The Impact of Ecological Conditions on the Prevalence of Malaria Among Orangutans
Contemporary human land use patterns have led to changes in orangutan ecology, such as the loss of habitat. One management response to orangutan habitat loss is to relocate orangutans into regions of intact, protected habitat. Young orangutans are also kept as pets and have at times been a valuabl...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
2002
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| Online Access: | http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/15868/ http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/15868/1/The%20Impact%20of%20Ecological%20Conditions%20%28abstract%29.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848837943340302336 |
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| author | Karesh, W.B. Cox-Singh, J. Prosser, Adria Balbir, Singh |
| author_facet | Karesh, W.B. Cox-Singh, J. Prosser, Adria Balbir, Singh |
| author_sort | Karesh, W.B. |
| building | UNIMAS Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Contemporary human land use patterns have led to changes in orangutan ecology, such as the loss of habitat. One
management response to orangutan habitat loss is to relocate orangutans into regions of intact, protected habitat.
Young orangutans are also kept as pets and have at times been a valuable commodity in the illegal pet trade. In
response to this situation, government authorities have taken law enforcement action by removing these animals
from private hands and attempted to rehabilitate and release these orangutans. In relocating free-ranging orangutans,
the animals are typically held isolated or with family members for ,48 h and released, but during the course
of rehabilitation, orangutans often spend some time in captive and semicaptive group settings. Captive/semicaptive
groups have a higher density of orangutans than wild populations, and differ in other ways that may influence
susceptibility to infectious disease. In order to determine the impact of these ecological settings on malaria,
the prevalence of malaria was compared between 31 captive and semicaptive orangutans in a rehabilitation program
at the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre and 43 wild orangutans being moved in a translocation project.
The prevalence of malaria parasites, as determined by blood smear and Plasmodium genus-specific nestedpolymerase
chain reaction, was greater in the captive/semicaptive population (29 of 31) than in the wild population
(5 of 43) even when accounting for age bias. This discrepancy is discussed in the context of population changes
associated with the management of orangutans in captive/semicaptive setting, in particular a 50-fold increase in
orangutan population density. The results provide an example of how an ecological change can influence pathogen
prevalence. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T06:47:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | unimas-15868 |
| institution | Universiti Malaysia Sarawak |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T06:47:41Z |
| publishDate | 2002 |
| publisher | Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | unimas-158682017-04-06T07:03:54Z http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/15868/ The Impact of Ecological Conditions on the Prevalence of Malaria Among Orangutans Karesh, W.B. Cox-Singh, J. Prosser, Adria Balbir, Singh Q Science (General) QL Zoology Contemporary human land use patterns have led to changes in orangutan ecology, such as the loss of habitat. One management response to orangutan habitat loss is to relocate orangutans into regions of intact, protected habitat. Young orangutans are also kept as pets and have at times been a valuable commodity in the illegal pet trade. In response to this situation, government authorities have taken law enforcement action by removing these animals from private hands and attempted to rehabilitate and release these orangutans. In relocating free-ranging orangutans, the animals are typically held isolated or with family members for ,48 h and released, but during the course of rehabilitation, orangutans often spend some time in captive and semicaptive group settings. Captive/semicaptive groups have a higher density of orangutans than wild populations, and differ in other ways that may influence susceptibility to infectious disease. In order to determine the impact of these ecological settings on malaria, the prevalence of malaria was compared between 31 captive and semicaptive orangutans in a rehabilitation program at the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre and 43 wild orangutans being moved in a translocation project. The prevalence of malaria parasites, as determined by blood smear and Plasmodium genus-specific nestedpolymerase chain reaction, was greater in the captive/semicaptive population (29 of 31) than in the wild population (5 of 43) even when accounting for age bias. This discrepancy is discussed in the context of population changes associated with the management of orangutans in captive/semicaptive setting, in particular a 50-fold increase in orangutan population density. The results provide an example of how an ecological change can influence pathogen prevalence. Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. 2002 Article PeerReviewed text en http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/15868/1/The%20Impact%20of%20Ecological%20Conditions%20%28abstract%29.pdf Karesh, W.B. and Cox-Singh, J. and Prosser, Adria and Balbir, Singh (2002) The Impact of Ecological Conditions on the Prevalence of Malaria Among Orangutans. Vector borne and zoonotic diseases, 2 (2). pp. 97-103. ISSN 1557-7759 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/10842209_The_Impact_of_Ecological_Conditions_on_the_Prevalence_of_Malaria_Among_Orangutans DOI: 10.1089/153036602321131896 |
| spellingShingle | Q Science (General) QL Zoology Karesh, W.B. Cox-Singh, J. Prosser, Adria Balbir, Singh The Impact of Ecological Conditions on the Prevalence of Malaria Among Orangutans |
| title | The Impact of Ecological Conditions on the Prevalence of Malaria Among Orangutans |
| title_full | The Impact of Ecological Conditions on the Prevalence of Malaria Among Orangutans |
| title_fullStr | The Impact of Ecological Conditions on the Prevalence of Malaria Among Orangutans |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Impact of Ecological Conditions on the Prevalence of Malaria Among Orangutans |
| title_short | The Impact of Ecological Conditions on the Prevalence of Malaria Among Orangutans |
| title_sort | impact of ecological conditions on the prevalence of malaria among orangutans |
| topic | Q Science (General) QL Zoology |
| url | http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/15868/ http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/15868/ http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/15868/ http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/15868/1/The%20Impact%20of%20Ecological%20Conditions%20%28abstract%29.pdf |