Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) introduced a bill that would strengthen penalties for wildlife trafficking.

S. 27, also called the Wildlife Trafficking Enforcement Act, would provide law enforcement with the same tools to charge wildlife trafficking violations as other serious crimes. Under the bill, violations of the ban on shipment and sale of species and products made from species protected under Endangered Species Act, the African Elephant Conservation Act, and the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act would be prosecuted under federal money laundering and racketeering statutes if the violations have a total value of $10,000 or more.

Wildlife trafficking is an immediate threat to vulnerable species worldwide. In 2013, poachers killed more than 20,000 African elephants. Wildlife trafficking is estimated to generate $8 billion to $10 billion in illicit funds annually. Currently, the maximum sentence for wildlife trafficking in the U.S. is only one year. High demand for illegal animal products, such as ivory, and relatively low penalties for wildlife trafficking contribute to poaching around the world.

Criminal organizations often use money from wildlife trafficking to fund other illegal activities such as terrorism, human trafficking, and other threats to national and international security. Under the bill, wildlife trafficking would also be recognized as a “predicate offense,” which is a crime that provides underlying resources for other criminal acts. This bill would allow wildlife trafficking violations to be prosecuted under the same statutes as money laundering and racketeering.

Wildlife trafficking violations would be punishable with a maximum sentence of up to 20 years and fines up to $500,000. Harsher penalties will work to deter illegal taking and trafficking of animals. The bill also requires funds obtained from prosecution wildlife trafficking crimes to benefit affected species. Capital obtained through fines and the forfeiture of assets would be deposited into funds designated for conservation purposes.

The full text of S. 27 Wildlife Trafficking Enforcement Act is available, and the bill has bipartisan support.

Sources: Greenwire (January 7, 2015), Senator Feinstien Press Release (January 8, 2015).

No dog news is good news, at least as far as a cat is concerned.

A strategy currently used to control the spread of the infectious canine distemper virus (CDV) by vaccinating domestic dogs that likely first transmitted it to Serengeti lions (Panthera leo) may not be very effective for the big cats.

A new study released yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that while vaccination may control the disease in domestic dogs themselves, it may be necessary to take other measures including vaccination of lions (Panthera leo) to prevent further spread of this devastating disease among the cats and other vulnerable wildlife.

“[CDV] often kills the animals, so much that in 1994 approximately 1,000 lions in the Serengeti were killed,” said Mafalda Viana, a mathematical biologist at the University of Glasgow and the lead author of the study.

In 1996, wildlife managers and others began implementing programs to vaccinate domestic dogs in villages surrounding the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, hoping that would stop further transmission of the disease to the park’s lion population.

A lion with myoclonus, involuntary muscle spasms, possibly associated with previous infection with canine distemper virus during a 1994 outbreak.
Image Credit: Serengeti Carnivore Disease Project People line up with their dogs during a CDV vaccination campaign.
Image Credit: Serengeti Carnivore Disease Project A young child waits to have his puppy vaccinated against CDV during a vaccination campaign.
Image Credit: Serengeti Carnivore Disease Project Veterinarian Magai T. Kaare samples a dog during a CDV vaccination campaign.
Image Credit: Serengeti Carnivore Disease Project A young child holds a puppy for vaccination during a CDV vaccination campaign.
Image Credit: Image courtesy of the Serengeti Carnivore Disease Project

“Until now no one had looked at whether this vaccination program was actually working on the dogs or the lions,” said Viana. Her study found that while domestic dog vaccination helped dogs, it wasn’t enough to prevent lion infection as other species including jackals, hyenas, mongooses, and endangered African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus), also infected with the disease, could be transmitting it to lions. In fact, African wild dogs have been badly hit by CDV with a pack of dogs near the Serengeti recently suffering more than a 90 percent mortality rate.

“We could start thinking about vaccinating endangered species directly,” Viana said about potential management strategies to stop the spread of CDV. However, since the vaccines currently used were developed with dogs in mind, their effectiveness with lions or other species is unknown. And even if the vaccinations used for domestic dogs may be safely translated to African wild dogs, “it’s not easy to go and catch a wild dog, and there are certain ethical aspects that should be considered.”

Some would also argue that it’s best not to interfere at all in cases involving wild animals. But Viana feels the discussion needs to happen, regardless of what is decided. Siberian tigers (Panthera tigris altaica) have been hit hard in the past few years due to CDV-related causes and scientists are discussing intervention with that species as well.

“Manipulating wildlife is never an easy decision,” Viana said.

Wildlife managers looking to categorize distinct population segments of some snakes could do well to start by naming their poison.

A new study released last week in the journal GENETICS shows that reptiles like the eastern diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus) may have adapted their particular brand of venom to match the local fauna that lives in their particular neck of the woods.

An eastern diamondback rattlesnake from Sapelo Island, GA is delivering venom for proteomic analysis.
Image Credit: Joseph Pfaller

“For one species, the eastern diamondback, we found tons of variation,” said Darin Rokyta, an associate professor of biology at the Florida State University and the coauthor of the study.

He sampled over a hundred snakes in seven different populations of eastern diamondbacks from the Everglades to the Florida Panhandle. Five of these populations showed venoms that were distinct from each other in terms of the chemical make-up of their poison.

“We were shocked,” Rokyta said. “This is the first time anyone has looked at venom variation at this scale, and everybody has assumed that the co-evolutionary arms race would cause local populations to diverge quickly.”

The thinking goes that as the snakes continue to go after the same prey over the centuries, some of those animals will start to develop resistance to the snake venom. In response, the snake venom has to go through its own adaptive changes to keep on top of the game.

These findings are important because the eastern diamondback could be a threatened or endangered species in all or parts of its range.

