Smith Kathryn A, Campbell G Douglas, Pearl David L, Jardine Claire M, Salgado-Bierman Fernando, Nemeth Nicole M
1 Department of Pathobiology, University of Guelph, 491 Gordon St., Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada.
2 Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative, University of Guelph, 491 Gordon St., Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada.
J Wildl Dis. 2018 Apr;54(2):261-271. doi: 10.7589/2017-07-157. Epub 2017 Nov 20.
The causes of mortality of free-ranging raptors range from anthropogenic (e.g., trauma) to dynamic environmental conditions that may affect habitat suitability and prey availability. The province of Ontario, Canada, is vulnerable to anthropogenic and environmental changes because of its northern latitudes and expanding human populations, both of which may impact wildlife. We retrospectively evaluated diagnostic data from raptors submitted to the Ontario/Nunavut node of the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative (CWHC) from 1991 to 2014 ( n=1,448). Submissions encompassed 29 species, most commonly the Red-tailed Hawk ( Buteo jamaicensis; n=308) and Great Horned Owl ( Bubo virginianus; n=237). Trauma ( n=716) accounted for the majority of deaths among all species, followed by emaciation ( n=241). Traumatic deaths were most commonly attributed to collisions with stationary objects, and the odds of a diagnosis of trauma were significantly higher in adult versus immature raptors. The odds of being diagnosed with emaciation were significantly higher in males than in females but not in any age class or season. Mortality was less commonly attributed to infectious diseases ( n=214), for which West Nile virus (WNV) was the most common etiology, making up 53.1% of infectious diagnoses after its 2001 arrival in Ontario. The odds of a raptor being diagnosed with an infectious disease were significantly greater in summer and fall versus spring. Immature Red-tailed Hawks had significantly greater odds of being diagnosed with WNV compared to adults. These results reveal that human- and potentially environmentally-associated deaths (e.g., trauma and emaciation, respectively) are commonly diagnosed among Ontario raptors submitted to the CWHC. Infectious diseases are less commonly diagnosed, but WNV may have underlying, ongoing impacts on the health of some raptor species.
野生猛禽的死亡原因多种多样，从人为因素（如外伤）到可能影响栖息地适宜性和猎物可获得性的动态环境条件。加拿大安大略省因其北纬地区和不断增长的人口而容易受到人为和环境变化的影响，这两者都可能对野生动物产生影响。我们回顾性评估了1991年至2014年提交给加拿大野生动物健康合作社（CWHC）安大略省/努纳武特节点的猛禽诊断数据（n = 1448）。提交的样本涵盖29个物种，最常见的是红尾鹰（Buteo jamaicensis；n = 308）和大角鸮（Bubo virginianus；n = 237）。外伤（n = 716）是所有物种中死亡的主要原因，其次是消瘦（n = 241）。外伤性死亡最常见的原因是与静止物体碰撞，成年猛禽被诊断为外伤的几率显著高于未成年猛禽。被诊断为消瘦的几率在雄性中显著高于雌性，但在任何年龄组或季节中均无此差异。死亡较少归因于传染病（n = 214），其中西尼罗河病毒（WNV）是最常见的病因，在2001年传入安大略省后，占传染病诊断的53.1%。猛禽在夏季和秋季被诊断为传染病的几率显著高于春季。与成年红尾鹰相比，未成年红尾鹰被诊断感染西尼罗河病毒的几率显著更高。这些结果表明，在提交给CWHC的安大略省猛禽中，常见的诊断是与人类和潜在环境相关的死亡（分别如外伤和消瘦）。传染病的诊断较少见，但西尼罗河病毒可能对某些猛禽物种的健康产生潜在的持续影响。
