Herein, we describe the management of nasopharyngitis caused by Schizophyllum commune infection in a captive cheetah. Computed tomography revealed a nodule in the nasal cavity and pharynx, and an ...endoscopic biopsy was performed. As a result, the nodule was surgically resected because of a suspected carcinoma. However, the surgical specimen was histologically re-evaluated and a fungal granuloma was diagnosed. Sequence analysis of DNA from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples revealed S. commune infection. The cheetah was administered fluconazole orally for 73 days. However, the drug was ineffective and itraconazole was administered for 14 days. Symptoms such as nasal discharge and sneezing have completely resolved for 4 years.
Animals can reduce predation risk by increasing antipredator behaviours in areas of high long-term risk (risky places hypothesis), escalating antipredator behaviours when exposed to immediate risks ...(risky times hypothesis), varying responses to short-term risk based on long-term risk (risky times and risky places hypothesis, or predation risk allocation hypothesis) or altering antipredator behaviours based on habitat characteristics (habitat complexity risk mediation hypothesis). Most research on responses to predation risk has come from studies on herbivore prey, whereas little research has focused on mesopredator behavioural responses to risk. We studied antipredator behaviours of mesopredator cheetahs, Acinonyx jubatus, exposed to top predator risk from lions, Panthera leo, and leopards, Panthera pardus, by using a playback experiment to manipulate short-term predation risk in areas of differing long-term risk. We did not find support for the risky places hypothesis; cheetah vigilance was not influenced by long-term risk. On the contrary, we found support for the risky times hypothesis; cheetahs were more vigilant and more likely to flee following lion and leopard playbacks. Additionally, we did not find support for the risky times and risky places hypothesis or the predation risk allocation hypothesis; cheetah antipredator behaviours following a predator playback were not associated with long-term predation risk. Finally, cheetahs had higher baseline vigilance in areas of open vegetation but were more likely to flee from lion sounds in areas of dense vegetation and from leopards in areas of open vegetation. We highlight the importance of understanding spatial and temporal factors that influence mesopredator risk perception and show that antipredator behaviours can differ among trophic levels.
•Cheetahs vary antipredator behaviours based on short-term risk and habitat features.•Cheetahs increased vigilance and were likely to flee following predator playbacks.•Long-term risk of encountering top predators did not influence cheetah vigilance.•Cheetahs were more likely to flee from leopard playbacks in open habitats.•Cheetahs were more likely to flee from lion playbacks in dense vegetation.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Two female adult cheetahs, residents of the same sanctuary, presented several weeks subsequent to being mated with the same male. Their presenting histories included lethargy and inappetence in both; ...one female had vaginal discharge, and the other had apparent abdominal pain. Clinical signs supported by laboratory data established a diagnosis of pyometra in both and concurrent septic peritonitis in one case. Diagnosis was facilitated by transabdominal ultrasonography showing a fluid-distended and thickened uterus in both and intraperitoneal fluid accumulation, characterised by abdominocentesis as an exudate, in one case. Peripheral blood smears and haematology showed septicaemia that supported rapid surgical intervention by ovariohysterectomy in both cases. The reported retrospective endocrinological, cytological and bacteriological testing and macro- and histo-pathological investigations and findings confirmed the diagnosis. Pyometra has been widely described in many other wild and domestic carnivores, but there are no previous reports of either the clinical manifestation or management of uterine infections in cheetahs. The subsequent successful induction and anaesthetic protocol and the chosen surgical method for ovariohysterectomy are detailed. Post-operative recovery was rapid in both cases and both were discharged and reportedly healthy at a two-year follow-up. The report discusses the pertinent findings in these cases in relation to the literature describing pyometra, its diagnosis and management in both domestic and other wild carnivores. The report is intended to inform those in the field of management of captive cheetahs to improve their health and welfare and instruct veterinarians in the appropriate diagnosis and therapeutic management of uterine disease in this vulnerable species.
•This novel report is the first describing the clinical diagnosis and surgical management of pyometra in two cheetahs.•Previous reports of pyometra in cheetahs only reference PM or histopathological surveys of primarily zoo populations.•In both these cases, clinical signs and transabdominalUS of the reproductive tract facilitated a rapid clinical diagnosis.•Additionally, the anesthetic protocol and surgical method that led to a successful resolution in both cases are described.•The report discusses these findings and suspected causes in relation to findings in domestic carnivores and other large felids.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The dwindling wildlife species of our planet have become a cause célèbre for conservation groups, governments, and concerned citizens throughout the world. The application of powerful new genetic ...technologies to surviving populations of threatened mammals has revolutionized our ability to recognize hidden perils that afflict them. We have learned new lessons of survival, adaptation, and evolution from viewing the natural history of genomes in hundreds of detailed studies. A single case history of one species, the African cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus, is here reviewed to reveal a long-term story of conservation challenges and action informed by genetic discoveries and insights. A synthesis of 3 decades of data, interpretation, and controversy, capped by whole genome sequence analysis of cheetahs, provides a compelling tale of conservation relevance and action to protect this species and other threatened wildlife.
