The H5N1 avian influenza virus outbreak among zoo tigers in mid-October 2004, with 45 animals dead, indicated that the avian influenza virus could cause lethal infection in a large mammalian species apart from humans. In this outbreak investigation, six H5N1 isolates were identified and two isolates (A/Tiger/Thailand/CU-T3/04 and A/Tiger/Thailand/CU-T7/04) were selected for whole genome analysi...

Introduction of nonnative species and consequent genetic introgression of native taxa is a primary conservation concern, particularly for endangered species. Our ongoing molecular study of the endangered Sonora Tiger Salamander, Ambystoma tigrinum stebbinsi (Lowe), has uncovered evidence of introgression by the Barred Tiger Salamander, Ambystoma tigrinum mavortium. We conducted both mitochondri...

When threatened with predation, foraging prey can cease feeding and seek refuge or shift to feeding sites (microhabitats) offering increased safety. Predator-induced microhabitat shifts by large herbivores are of interest to ecologists because spatial patterns of foraging by these animals shape plant communities. The influence of predation risk on microhabitat use by large herbivores in marine ...

Wildlife corridors are components of landscapes, which facilitate the movement of organisms and processes between areas of intact habitat, and thus provide landscape corridor. Corridors are thus regions within a given landscape that generally comprise native vegetation, and connect otherwise fragmented, disconnected, non-contiguous wildlife habitat patches in the landscape. The purpose of desig...

The delay difference model was implemented to fit 21 years of brown tiger prawn (Penaeus esculentus) catch in Moreton Bay by maximum likelihood to assess the status of this stock. Monte Carlo simulations testing of the stock assessment software coded in C++ showed that the model could estimate simultaneously natural mortality in addition to catchability, recruitment and initial biomasses. Appli...

During the second outbreak of avian influenza H5N1 in Thailand, probable horizontal transmission among tigers was demonstrated in the tiger zoo. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of those viruses showed no differences from the first isolate obtained in January 2004. This finding has implications for influenza virus epidemiology and pathogenicity in mammals.

Film discourse is a typical of multimodal discourse which contains many semiotic modalities such as image, text, sound and music. Multimodal discourse analysis (MDA) focuses on how meaning is made through the use of multiple modes of communication as opposed to just language. The MDA assisted film discourse analysis helps understand films through the interaction among different modalities as we...

But the focus of Russian conservationists last month was on the tiger, when the first tiger summit was held in St Petersburg. The high profile conservation conference was called by the Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin, and chief of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, and aimed to mobilise political, financial and celebrity support for a goal of doubling the number of wild tigers by 2022. Cel...

During the reproductive season, sea turtles use a restricted area in the vicinity of their nesting beaches, making them vulnerable to predation. At Raine Island (Australia), the highest density green turtle Chelonia mydas rookery in the world, tiger sharks Galeocerdo cuvier have been observed to feed on green turtles, and it has been suggested that they may specialise on such air-breathing prey...

In this paper, we quantify the economic worth of celebrity endorsements by studying the sales of endorsed products. We do so with the use of two unique data sets consisting of monthly golf ball sales and professional golfer (celebrity) quality levels. In particular, we specifically look at the impact Tiger Woods has had on sales of Nike golf balls. Our identification of the causal effect of cel...