Ramphastos toco/Toco Toucans/Tucano

Introduction

The toco toucan is such an iconic species that when you see it you can easily visualise Neotropical forests. The arrival of one as a patient in the veterinary hospital where I study prompted me to research it. An internet search produced some interesting sites that take a scientific approach to the species.

Conservation Status

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology explains the Toco toucan’s status according to the IUCN. The species is of Least Concern.

Conservation Biology

Other discussions centre on whether the species’ captive population is self-sustaining. I would think that zoo studbook keepers would be able to comment on that. It would be interesting to know if any Brazilian zoological gardens are breeding the species regularly. And for Conservation Biologists there is a very interesting account given on the Encyclopedia of Life site.

Ecology

It is noted that Toco Toucans may predate the eggs or chicks of the endangered Hyacinth Macaw, which is interesting because this area from where I type this is close to this species’ Pantanal stronghold. Hyacinth Macaws nest in cavities in the Manduvi tree. The Manduvi depends on the seed-dispersing activities of the Toco Toucan. So although the Toucan is a predator of the Hyacinth Macaw, the Macaw needs the Toucan indirectly for the provision of nest cavities.

Avicultural and Veterinary Aspects.

Care needs to be taken to ensure that birds receive adequate iron in their diet. They should not be given rats or mice because of the risk of bacterial infection.

Mistakes People Make, or When is a Bush Dog not a Bush Dog? When it is a Small-Eared Dog!

Introduction

I am very happy today. One of the most pleasurable emotions I experience is relief. I love it when it happens. And it can be over the simplest thing: finding my keys, or finding my copy of a paper I wrote. Today I found some books I thought I had lost, given to me by the naturalist owner of a private Hyacinth Macaw reserve near to where I live. It’s a working cattle-ranch called Pouso Alegre, very popular with wildlife photographers. But the Hyacinth Macaw is for another blog.

These books are written in Portuguese, the language of Brazil. I love books, and I remember being impressed by these because they were the best I have ever used for providing a  ‘standardised’ approach to Portuguese common-name usage for Brazilian wildlife. Many people find this hard enough in the English language!

A Case of Mistaken Identity

Together with my group of six fellow final-year students I have been helping with the post-operative treatment of what my peers, Residents and Professors have been calling “Cachorro-do-Mato”, which, when translated, means “Bush Dog”.  This name took me back 22 years, to when I was a Field Biology and Habitat Management student at Edge Hill College of Higher Education in Lancashire, England. Ian, one of my lecturers, had some experience in Guatemala, and suggested to us undergraduate that we may wish to mount and expedition to Guatemala to study Bush Dogs (Speothos venaticus). Ian explained more about these animals and how naturalists at the time considered them common but elusive. I forget what the objectives of the proposed expedition were going to be, but it doesn’t matter because it never came about. Fast-forward 22 years and I was having conversations about Bush Dogs again with my peers and fellow students again, this time under vastly different conditions – language, country and nationality. This time we were not talking about Bush Dog conservation and field biology, but post-operative treatment. I visualised the Bush Dog from my books. However, walking the ‘Bush Dog’ during its recovery here at the Veterinary Hospital in Brazil where I study, I realised the animal in front of me and my group was a Short-Eared Dog (Atelocynus microtis), quite a different beast and very photogenic!

Post-Operative Treatment

This Short-Eared Dog (let’s call him ‘George’) has gone past the point of needing clinical treatment and has had his catheter removed. He is in the Hospital because he had to undergo surgery for a broken lower jaw. But now he has had his stitched removed, and is adapting well to an only slightly impaired ability to chew. He eats soft dog food and, on his walks, he eats the odd hapless mouse provided for him.  He is one of the most successful wild casualties at our veterinary hospital. He loves to play with the students and residents, and behaves like a dog – rolling over to have his belly tickled and crooning and wagging his tail like a Labrador!

Conservation Status.

The Short-Eared dog is considered by the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) as Near-Threatened and Decreasing. This is due to habitat loss, prey-base depletion and disease (Parvovirus and Distemper). I haven’t looked up specific studies on these last two issues. Needles to say it would be interesting.  It is a carnivore, in the wild feeding upon whatever prey it can overpower and kill. It has extremely keen eyesight, and follows my movements when it is my turn to care for it.  It is one of those species that is fascinating because so little is known about it.

 

Further Work

For Veterinarians, talks and conferences and collaboration with field biologists would be useful, especially in Portuguese. For Field Biologists, the use of radio-tracking, telemetry and zoo studies would be useful I feel.  Literature reviews for all interested parties are recommended, not least to highlight how little is known on the species.