“The obvious thing here is that the diamondback is currently being considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act right now,” Rokyta said.

The fact that different populations have different venoms could be enough to differentiate them as distinct population segments that receive individual protection even if the whole species doesn’t.

The surprising thing is that Rokyta said testing venom is relatively easy to work with compared to DNA tests: “You can go out, milk a snake, and let it go right there.” It could also be a cheaper way to determine distinct populations. But conserving snakes for venom type is important as each snake may occupy its own particular ecosystem niche.

An adult eastern coralsnake from the central panhandle of Florida.
Image Credit: Kenny Wray

“It’s a long tube with a hole at either side. Without venom, they can’t survive,” Rokyta said. “If those populations go, you lose that entire type of venom.” He added that you couldn’t just replace those extinct populations with snakes from elsewhere as they may not do very well against a modified prey base.

Rokyta said that knowing genetic differences is important but that he would like to see more emphasis on functional differences such as those used by snakes with different venoms when conservation decisions are made about which populations should be saved.

But perhaps more surprising is that Rokyta’s study found another poisonous snake, the eastern corral snake (Micrurus fulvius), has the same brand of venom across its range, according to the study.

This could be due to a number of factors, he said. Possibly, the corral snakes could have a less diverse diet than the rattlers, making their venom more species specific and potent. Or they could be relatively newer in an evolutionary sense and haven’t had as much time to diverge as the diamondbacks.

“It could have nothing to do with the function of the venom; it could be a historical thing,” he said.

These findings are also important for developing anti-venoms — currently none exists for coral snake poison, and knowing the difference between diamondback venoms could allow for more effective treatment for bites from those snakes.

A tiny invasive insect from Asia that has laid waste to North American ash trees is expanding its attack to white fringetrees, according to new research.

Don Cipollini, Professor of biological sciences at Wright State University and an author of a paper that came out today in the Journal of Economic Entomology, was looking at trees in Yellow Springs, Ohio this past summer when he noticed signs of emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) infestation in a white fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus). “Their damage was thought to be restricted to ash trees so far,” Cipollini said.

But Cipollini was looking at trees in Yellow Springs, Ohio this past summer when he noticed signs of ash borer infestation in a white fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus).“Lo and behold on the fourth tree I walked up to, there was an exit hole staring me in the face,” he said of the holes the bugs make after their larvae have matured. He took a closer look, peeling bark from the tree and found actively feeding larvae. “I thought immediately that I had a tiger by the tail,” Cipollini said.

He expanded his research on white fringetrees and found that four of the 20 he examined had ash borer infestations. While the case was closed for him, his findings weren’t confirmed until he sent a sample of an adult male he found dead in a sample section he took from a tree back to an independent lab researcher.

This image shows emerald ash borer larva recovered from white fringetree. (A) Dorsal habitus. (B) Ventral habitus. (C) Dorsal view of head. (D) Ventral view of head.
Image Credit: Entomological Society of America

The finding is significant because white fringetrees are threatened or endangered in parts of its range, which includes tktktk. “The white fringe tree is a regulated tree. In a state like Ohio it’s considered as threatened or potentially threatened because of its rarity.”

He said that while they make up less of the forest biomass than ash trees, white fringetrees produce flowers with nectar important for pollinators. Other wildlife also depends on the olive-like fruits they produce.

If the emerald ash borer continues to expand its North American range, Cipollini also worries that it may eventually reach parts of central Florida that play host to the pygmy fringe-tree (Chionanthus pygmaeus) — a similar species that’s listed as federally endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

Cipollini said it isn’t clear why the ash borer was able to make this jump to the fringetrees, but that related Chinese fringetrees are more resistant to attacks from the insect. “It presumably has a history with the emerald ash borer,” he said.

It could be called the art of war — there’s no good reason to kill a simple scout when you can lure an entire army into an ambush.

The trap of an insect-eating Nepenthes pitcher plant, swarming with nectar-collecting ants. Research from the University of Bristol, UK, has found that, by ‘switching off’ its traps for part of the day, the plant ensures ‘scout’ ants survive and are able to lead large numbers of followers to the trap. When the trap gets wet, it suddenly becomes super-slippery and captures all visitors in one sweep.
Image Credit: Dr Ulrike Bauer, University of Bristol, UK

New research shows that carnivorous pitcher plants in Borneo have a mechanism that allows them to switch off the slippery texture of the lips when individual ants are sent out to scout the areas for potential food. “The plant’s key trapping surface is extremely slippery when wet but not when dry,” said Ulrike Bauer from Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences and the lead author of a paper released today in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Bauer said the findings were strange because the traps act as if they are “switched off” during dry days for up to eight hours at a time. “At first sight, this is puzzling because natural selection should favor traps that catch as many insects as possible,” Bauer said. But when the researchers manipulated the pitcher plants to keep them wet all day, they found that the pitcher plants caught individual ants, but never larger batches of ants that had been observed in some plants in natural conditions.

The reason could be that the pitcher plants are outsmarting the ants’ intelligence and reconnaissance system.

“Ants are social insects,” he said. “Individual ‘scout’ ants search the surroundings of the nest for profitable food sources. When they find a pitcher trap full of sweet nectar, they go back to the colony and recruit many more ant workers.”

But the traps that were slippery all the time killed the messenger before it had a chance to bring in all its buddies.

“By ‘switching off’ their traps for part of the day, pitcher plants ensure that scout ants can return safely to the colony and recruit nest-mates to the trap,” Bauer said. “Later, when the pitcher becomes wet, these followers get caught in one sweep. What looks like a disadvantage at first sight, turns out to be a clever strategy to exploit the recruitment behavior of social insects.”