Arthur Muneza | Michigan State University (original) (raw)

Papers by Arthur Muneza

Research paper thumbnail of Evaluating the effects of giraffe skin disease and wire snare wounds on the gaits of free-ranging Nubian giraffe

Scientific Reports

Giraffe skin disease (GSD), a condition that results in superficial lesions in certain giraffe (G... more Giraffe skin disease (GSD), a condition that results in superficial lesions in certain giraffe (Giraffa spp.) populations, has emerged as a potential conservation threat. Preliminary findings suggested that individuals with GSD lesions move with greater difficulty which may in turn reduce their foraging efficiency or make them more vulnerable to predation. A current known threat to some giraffe populations is their mortality associated with entrapment in wire snares, and the morbidity and potential locomotor deficiencies associated with wounds acquired from snares. The goal of our study was to quantify the locomotor kinematics of free-ranging Nubian giraffe (G. camelopardalis camelopardalis) in Murchison Falls National Park (MFNP), Uganda, and compare spatiotemporal limb and neck angle kinematics of healthy giraffe to those of giraffe with GSD lesions, snare wounds, and both GSD lesions and snare wounds. The presence of GSD lesions did not significantly affect spatiotemporal limb ki...

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Research paper thumbnail of IUCN Red List Assessment: Reticulated Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis ssp. reticulata)

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Research paper thumbnail of Exploring the connections between giraffe skin disease and lion predation

Journal of Zoology, 2021

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Research paper thumbnail of Socio-economic factors correlating with illegal use of giraffe body parts

Oryx

Unsustainable hunting, both illegal and legal, has led to the extirpation of many species. In the... more Unsustainable hunting, both illegal and legal, has led to the extirpation of many species. In the last 35 years giraffe Giraffa spp. populations have declined precipitously, with extinctions documented in seven African countries. Amongst the various reasons for these population declines, poaching is believed to play an important role in some areas. Giraffes are primarily hunted for consumption and for the use of their body parts as trophies and in traditional medicine. However, the socio-economic factors that correlate with the use of giraffe body parts are not well understood. We conducted our study in Tsavo Conservation Area, Kenya, which experiences high levels of poaching. We used semi-structured surveys amongst 331 households to document how giraffe body parts are typically acquired and their intended use (i.e. trophy, medicinal or consumptive). We then used logistic regression models to assess the correlations between nine socio-economic factors and the use of giraffe body par...

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Research paper thumbnail of Assessing the Ecological and Anthropogenic Factors Affecting Giraffe Survival in East Africa

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Research paper thumbnail of Giraffe skin disease: Clinicopathologic characterization of cutaneous filariasis in the critically endangered Nubian giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis camelopardalis)

Veterinary Pathology, 2022

Giraffe skin disease (GSD) is an emerging disease of free-ranging giraffe recognized in the last ... more Giraffe skin disease (GSD) is an emerging disease of free-ranging giraffe recognized in the last 25 years in several species, including the critically endangered Nubian giraffe ( Giraffa camelopardalis camelopardalis) of Uganda. Identifying the cause of GSD and understanding its impact on health were deemed paramount to supporting these vulnerable populations. Sixty-four giraffes were immobilized in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda, from 2017 to 2019, and GSD lesions were opportunistically biopsied. Fifty-five giraffes (86%) had GSD lesions on the neck, axilla, chest, and cranial trunk. Lesions were categorized into early, intermediary, and dormant stages based on gross and histological characteristics. Early lesions were smaller, crusted nodules with eosinophilic and pyogranulomatous dermatitis and furunculosis. Intermediary lesions were thick plaques of proliferative and fissured hyperkeratosis and acanthosis with dense dermal granulation tissue and severe eosinophilic and gr...