Silvery Marmosets

My mother, who lives on the other side of the World in Holywell, North Wales, has a photograph of me at Gerald Durrell’s Zoo. Thinking on, it is a photograph of the great man himself, accompanied by his wife Lee Durrell, with me in the background admiring the denizens of a marmoset enclosure. Durrell’s zoo was years ahead of its time. It was one of the first zoos to have as its objective the breeding of endangered species in captivity for return to the wild. That has become the mantra of the modern zoo world, but in the 1960s, when Durrell’s Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust (JWPT) was founded, it was revolutionary.

It was revolutionary in another way: the International Training Centre was part of JWPT and welcomed trainees worldwide to care for the animal’s in JWPT’s care that were from their country. Brazil’s trainee, Claudio Valadares-Padua, worked on Tamarins and Marmosets, and it was the Tamarin and Marmoset enclosure I stand in front of in the photo.

After moving to Brazil I bought a book in Portuguese about the conservation biology of Brazil’s enadangered species. This was so that I could improve my Portuguese by reading a subject I was interested in.  Later, I attended the Society for Conservation Biology’s annual conference at the Federal University of Brazilia and met Valadares-Padua and we spoke for a while about Jersey, which we both know, and Marmosets, which I wanted to know more about.

Back in Cuiabá I found that there were marmosets around, and that the Silvery Marmoset was common in the ctiy’s park, Mãe Bonifacia. You can often find troupes of these charming primates around the city. So imagine my delight when one was delivered by the Environmental Military Police today.

One of the residents came into the Non-Infectious Disease Small Animal Sector today and called me in. It seems that the professors now want a full physical examination carried out on these wild specimens. Something I was pleased to carry out. Those who delivered the animal said it had been run over but I think it had been attacked by a cat. If you read the falconer Nick Fox’s book ‘Understanding the Bird of Prey’ you will be astonished by the toll cats take on British wildlife. I think a similar toll can be extended to Brazilian urban wildlife casualties.

The fullest clinical examination was carried out and I identified the animal as Callithrix argentata, the Silvery Marmoset. This one had developed myisas, a foul condition where the animal is eaten alive by blow fly larvae. We cleaned the monkey’s wounds with physiological solution and removed the maggots.  The animal was then taken to a cage and left to recover from its sedation. We shall see what tomorrow brings…

Conservation Status

The IUCN lists the species as of Least Concern, but decreasing

The Ocelot / Felis [Leopardus] paradalis: A Not-So-Big Big Cat

Introduction

The wonderful thing about tropical nature is what Conservation Biologists refer to as its species richness, or biodiversity. A British naturalist myself, I understand that when a fellow Briton is discussing Nightjars, Kingfishers, Wildcats or other species within its Britiish context, we are talking about just one species of animal usually.  But for ecotourists that go a few thousand miles south, if you cross the Tropic of Cancer and enter the tropics, you will find that there is not one species of Nightjar, Kingfisher or Wildcat but more usually several.

Some Background to Ocelot Literature Useful for Ecotourists

Take big cats; Britain has only one native species (please note that’s native, not endemic), the Scottish Wildcat / Felis silvestris.  Mike Tomkies wrote about it in his books ‘My Wilderness Wildcats’ and ‘Liane: A Cat from the Wild’ (I met him once at a supermarket in Hawick, Roxburghshire, Scotland). In Brazil, felid biology becomes slightly complicated. You will find that Emmons and Feer list six species in their book Neotropical Rainforest Mammals: Jaguarundi, Oncilla, Margay, Ocelot, Puma and Jaguar. You may like to read Mammals of the Neotropics: the Central Neotropics, Volume 3 (Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil), by  Eisenberg and Redford. This has a picture showing the Ocelot and Jaguar. You may also find useful the pictures in Pearson and Beletsky’s well-illustrated The Ecotraveller’s Wildlife Guide: Brazil, Amazon and Pantanal. This book’s coverage (text and pictures) of the wildlife of the Brazilian Pantanal is good. Pearson and Beletsky list Jaguarundi, Ocelot, Margay, Jaguar and Puma.

