecológico - ARIE da Matinha do Pici, e dá outras providências.
  13. Coleção Herpetológica da Universidade Federal do Ceará. 2021, www.nurof.ufc.br.
  14. Pasquini Bruna Bianchi., et al. “Plano de Manejo Do Parque Estadual Do Cocó. (2020).
  15. Ressel L., et al. "Blunt Force Trauma in Veterinary Forensic Pathology”. Veterinary Pathology 5 (2016): 941-961.
  16. Tremori Tália Missen., et al. “Classificação Comparada Das Lesões de Ordem Mecânica Segundo a Traumatologia Forense No Exame de Corpo de Delito Em Animais”. Revista Brasileira de Criminalística2 (2018): 20-25.
  17. "Área física" (2021).
  18. Mariz AF. Impacto das espécies exóticas invasoras sobre a biodiversidade vegetal: um estudo de caso na unidade de conservação ARIE “Matinha do Pici”, Fortaleza-CE. Monografia de graduação em Ciências Ambientais, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brasil (2019): 91.
  19. Guilhon BF. Fauna invisível: monitoramento da fauna atropelada no Campus do Pici. Monografia de graduação em Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brasil (2019): 30.
  20. Moura MR., et al. “O relacionamento entre pessoas e serpentes no leste de Minas Gerais, sudeste do Brasil”. Biota Neotropica4 (2010): 133-142.
  21. Mitchell JC and Brown REJ. “Urban herpetology: global overview, synthesis, and future directions. In 'Urban Herpetology'”. (Eds J. C. Mitchell, R. E. J. Brown and B. Bartholomew.) (2018): 1-30. (Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles: Salt Lake City, UT.).
  22. Teixeira CP., et al. “Evaluating patterns of human-reptile conflicts in an urban environment”. Wildlife Research 42 (2015): 570-578.
  23. Murmann Denise C., et al. "A Comparison of Animal Jaws and Bite Mark Patterns”. Journal of Forensic Sciences 4 (2006): 846-860.
  24. Loss Scott R., et al. "The Impact of Free-Ranging Domestic Cats on Wildlife of the United States”. Nature Communications1 (2013): 1396.
  25. Divers Stephen J. "Environmental Diseases and Traumatic Injuries of Reptiles”. MSD Veterinary Manual (2020).
  26. Ashley EP and Robinson JT. “Road mortality of amphibians, reptiles and other wildlife on the Long Point Causeway, Lake Erie, Ontario”. Canadian Field-naturalist 110 (1996): 403-412.
  27. Tanner D and Perry J. “Road effects on abundance and fitness of Galapagos lava lizards (Microlophus albemarlensis)”. Journal of Environmental Management 85 (2007): 270-278.
  28. Cureton James C and Raelynn Deaton. "Hot Moments and Hot Spots: Identifying Factors Explaining Temporal and Spatial Variation in Turtle Road Mortality”. The Journal of Wildlife Management5 (2012): 1047-1052.
  29. Nyhus Philip J. "Human-Wildlife Conflict and Coexistence”. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 1 (2016): 143-171.
  30. Fernandes-Ferreira Hugo., et al. "Hunting of Herpetofauna in Montane, Coastal, and Drylands Areas of Northeastern Brazil”. Herpetological Conservation and Biology3 (2013): 652-666.
  31. Schulze C., et al. "Electrical Injuries in Animals: Causes, Pathogenesis, and Morphological Findings”. Veterinary Pathology5 (2016): 1018-1029.

Citation

Citation: Roberta da Rocha Braga and Antônio Rafael Lima Ramos. “Traumatized Reptiles: A Retrospective Study of Wild Reptiles Examined in Northeastern Brazil". Acta Scientific Veterinary Sciences 3.10 (2021): 28-32.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2021 Roberta da Rocha Braga and Antônio Rafael Lima Ramos. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.




Metrics

Acceptance rate35%
Acceptance to publication20-30 days
Impact Factor1.008

Indexed In





News and Events


  • Certification for Review
    Acta Scientific certifies the Editors/reviewers for their review done towards the assigned articles of the respective journals.
  • Submission Timeline for Upcoming Issue
    The last date for submission of articles for regular Issues is December 25, 2024.
  • Publication Certificate
    Authors will be issued a "Publication Certificate" as a mark of appreciation for publishing their work.
  • Best Article of the Issue
    The Editors will elect one Best Article after each issue release. The authors of this article will be provided with a certificate of "Best Article of the Issue"

Contact US