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Research paper thumbnail of Data from: Examining disease prevalence for species of conservation concern using non-invasive spatial capture-recapture techniques

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Research paper thumbnail of GSD_photo_data_JAE

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Research paper thumbnail of IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Reticulated Giraffe

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Research paper thumbnail of Precision and performance of an 180g solar-powered GPS device for tracking medium to large-bodied terrestrial mammals

Advances in the technology of biotelemetry are transforming the ways in which we remotely acquire... more Advances in the technology of biotelemetry are transforming the ways in which we remotely acquire environmental, physiological and behavioural data. Large and heavy batteries, however, continue to reduce the availability of GPS tracking devices for small taxa and for species with morphologies that limit attachment options. Device miniaturisation is beginning to be achieved through the use of in-built solar accumulators, but it is important that the rapid uptake of these technologies does not outpace systematic tests of their precision and performance. Here, we share the technical details of a new 180g solar-powered device originally designed for vultures but adapted for use on terrestrial herbivores. We test the precision and performance of this device using both stationary and animal-borne trials across multiple geographical areas. Our results show exceptionally high fix acquisition success rates and moderate precision error. We also demonstrate that these solar-powered devices mai...

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Research paper thumbnail of Mapping the spatial configuration and severity of giraffe skin disease in Ruaha National Park, Tanzania

MAPPING THE SPATIAL CONFIGURATION AND SEVERITY OF GIRAFFE SKIN DISEASE IN RUAHA NATIONAL PARK, TA... more MAPPING THE SPATIAL CONFIGURATION AND SEVERITY OF GIRAFFE SKIN DISEASE IN RUAHA NATIONAL PARK, TANZANIA By Arthur Bienvenu Muneza Giraffe numbers, have dropped by about 40% in the last 20 years, making giraffes a species of conservation concern. In the same period of time, a skin disease has been observed in numerous giraffe populations across Africa. The disease, commonly referred to as giraffe skin disease (GSD), manifests as lesions, wrinkled skin, and encrustations that can affect the limbs, shoulder or neck of giraffes. Giraffe skin disease may hinder movement causing increased susceptibility to predation. In chapter 1, I reviewed GSD cases from literature reports and surveying efforts of individuals working with giraffes in the wild and in captivity in order to compile a database of known GSD cases. I detected variation in the manifestation, prevalence and severity of GSD in sub-Saharan Africa and giraffe populations in captivity. In chapter 2, I used photographic capture-reca...

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Research paper thumbnail of IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Masai Giraffe

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Research paper thumbnail of Camera settings and biome influence the accuracy of citizen science approaches to camera trap image classification

Scientists are increasingly using volunteer efforts of citizen scientists to classify images capt... more Scientists are increasingly using volunteer efforts of citizen scientists to classify images captured by motion‐activated trail cameras. The rising popularity of citizen science reflects its potential to engage the public in conservation science and accelerate processing of the large volume of images generated by trail cameras. While image classification accuracy by citizen scientists can vary across species, the influence of other factors on accuracy is poorly understood. Inaccuracy diminishes the value of citizen science derived data and prompts the need for specific best‐practice protocols to decrease error. We compare the accuracy between three programs that use crowdsourced citizen scientists to process images online: Snapshot Serengeti, Wildwatch Kenya, and AmazonCam Tambopata. We hypothesized that habitat type and camera settings would influence accuracy. To evaluate these factors, each photograph was circulated to multiple volunteers. All volunteer classifications were aggre...

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Research paper thumbnail of Conservation Status of Giraffe: Evaluating Contemporary Distribution and Abundance with Evolving Taxonomic Perspectives

Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences

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Research paper thumbnail of Camera settings and habitat type influence the accuracy of citizen science approaches to camera trap image classification

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Research paper thumbnail of Quantifying the Severity of Giraffe Skin Disease via Photogrammetry Analysis of Camera Trap Data

Journal of Wildlife Diseases

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Research paper thumbnail of Examining Evident Interdisciplinarity Among Prides of Lion Researchers

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

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Research paper thumbnail of The many faces of fear: A synthesis of the methodological variation in characterizing predation risk