Notes on the Veterinary Clinical Examination of Ocelots

I went to Calcoed, Brynford, Holywell, Flintshire, UK, to spend Christmas with my family. I told my parents I had an Ocelot as a patient (it had an ophthalmic problem). Explaining that an Ocelot is considered by some people to be a big cat, my Mum and Dad worried and we went to the outdoor shop Charlie’s in Queensferry to get protective clothing.  When treating Ocelots, I recommend chain-saw leggings. The Brazilian SEMA – Secretaria Estadual do Meio Ambiente – the State Environmental Secretariate, dropped the Ocelot off in 2104 at the veterinary hospital where I study. I was privileged to be able to accompany a Resident veterinary surgeon on a number of occasions to feed the golden and black cat. We fed it canned cat food and I was able to attempt a physical examination. These brief sessions were useful for observing Ocelot behaviour. She (let’s christen her Lady) circled our ankles before swiping with a paw at the Achilles’ tendon before lunging her head in to bite us. Was this defensive or hunting behaviour? From the veterinarian’s point of view let’s call it Ocelot Danger Behaviour!  I produced a biligual (Portuguese and English) Clinical Examination Form for Ocelots for the next time. And I can recommend using chain-saw leggings if someone you know is treating Ocelots!

Ocelot Conservation Status

If you are interested in Ocelot conservation, this section is for you!  The Ocelot is listed on the IUCN’s Red List as, fortunately, of “Least Concern” but, worryingly, as “Decreasing”. Should you go to Brazil’s Pantanal or cerrado and hire a tour guide to take you to places like Chapada dos Guimarães or Poconé or Porto Jofre (at the end of the Transpantaneira) to see Jaguars or Ocelots, the Portuguese word to use is ‘Jaguartiríca’. You may also see them at the UFMT (Federal University of Mato Grosso) Zoological Park.

How to Be a Team Player

I started to write this blog as a way, first and foremost, to get through a brief but challenging phase in my personal and professional development, and secondly to help other people in a similar situation.

I read a motivational quote recently which, in essence said “you are what you think’. I wanted to find mental strategies for thinking more positively and dealing with conflict during a trying time of my life. Namely, the penultimate semester of a degree during which I worked in a team of people half my age and who were speakers of a different language. In other words, their cultural backgrounds and life experience were similar – I was a complete outsider.

It has been my experience in Central Western Brazil that most people are pro-European and/or anglophile and that this may be because of a perceived novelty value. I suppose, bluntly put, having a British friend seems to provide some sort of kudos or proof of social intelligence.  This is my opinion after living in one particular city in one interior state, ie Cuiabá, the capital of Mato Grosso.

I realised quickly that I hated teamwork in this particular context, and I hated conflict, and the semester involved both.  So, how to get over these negative feelings, how to learn to enjoy teamwork, how to engage better with my fellow team-mates, and how to avoid conflict?  I wanted to find strategies to better equip me to for dealing with these issues, to enjoy the semester more, and to make the time pass more quickly!

Why was this necessary?  I enjoyed the first month. The argument arose in the second month, and was between me and the team leader. It involved a misunderstanding, as conflict often does, and I came away thinking that the whole matter could have been resolved with a simple “Can I give you an answer tomorrow?” The argument was over shift work, and initially I had agreed to an extra shift but without having first seen the shift rota on paper. When I did see the rota, it seemed unfair. So I texted the team leader early next morning.  My text was polite and to the point, but lead to an accusation that I don’t pay attention.

So I came away thinking “okay, I am going to pay attention. I am going to make the team leader work to help me understand.” I promised myself to honour her request, which was to tell her when I did not understand something. Even if this meant speaking up every few minutes. What else did I learn?  The importance of listening, because this validated the speaker, the importance of knowing when to take control of the interaction, because this resulted in her having more respect for me, and the importance of parting on good terms – she ended up saying she was not angry with me.

A few days later I confessed two two professors that I was considering leaving the course. I won’t, but it made me feel slightly better. This comment had been in confidence, but to my surprise it got back to the team leader. Anyway, it resulted in an impromptu meeting, which ended with the whole team telling me they were willing to help me.

But I did take control of the interactions, and this is something I shall explain how to do in future. Taking control of an interaction. This is something the PUAs teach. In closing, what fascinates me is the power of the human brain. Now, when I want to switch off from a conflict I compartmentalise, have a little impromptu bird watch, draft my blogs, think of my children, or use a whole host of NLP techniques. And the team leader and I are friends again.

Feeding of Casualty Nightjar (Nighthawk)

I use the word ‘Nightjar’ in the title of this article for what readers in the Americas may know as a ‘Nighthawk’, I believe. I once worked with a Canadian Biologist on the conservation of Mauritian endangered bird species and he used ‘Nighthawk’. Also, if you look at bird field guides published in America you will see that nightjars are called nighthawks in those.

