Antioxidant enzymes protect cells against oxidative stress and are associated with stress tolerance and longevity. In animals, variation in their activities has been shown to relate to species ecology, but in plants, comparative studies with wild species are rare. We investigated activities of five antioxidant enzymes - ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR), per...

Wild yaks, the closest ancestor to domestic yak, are perhaps the most threatened animals in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. By the 1970’s, wild yaks were on the verge of extinction, but due to protective measures by the Chinese government some wild herds are now reported at elevations between 4000 and 4500 m. Wild yaks and other wild ungulates of the Tibetan Plateau are gaining increasing attention ...

Transmission of pathogens commonly carried by domestic sheep and goats poses a serious threat to bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) populations. All-age pneumonia die-offs usually ensue, followed by asymptomatic carriage of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae by some of the survivors. Lambs born into these chronically infected populations often succumb to pneumonia, but adults are usually healthy. Surprising...

Protozoa species were identified in rumen contents of four domestic sheep (Ovis aries) from South Africa. All animals were fed a forage diet which consisted of 50% lucerne and 50% teff hay. Ten new host records were identified, bringing the total number of species and forms observed in sheep in South Africa to 30. The occurrence and geographic distribution of ciliate protozoa in both domest...

Functional roles of domestic and wild host populations in infectious keratoconjunctivitis (IKC) epidemiology have been extensively discussed claiming a domestic reservoir for the more susceptible wild hosts, however, based on limited data. With the aim to better assess IKC epidemiology in complex host-pathogen alpine systems, the long-term infectious dynamics and molecular epidemiology of Mycop...

Abstract Infectious disease transmission from domestic sheep threatens the persistence of bighorn ( Ovis canadensis) populations throughout western North America. Quantifying spatial separation between 2 species is an essential component in assessing risk transmission. We present a analysis to evaluate infectious risks for endangered Sierra Nevada O. c. sierrae ; hereafter sheep). Our approach ...