The goals of this study were: 1. To establish baseline information on the distribution, relative abundance, and minimum number alive of river otters in Kenai Fjords National Park (KFNP) using latrine site surveys and DNA fingerprinting of fecal samples. 2. To establish baseline information on the distribution, relative abundance, and minimum number alive of river otters in Prince William Sound ...

Optimal collection and preservation protocols for fecal DNA genotyping are not firmly established. We evaluated 3 factors that influence microsatellite genotyping success of fecal DNA extracted from coyote (Canis latrans) scats: 1) age of scat, 2) preservative, and 3) diet content.We quantified genotyping success by comparing rates of allelic dropout, false alleles, and failed amplifications am...

Surveys using conservation detection dogs have grown increasingly popular as an efficient means to gather monitoring data, particularly for elusive and low-density species such as carnivores. Working with dogs can greatly increase the area surveyed for wildlife and the detection rate of survey targets. Due to the confounding effects of scent dispersion and dog movement, however, it can be diffi...

The US Fish and Wildlife Service's (USFWS) Red Wolf Recovery Program recognizes hybridization with coyotes as the primary threat to red wolf recovery. Efforts to curb or stop hybridization are hampered in two ways. First, hybrid individuals are difficult to identify based solely on morphology. Second, managers need to effectively search 6000 km(2) for the presence of coyotes and hybrids. We dev...

Accurate data on presence/absence and spatial distribution for fauna species is key to their conservation. Collecting such data, however, can be time consuming, laborious and costly, in particular for fauna species characterised by low densities, large home ranges, cryptic or elusive behaviour. For such species, including koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), indicators of species presence can be a ...

Abundance of ingested debris by seals has been mentioned as a potential indicator of marine litter in the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). A sample of 107 stomachs, 100 intestines and 125 scats of harbour seals from the Netherlands was analysed for the presence of plastics. Incidence of plastic was 11% for stomachs, 1% for intestines, and 0% for scats. Younger animals, up to...

Top carnivores play an important role in maintaining energy flow and functioning of the ecosystem, and a clear understanding of their diets and foraging strategies is essential for developing effective conservation strategies. In this paper, we compared diets and prey selection of snow leopards and wolves based on analyses of genotyped scats (snow leopards n = 182, wolves n = 57), collected wit...