It is very difficult to get any experience as a naturalist with nightjars. When I say ‘experience’ I mean to see them or handle them, whatever your capacity is (naturalist, zoo worker, ornithologist, rehabilitator, veterinarian, biologist). They may be very common where you live, but very elusive. This is because they are camouflaged, nocturnal, and usually found only in the countryside. When I lived in my native Wales, I was a keen participant in almost every naturalist’s group going – and there were a lot. Spider study groups, Goshawk study groups, Badger groups, Bat groups. The Forestry Authority began one to monitor Nightjar populations in a place near to my parents’ house called Clocaenog Forest. This started off when I was at an age where I was ready to move on and see the World a bit, and so I never got round to participating.

But this week at my university the Brazilian Environmental Police pulled their grey Government-issue pick-up truck into the car park (parking lot in American English) and announced they were dropping off an owl.  At the time, my final-year Veterinary Medicine students and I were nearby. We were treating a Brazilian Short-eared Dog. This is for a future article (maybe tomorrow).  I overheard the police saying the new patient was an owl. The resident went to attend. I wandered over, too. The police and the resident were discussing owls. I said what it was, in English, to the resident (almost nobody speaks English around here – he does, though).  But I could not remember the word in Portuguese.

At home later in the day I looked the bird up. This being the tropics, there are several species of Nightjar, and common Portuguese-language names vary, but you can at least arrive at a consensus because most field guides do publish such names. I concluded that what we had in our care was a female João-Corta-Pão/Rufous Nightjar/Caprimulgus rufus with another veterinarian suggesting Curiango or Pauraque.  I used the Collins Illustrated Checklist of Birds of Southern South America and Antarctica by Pena and Rumboll, and from their description I concluded it was a female, going by tail colouration. This one was found in a square in the city centre, apparently attacked by a cat.  Over the next few days I marvelled at the length of its neck and the disproportionately massive gape. I salvaged American Cockroaches (Periplaneta americana) from the stall of the Small-eared Dog, and placed these directly in the gape of the Nightjar when it opened its mouth in what I presume is a defensive mechanism.  My hope is that it survives this approach of feeding whatever insect substitute foods can be found for it on an ad-hoc basis. I believe it feeds on moths in the wild.

It is a fascinating animal, and, who knows, if it survives the next few days then these notes on its treatment may be useful for other people in similar circumstances. One important note: to end, I want to share with you that on the IUCN’s Red List this species is considered to be of Least Concern but decreasing.

Rapid Assessment of Body Condition in a White-Necked Heron, Ardea cocoi.

As a Field Biologist, Conservation Biologist, Ornithologist and Veterinary Student all rolled into one, one of the skills I have acquired recently is the ability to carry out a physical assessment, to a greater or lesser extent and as the opportunity comes my way, on a wild animal.

This week beginning Monday 30^th March 2015 was a case in point. Let me explain myself. I made the acquaintance of a White-Necked Heron, Ardea cocoi, here at my university veterinary hospital in Central-Western Brazil. This bird looks for all the World like a common-or-garden British Grey Heron. Similar size and feed habits and life history.  But for me it was a new species, by which I mean not in the scientific sense but for me personally. If that makes me sound like a twitcher then that is absolutely fine by me. This status thus earns Ardea cocoi an article all to itself on this blog.

At the time I was part of a group of fellow final-year veterinary students and had no time – as so often happens at this stage of the course – to carry out what veterinary surgeons call a full clinical examination. But fellow birders will share with me an appreciation of the ‘wow’ factor that all ornithologists know and love when coming across a species that is new to them for the first time. And my particular encounter with this heron took me back to my days ringing wetland birds at Sir Peter Scott’s Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve at Slimbridge in Gloucestershire, UK.

Trouble was, my brief encounter with this Brazilian White-Necked Heron was all-too-brief. It made one rather half-hearted lunge from its recovery cage at the hospital at my gloved hand with its rapier-like beak. Then sort of gave up and offered no further resistence, not even so much as a vocalisation, rare in a wild bird. When I picked it up and manoeuvred it in order to tuck it safely and securely under my arm, I was physically shocked (a feeling that is becoming depressingly familiar to me as a person who wants to specialise in a veterinary capacity with wild species), to feel every rib in its rib cage. Soon it was put back in its cage but died the next day.

Its death has not been in vain, but it is a fact of a veterinarian’s life that patients do die. Whether this is especially true of wild patients, well, that is hard to say but maybe qualified veterinarians or rehabilitators will have an opinion.