Satellite tracking of rehabilitated sea turtles suggests a high rate of short-term survival following release
| العنوان: | Satellite tracking of rehabilitated sea turtles suggests a high rate of short-term survival following release |
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| المؤلفون: | Christoph A. Rohner, Aneeshkumar Mabadikate, Gerhard Beukes, Abdulkareem Vettan, Kevin P. Hyland, Simon J. Pierce, Warren Baverstock, Rima W. Jabado, David P. Robinson |
| المصدر: | PLoS ONE PLoS ONE, Vol 16, Iss 2, p e0246241 (2021) |
| سنة النشر: | 2020 |
| مصطلحات موضوعية: | Polymers, Marine and Aquatic Sciences, Social Sciences, Lepidochelys olivacea, Transportation, Wildlife, Medicine and Health Sciences, Psychology, Surgical Amputation, Polyvinyl Chloride, Materials, Multidisciplinary, biology, Animal Behavior, Eukaryota, Satellite Communications, Turtles, Chemistry, Sea turtle, Habitat, Macromolecules, Vertebrates, Physical Sciences, Medicine, Engineering and Technology, Female, Research Article, Conservation of Natural Resources, Death Rates, Science, Materials Science, Surgical and Invasive Medical Procedures, Satellite tracking, Population Metrics, Sea Water, Animals, Behavior, Population Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Organisms, Biology and Life Sciences, Reptiles, Aquatic Environments, biology.organism_classification, Polymer Chemistry, Marine Environments, Boats, Fishery, Testudines, Short term survival, Threatened species, Amniotes, Earth Sciences, Biological dispersal, Zoology |
| الوصف: | The rehabilitation of wildlife can contribute directly to the conservation of threatened species by helping to maintain wild populations. This study focused on determining the post-rehabilitation survival and spatial ecology of sea turtles and on comparing the movements of individuals with flipper amputations (amputees) to non-amputee animals. Our aims were to assess whether rehabilitated sea turtles survive after release, to compare and contrast the movement characteristics of the different species of sea turtles we tracked, and to examine whether amputees and non-amputees within species behaved similarly post-release. Twenty-six rehabilitated sea turtles from four species, including hawksbill Eretmochelys imbricata (n = 12), loggerhead Caretta caretta (n = 11), green Chelonia mydas (n = 2), and olive ridley Lepidochelys olivacea (n = 1) sea turtles from the United Arab Emirates were fitted with satellite tags before release. Rehabilitation times ranged from 89 to 817 days (mean 353 ± 237 days). Post-release movements and survival were monitored for 8 to 387 days (mean 155 ± 95 days) through satellite tracking. Tag data suggested that three tracked sea turtles died within four days of release, one after 27 days, and one after 192 days from what are thought to be anthropogenic factors unrelated to their pre-rehabilitation ailments. We then compared habitat use and movement characteristics among the different sea turtle species. Although half of all turtles crossed one or more international boundaries, dispersal varied among species. Loggerhead turtles had a high dispersal, with 80% crossing an international boundary, while hawksbill turtles displayed higher post-release residency, with 66% remaining within UAE territorial waters. Amputee turtles moved similarly to non-amputee animals of the same species. Loggerhead turtles travelled faster (mean ± sd = 15.3 ± 8 km/day) than hawksbill turtles (9 ± 7 km/day). Both amputee and non-amputee sea turtles within a species moved similarly. Our tracking results highlight that rehabilitated sea turtles, including amputees, can successfully survive in the wild following release for up to our ~one-year monitoring time therefore supporting the suitability for release of sea turtles that have recovered from major injuries such as amputations. However, more broadly, the high mortality from anthropogenic factors in the Arabian Gulf region is clearly a serious issue and conservation challenge. |
| تدمد: | 1932-6203 |
| URL الوصول: | https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_dedup___::aaa42d8c35224a67f76ef90c06198a52 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33592007 |
| حقوق: | OPEN |
| رقم الأكسشن: | edsair.doi.dedup.....aaa42d8c35224a67f76ef90c06198a52 |
| قاعدة البيانات: | OpenAIRE |
| تدمد: | 19326203 |
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