Dataset Information

Implications for Conservation of Collection of Mediterranean Spur-Thighed Tortoise as Pets in Morocco: Residents' Perceptions, Habits, and Knowledge.

ABSTRACT: The trading and collection of wild animals as pets may be cause for concern regarding animal welfare and species conservation. These concerns can be exemplified by Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca), a long-living species whose use as pets is long established. The human dimension plays a major role in the wildlife for the pet collection, and is particularly important in countries like Morocco, where this might pose a threat to the conservation of the species involved. This study, which is based on a questionnaire survey (n = 480 participants), documents the fact that many people in Morocco keep tortoises as pets: 55% of the participants in the survey and over two tortoises/person. Importantly, most captive tortoises, particularly juveniles, had been collected directly from wild populations by their owners (42%, n = 264). In general, the tortoise owners had limited knowledge of their tortoises' habits and requirements, although rural people were more likely to acknowledge that the tortoise is a wild and threatened species. Our study reveals that non-commercial collection is a common activity in Morocco that may threaten wild tortoise populations and hence species conservation, and it could have consequences regarding the welfare of the animals. We were also able to identify the profile of people towards whom education campaigns should be directed in order to reduce the number of tortoises collected from wild populations. Additional field research should also be conducted to quantify the impact of pet collection on wild tortoise populations.

SUBMITTER: Segura A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7070921 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Implications for Conservation of Collection of Mediterranean Spur-Thighed Tortoise as Pets in Morocco: Residents' Perceptions, Habits, and Knowledge.

Segura Amalia A Delibes-Mateos Miguel M Acevedo Pelayo P

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI 20200207 2

The trading and collection of wild animals as pets may be cause for concern regarding animal welfare and species conservation. These concerns can be exemplified by Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoise (<i>Testudo graeca</i>), a long-living species whose use as pets is long established. The human dimension plays a major role in the wildlife for the pet collection, and is particularly important in countries like Morocco, where this might pose a threat to the conservation of the species involved. Th ...[more]

PMID: 32046121

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Project description:Habitat loss and fragmentation are recognized as affecting the nature of biotic interactions, although we still know little about such changes for reptilian herbivores and their hindgut nematodes, in which endosymbiont interactions could range from mutualistic to commensal and parasitic. We investigated the potential cost and benefit of endosymbiont interactions between the spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca L.) and adult oxyurid nematodes (Pharyngodonidae order Oxyurida) in scrublands of southern Spain. For this, we assessed the association between richness and abundance of oxyurid species with tortoises' growth rates and body traits (weight and carapace length) across levels of habitat loss (low, intermediate and high). Furthermore, by using an intrapopulation ecological network approach, we evaluated the structure and diversity of tortoise-oxyurid interactions by focusing on oxyurid species infesting individual tortoises with different body traits and growth rates across habitats. Overall, tortoise body traits were not related to oxyurid infestation across habitats. Oxyurid richness and abundance however, showed contrasting relationships with growth rates across levels of habitat loss. At low habitat loss, oxyurid infestation was positively associated with growth rates (suggesting a mutualistic oxyurid-tortoise relationship), but the association became negative at high habitat loss (suggesting a parasitic relationship). Furthermore, no relationship was observed when habitat loss was intermediate (suggesting a commensal relationship). The network analysis showed that the oxyurid community was not randomly assembled but significantly nested, revealing a structured pattern for all levels of habitat loss. The diversity of interactions was lowest at low habitat loss. The intermediate level, however, showed the greatest specialization, which indicates that individuals were infested by fewer oxyurids in this landscape, whereas at high habitat loss individuals were the most generalized hosts. Related to the latter, connectance was greatest at high habitat loss, reflecting a more uniform spread of interactions among oxyurid species. At an individual level, heavier and larger tortoises tended to show a greater number of oxyurid species interactions. We conclude that there is an association between habitat loss and the tortoise-oxyurid interaction. Although we cannot infer causality in their association, we hypothesize that such oxyurids could have negative, neutral and positive consequences for tortoise growth rates. Ecological network analysis can help in the understanding of the nature of such changes in tortoise-oxyurid interactions by showing how generalized or specialized such interactions are under different environmental conditions and how vulnerable endosymbiont interactions might be to further habitat loss.

Dataset Information

Implications for Conservation of Collection of Mediterranean Spur-Thighed Tortoise as Pets in Morocco: Residents' Perceptions, Habits, and Knowledge.

Publications

Implications for Conservation of Collection of Mediterranean Spur-Thighed Tortoise as Pets in Morocco: Residents' Perceptions, Habits, and Knowledge.

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