The Journal of animal ecology, Jul 8, 2017

1.Predators affect prey by killing them directly (lethal effects) and by inducing costly antipred... more 1.Predators affect prey by killing them directly (lethal effects) and by inducing costly antipredator behaviors in living prey (risk effects). Risk effects can strongly influence prey populations and cascade through trophic systems. A prerequisite for assessing risk effects is characterizing the spatiotemporal variation in predation risk. 2.Risk effects research has experienced rapid growth in the last several decades. However, preliminary assessments of the resultant literature suggest that researchers characterize predation risk using a variety of techniques. The implications of this methodological variation for inference and comparability among studies have not been well-recognized or formally synthesized. 3.We couple a literature survey with a hierarchical framework, developed from established theory, to quantify the methodological variation in characterizing risk using carnivore-ungulate systems as a case study. Via this process, we documented 244 metrics of risk from 141 studi...

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Research paper thumbnail of Examining disease prevalence for species of conservation concern using non-invasive spatial capture-recapture techniques

Journal of Applied Ecology, 2016

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Research paper thumbnail of Regional variation of the manifestation, prevalence, and severity of giraffe skin disease: A review of an emerging disease in wild and captive giraffe populations

Biological Conservation, 2016

Large mammals have drastically declined in the past few decades yet we know little about their ec... more Large mammals have drastically declined in the past few decades yet we know little about their ecology. Giraffe numbers for instance, have dropped by more than 40% in the last 15 years and recently, a skin disease, has been observed in numerous giraffe populations across Africa. The disease(s), commonly referred to as giraffe skin disease (GSD), manifests as lesions, wrinkled skin, and encrustations that can affect the limbs, shoulder or neck of giraffes. Here, we review GSD cases from literature reports and surveying efforts of individuals working with giraffes in the wild and in captivity. The aim of this review was to describe spatial variation in the anatomical location of lesions, prevalence, and severity of GSD. In total, we retrieved 16 published sources that referenced GSD and we received 63 respondents to our survey. We found that GSD has been observed in 13 protected areas across 7 countries in Africa and in 11 out of 48 zoos distributed across 6 countries. The prevalence of GSD in wild populations ranged from 2% to 80% of observed giraffes. Although little research to date has focused on GSD, our review reveals that the disease is more prevalent than initially thought and more severe in some areas than previously assumed. With vast areas of Sub-Saharan Africa still without information on GSD, researching the prevalence and conservation impacts of this disease should be a priority. We propose broader and longer-term studies to further describe and comprehend the effects of GSD on giraffe vital rates among populations in the wild and in captivity.

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Research paper thumbnail of Evaluating the effects of giraffe skin disease and wire snare wounds on the gaits of free-ranging Nubian giraffe

Scientific Reports

Giraffe skin disease (GSD), a condition that results in superficial lesions in certain giraffe (G... more Giraffe skin disease (GSD), a condition that results in superficial lesions in certain giraffe (Giraffa spp.) populations, has emerged as a potential conservation threat. Preliminary findings suggested that individuals with GSD lesions move with greater difficulty which may in turn reduce their foraging efficiency or make them more vulnerable to predation. A current known threat to some giraffe populations is their mortality associated with entrapment in wire snares, and the morbidity and potential locomotor deficiencies associated with wounds acquired from snares. The goal of our study was to quantify the locomotor kinematics of free-ranging Nubian giraffe (G. camelopardalis camelopardalis) in Murchison Falls National Park (MFNP), Uganda, and compare spatiotemporal limb and neck angle kinematics of healthy giraffe to those of giraffe with GSD lesions, snare wounds, and both GSD lesions and snare wounds. The presence of GSD lesions did not significantly affect spatiotemporal limb ki...