Human–wildlife conflicts occur worldwide. Although many nonlethal mitigation solutions are available, they rarely use the behavioral ecology of the conflict species to derive effective and ...long-lasting solutions. Here, we use a long-term study with 106 GPS-collared free-ranging cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) to demonstrate how new insights into the socio-spatial organization of this species provide the key for such a solution. GPS-collared territory holders marked and defended communication hubs (CHs) in the core area of their territories. The CHs/territories were distributed in a regular pattern across the landscape such that they were not contiguous with each other but separated by a surrounding matrix. They were kept in this way by successive territory holders, thus maintaining this overdispersed distribution. The CHs were also visited by nonterritorial cheetah males and females for information exchange, thus forming hotspots of cheetah activity and presence. We hypothesized that the CHs pose an increased predation risk to young calves for cattle farmers in Namibia. In an experimental approach, farmers shifted cattle herds away from the CHs during the calving season. This drastically reduced their calf losses by cheetahs because cheetahs did not follow the herds but instead preyed on naturally occurring local wildlife prey in the CHs. This implies that in the cheetah system, there are “problem areas,” the CHs, rather than “problem individuals.” The incorporation of the behavioral ecology of conflict species opens promising areas to search for solutions in other conflict species with nonhomogenous space use.
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BFBNIB, NMLJ, NUK, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Thermal system optimization is always a challenging task due to several constraints and critical concepts of thermo-hydraulic aspects. Heat exchangers are one of those devices that are widely adopted ...in thermal industries for various applications such as cryogenics, heat recovery, and heat transfer applications. According to the flow configurations and enhancement of fins, the heat exchangers are classified as plate-fin heat exchangers, shell and tube heat exchangers, and tube-fin heat exchangers. This article addresses the economic optimization challenge of plate-fin heat exchangers using cheetah optimization (CO) algorithm. The design variables were optimized using the CO algorithm, and statistical results were compared with eight well-established algorithms. The study revealed that the cheetah algorithm is prominent in terms of realizing minimizing the overall cost of the plate-fin heat exchanger with a 100 % of success rate. Furthermore, the study suggests adopting the cheetah optimizer for solving optimization challenges in different fields.
This study focuses on accurate parameter identification for solar cells and photovoltaic module simulation using experimental data. To tackle the challenge of modelling these highly nonlinear ...systems, we propose the novel use of the Cheetah Optimizer (CO) algorithm, inspired by cheetah hunting strategies. The CO algorithm employs mathematical models and randomization parameters to balance exploration and exploitation, avoiding local optima by considering energy limitations. We demonstrate the CO algorithm's effectiveness by applying it to the three-diode model in solar photovoltaic systems, specifically the STP6-120/36 and Photowatt-PWP201 PV modules. Impressively, the CO algorithm achieves remarkably low root mean square error values of 0.0145 A and 0.0019 A, outperforming state-of-the-art methods and ensuring high accuracy. Additionally, it delivers the lowest power errors of 0.16054 W and 0.01484 W for the respective modules, highlighting its exceptional performance. The CO algorithm proves to be a promising tool for precise parameter extraction and optimization, leading to improved modelling and performance of solar photovoltaic systems.
The North American cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) population serves as both an insurance population for their rapidly decreasing wild cohorts as well as a research population to understand the unique ...biology of this species. This review focus on the complexity of the female cheetah reproductive system and the recent advances that have been made towards understanding basic biology and reproductive function, and application of assisted breeding technologies to enhance reproduction and maintain genetic diversity of this species in human care. Cheetah females are non-seasonal breeders that exhibit lengthy periods of anestrus that are not associated with age, environment, or reproductive potential. It is possible to collect good quality oocytes, that support fertilisation and successful early embryonic development, regardless of female age (from 2 to 12 yr old). However, the prevalence of uterine pathologies increases with age and prevents middle to advanced age females from establishing pregnancy. Pregnancy can be diagnosed in non-sedated cheetah females via ultrasonography (first month), steroid hormone analysis (second/third month) or radiography (third month). Fecal biomarkers, such as Immunoglobulin J, show great promise for diagnosing pregnancy at an early stage as well as other physiological states. Several decades of basic research have led to efficient management of natural breeding and recent successes in assisted reproduction.
•Cheetah females are non-seasonal breeders and exhibit lengthy periods of anestrus that are not associated with age, environment, or reproductive potential.•Good quality oocytes, that support fertilisation and successful early embryonic development, can be harvested from females regardless of age (from 2 to 12 yr old).•Pregnancy can be diagnosed in cheetah females via ultrasonography (first trimester), steroid hormone analysis (second/third) or radiography (third trimester).•Fecal biomarkers, such as Immunoglobulin J, show promise for diagnosing pregnancy at an early stage as well as other physiological states.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Safeguarding strong protection and efficient intrusion recognition are important reflections in the growth and protection of Next-Generation Wireless Networks. These original networks, considered by ...their enhanced rapidity, ability, and connectivity, are also enhanced by enlarged vulnerabilities. To discover this, a complete protection framework is very vital. In the realm of Next-Generation Wireless Networks, safety actions go beyond traditional protocols, demanding advanced strategies. A main segment of this security architecture is intrusion detection, a positive method to identify and answer to unauthorized entries, malicious actions, and potential assaults. Effective safety models namely deep learning (DL) for intrusion detection have been proposed. Many researches are mainly focused on developing DL approaches for superior safety in the system. This work improves the finest DL-based intrusion detection in the Next-Generation Wireless Network (ODLID-NGWN) method. The projected ODLID-NGWN tactic enables for recognition and identification of the occurrence of the intrusions in the system. To complete this, the ODLID-NGWN method monitors a linear scaling normalization methodology as a pre-processing phase. Also, the Farmland Fertility Feature Selection (F3S) method is chiefly employed for the assortment of feature subsets. For intrusion or malicious activity detection, a hybrid DL (HDL) model comprising a long short-term memory (LSTM) gated recurrent unit (GRU) model can be used. To improve the performance of the HDL model, a modified cheetah optimization (MCO) algorithm can be applied to the hyperparameter tuning procedure. The performance analysis of the ODLID-NGWN methodology is tested by employing a benchmark dataset. The experimental values stated that the ODLID-NGWN technique gains maximum detection performance over other models.
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