[...]... recovering from a population low of 10 individuals and other carnivores are similarly endangered, small Asian mongooses (Herpestes javanicus) are invasive on the West Indies and Hawaiian Islands Although carnivore means meat eater, members of the Carnivora have diets that span the entire spectrum Some are strict carnivores (many felids and mustelids), many scavenge, have some level of omnivory (canids to... carnivores, provides an overview of many techniques available for physiological studies of carnivores Greta Wengert and her coworkers (Chapter 13) introduce their cutting-edge approaches to investigating mortality and diseases of carnivores, and explain clearly how researchers and managers without background in pathology can still collect samples and data allowing the most up-to-date analyses Chapter 14, by... except Antarctica, from sea level to > 5000 m (snow leopards, Uncia uncia), and in all habitats, from deserts to rain forests, from tropics to the arctic, and including densely populated urban areas Although we often associate carnivores with wilderness and remote areas, many have adapted to human-made habitats Some stone martens (Martes foina) live in dense urban centers of some European cities, often... experimental design, and (4) rigorous application of appropriate field and analytical techniques Rapid advances in technical and analytical capabilities cannot substitute for sound research planning In fact, advanced capabilities require the strongest of scientific frameworks to avoid having the techniques drive the research, which inevitably leads to unproductive research Similarly, today’s conservation... Once a carnivore is in hand, one should collect as much data as possible (Chapter 6); doing so may prevent the need to capture other animals (or the same animals) in the future Kerry Foresman has handled a wide diversity of carnivores and teaches a course on making the most of having an animal in hand Mark and Todd Fuller, in Chapter 7, introduce the diversity of telemetry equipment now available for... spans the diversity of carnivore habitats OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 6/12/2011, SPi 2 | Carnivore Ecology and Conservation from areas with no permanent human inhabitants, through areas with various levels of sparse human occupation, to areas with dense human populations and highly altered habitats The diversity of carnivores, however, does not end with habitats Carnivores span over four orders of. .. appropriate approaches for planning conservation measures Urs and Christine Breitenmoser are responsible for research and monitoring of the large carnivores in Switzerland and are co-chairs of the IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Groups They have first-hand experience in the implications of conservation of carnivores in areas with high human densities Their chapter is a stimulating and unconventional view of what... inferential, analytical framework can make a survey useless OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 6/12/2011, SPi Designing carnivore surveys | 15 2.3 Dealing with false absence A false absence occurs when members of a species are considered absent from a site when some are actually present False absences are a plague of carnivore surveys; they cause bias in parameter estimates (Gu and Swihart 2004) and increase... most ursids and procyonids), or are insectivorous (some mongooses, canids, and aardwolves, Proteles cristatus), and giant pandas are strictly vegetarian For predatory carnivores, hunting strategies include ambush, stalking, chasing, and hunting in groups Indeed, many carnivores are highly social and have highly complex social behaviors and capabilities, to the extent that humans domesticated wolves... Switzerland E-mail: ch.breitenmoser@kora.ch Marc R L Cattet Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, 52 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 5B4, Canada E-mail: marc.cattet@usask.ca Paolo Ciucci Department of Biology and Biotechnologies, Sapienza Università di Roma, Viale dell’Università 32, 00185 Roma, Italy E-mail: paolo.ciucci@uniroma1.it . Turner, and Sacha Spector Marine Mammal Ecology and Conservation: A Handbook of Techniques Ian L. Boyd, W. Don Bowen, and Sara J. Iverson Carnivore Ecology and. Newton Habitat Management for Conservation: A Handbook of Techniques Malcolm Ausden Conservation and Sustainable Use: A Handbook of Techniques E.J. Milner-Gulland