Journal article
Anthelmintic treatment does not change foraging strategies of female eastern grey kangaroos, macropus giganteus
JK Cripps, JK Martin, G Coulson
Plos One | Published : 2016
Abstract
Large mammalian herbivores are commonly infected with gastrointestinal helminths. Heavily parasitised hosts are likely to have increased nutritional requirements and would be predicted to increase their food intake to compensate for costs of being parasitised, but experimental tests of the impacts of these parasites on the foraging efficiency of hosts are lacking, particularly in free-ranging wildlife. We conducted a field experiment on a population of free-ranging eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) to test this prediction, removing nematodes from one group of adult females using an anthelmintic treatment. We then carried out observations before and following treatment to assess the..
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Funding Acknowledgements
[ "This work was supported by the Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment (http://www.eqt.com.au/not-for-profit-organisations/confirmed-2015-programs/holsworth-grants.aspx) through a grant to JC. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.", "This work was supported by the Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment. We thank Rachel Kane and staff at Anglesea Golf Club for logistic support, and the many volunteers who assisted with fieldwork. Special thanks to Ian Beveridge, Michelle Wilson and Sarah Garnick for perceptive comments on early drafts of the manuscript. Thanks to Mark Elgar for discussions around experimental design, Christine Andersen for technical assistance and Rachel Sore for statistical advice. This research was carried out with approval from The University of Melbourne's Animal Ethics Committee (project 1011709) and the Department of Sustainability and Environment (research permit 10005557)." ]