Even though people have owned a wide variety of companion animals since times of old, the modern craze for increasingly exotic and little-known species raises a number of questions, including some of an ethical nature. While trade in exotic animals is certainly profitable for these who practise it, it poses great risks of varying types: ecological risks, threats to biodiversity conservation and...

Food preference describes the behavior of selecting between items for consumption; reinforcer effectiveness is the functional effect of that item in controlling behavior. Food preference and reinforcer effectiveness were examined in giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and African elephants (Loxodonta africana). A pairwise comparison between food items was used to assess food preference. High-...

Introduction of exotic animals provides some degree of both benefit and risk. The risks of exotic shrimp introduction include the possible establishment of a disease in domestic or wild shrimp stocks. Suitable management approaches must be considered. If a disease is suspected but not clearly established because of the lack of research, it is best to consider some precautions. For intercontinen...

OBJECTIVES To conduct on-site assessments of public health implications at key European pet markets. DESIGN Observational study of visitor behaviour at stalls that displayed and sold animals, mainly amphibians and reptiles, to assess potential contamination risk from zoonotic pathogens. We noted initial modes of contact as 'direct' (handling animals) as well as 'indirect' (touching presumed c...

Oropharyngeal tularemia was identified as the cause of a die-off in captured wild prairie dogs at a commercial exotic animal facility in Texas. From this point source, Francisella tularensis-infected prairie dogs were traced to animals distributed to the Czech Republic and to a Texas pet shop. F. tularensis culture isolates were recovered tissue specimens from 63 prairie dogs, including one eac...

We diagnosed leptospirosis in 2 patients exposed to southern flying squirrels imported from the United States to Japan. Patients worked with exotic animals in their company. Leptospira isolates from 1 patient and 5 of 10 squirrels at the company were genetically and serologically identical and were identified as Leptospira kirschneri.

density of rhizobium population in faba bean (vicia faba l.) fields of wollo area (asketema, gashana, kotem, major and sekota) northern ethiopia was studied. the highest population of rhizobia was found at major and the least at sekota regions. the native rhizobial strains isolated from the northern parts of the country tolerated a higher salt concentration (5% nacl) than the exotic rhizobial s...

Movies and science fiction novels for years have depicted ancient and exotic animals resurrected from extinction by mad scientists and out-of-thisworld phenomena. While in actuality we have yet to see any such resurrections, the theoretical results once thought to be science fiction fantasy have come a step closer to reality as powerful technology has been developed which allows the production ...

We report an outbreak of cowpox virus among monkeys at a sanctuary for exotic animals. Serologic analysis and polymerase chain reaction were performed on blood and swab samples from different rodent species trapped at the sanctuary during the outbreak. Sequence comparison and serologic results showed that brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) transmitted the virus to monkeys.

this study was conducted to determine taxonomic feature of fishes from the headwaters of three riverine systems in kohgiluyeh and boyer-ahmad province (k & b) in southwestern iran during 2011 to 2013. fifteen species belonging to 4 families, and 3 orders from the karun river system, 10 species belonging to 4 families and 3 orders from the zohreh river system and 8 species belonging to 2 fam...