Infectious diseases are increasingly recognised to be a major threat to biodiversity. Disease management tools such as control of animal movements and vaccination can be used to mitigate the impact and spread of diseases in targeted species. They can reduce the risk of epidemics and in turn the risks of population decline and extinction. However, all species are embedded in communities and inte...

Received: March 20, 2015. Received in revised form: July 31, 2015. Accepted: August 28, 2015. This paper studies the effect of flexible linear torso on the dynamics of passive quadruped bounding. A reduced-order passive and conservative model with linear flexible torso and springy legs is introduced. The model features extensive spine deformation during high-speed bounding, resembling those obs...

Experimentation and evaluation in scenario E3: learning by interaction In this scenario, the ability to learn new skills is focused, in particular the challenge of learning new skills under human supervision, see scenarios E3. The caretaker's supervision will take different forms ranging from providing reward signals, providing a kinesthetic demonstration, and/or giving physical support to prev...

Following dramatic range and population declines, the cheetah is Africa's most endangered large felid. In Namibia, private land managers still trap cheetahs but increasingly consider moving animals instead of killing them. Across Africa, managers have translocated perceived conflict carnivores for decades, but rarely evaluated their actions. We analyse the outcomes of 15 cheetah translocations ...

Mammals use two distinct gallops referred to as the transverse (where landing and take-off are contralateral) and rotary (where landing and take-off are ipsilateral). These two gallops are used by a variety of mammals, but the transverse gallop is epitomized by the horse and the rotary gallop by the cheetah. In this paper, we argue that the fundamental difference between these gaits is determin...

Juvenile captive cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) often present with diarrhoea that is commonly associated with bacterial infections. A species-specific probiotic containing Lactobacillus Group 2 and Enterococcus faecium was prepared from healthy adult cheetahs. Juvenile cheetahs (n = 27) between 8 and 13 months of age were included in the probiotic trial. The animals were observed prior to and afte...

Serum cortisol response was assessed in 8 captive cheetahs, of varying ages, after the intravenous administration of 500 microg of tetracosactide (Synacthen Depot, Novartis, Kempton Park) while maintained under general anaesthesia. In addition, 8 cheetahs were anaesthetised and given an equal volume of saline in order to establish baseline cortisol concentrations at similar stages of anaesthesi...

Serial injections (i.m.) of 10 mg follicle stimulating hormone (FSFI-P) to cheetahs for 5 days followed by human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG, 500 IU) administered on both Days 6 and 7 resulted in ovarian follicle development and/or ovulation in six of seven attempts. One additional female given the same gonadotropin regimen when distinct corpora lutea (CL) were visible on the ovaries failed to ...

The cheetah ranks among the more vocal felids, and is above all a prominent purrer. However, the cheetah also produces a wide variety of other sounds, and this paper takes a closer look at a category of sounds produced by wild cheetahs, agonistic vocalizations, that can be divided into moaning, growling, hissing and spitting sounds.

This paper considers the issues of efficiency and autonomy that are required to make reinforcement learning suitable for real-life control tasks. A real-time reinforcement learning algorithm is presented that repeatedly adjusts the control policy with the use of previously collected samples, and autonomously estimates the appropriate step-sizes for the learning updates. The algorithm is based o...