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Research paper thumbnail of IUCN Red List Assessment: Reticulated Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis ssp. reticulata)

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Research paper thumbnail of Exploring the connections between giraffe skin disease and lion predation

Journal of Zoology, 2021

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Research paper thumbnail of Socio-economic factors correlating with illegal use of giraffe body parts

Oryx

Unsustainable hunting, both illegal and legal, has led to the extirpation of many species. In the... more Unsustainable hunting, both illegal and legal, has led to the extirpation of many species. In the last 35 years giraffe Giraffa spp. populations have declined precipitously, with extinctions documented in seven African countries. Amongst the various reasons for these population declines, poaching is believed to play an important role in some areas. Giraffes are primarily hunted for consumption and for the use of their body parts as trophies and in traditional medicine. However, the socio-economic factors that correlate with the use of giraffe body parts are not well understood. We conducted our study in Tsavo Conservation Area, Kenya, which experiences high levels of poaching. We used semi-structured surveys amongst 331 households to document how giraffe body parts are typically acquired and their intended use (i.e. trophy, medicinal or consumptive). We then used logistic regression models to assess the correlations between nine socio-economic factors and the use of giraffe body par...

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Research paper thumbnail of Assessing the Ecological and Anthropogenic Factors Affecting Giraffe Survival in East Africa

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Giraffe skin disease: Clinicopathologic characterization of cutaneous filariasis in the critically endangered Nubian giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis camelopardalis)

Veterinary Pathology, 2022

Giraffe skin disease (GSD) is an emerging disease of free-ranging giraffe recognized in the last ... more Giraffe skin disease (GSD) is an emerging disease of free-ranging giraffe recognized in the last 25 years in several species, including the critically endangered Nubian giraffe ( Giraffa camelopardalis camelopardalis) of Uganda. Identifying the cause of GSD and understanding its impact on health were deemed paramount to supporting these vulnerable populations. Sixty-four giraffes were immobilized in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda, from 2017 to 2019, and GSD lesions were opportunistically biopsied. Fifty-five giraffes (86%) had GSD lesions on the neck, axilla, chest, and cranial trunk. Lesions were categorized into early, intermediary, and dormant stages based on gross and histological characteristics. Early lesions were smaller, crusted nodules with eosinophilic and pyogranulomatous dermatitis and furunculosis. Intermediary lesions were thick plaques of proliferative and fissured hyperkeratosis and acanthosis with dense dermal granulation tissue and severe eosinophilic and gr...

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Research paper thumbnail of Data from: Examining disease prevalence for species of conservation concern using non-invasive spatial capture-recapture techniques

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Research paper thumbnail of GSD_photo_data_JAE

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Research paper thumbnail of IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Reticulated Giraffe

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Research paper thumbnail of Precision and performance of an 180g solar-powered GPS device for tracking medium to large-bodied terrestrial mammals

Advances in the technology of biotelemetry are transforming the ways in which we remotely acquire... more Advances in the technology of biotelemetry are transforming the ways in which we remotely acquire environmental, physiological and behavioural data. Large and heavy batteries, however, continue to reduce the availability of GPS tracking devices for small taxa and for species with morphologies that limit attachment options. Device miniaturisation is beginning to be achieved through the use of in-built solar accumulators, but it is important that the rapid uptake of these technologies does not outpace systematic tests of their precision and performance. Here, we share the technical details of a new 180g solar-powered device originally designed for vultures but adapted for use on terrestrial herbivores. We test the precision and performance of this device using both stationary and animal-borne trials across multiple geographical areas. Our results show exceptionally high fix acquisition success rates and moderate precision error. We also demonstrate that these solar-powered devices mai...

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Research paper thumbnail of Mapping the spatial configuration and severity of giraffe skin disease in Ruaha National Park, Tanzania

MAPPING THE SPATIAL CONFIGURATION AND SEVERITY OF GIRAFFE SKIN DISEASE IN RUAHA NATIONAL PARK, TA... more MAPPING THE SPATIAL CONFIGURATION AND SEVERITY OF GIRAFFE SKIN DISEASE IN RUAHA NATIONAL PARK, TANZANIA By Arthur Bienvenu Muneza Giraffe numbers, have dropped by about 40% in the last 20 years, making giraffes a species of conservation concern. In the same period of time, a skin disease has been observed in numerous giraffe populations across Africa. The disease, commonly referred to as giraffe skin disease (GSD), manifests as lesions, wrinkled skin, and encrustations that can affect the limbs, shoulder or neck of giraffes. Giraffe skin disease may hinder movement causing increased susceptibility to predation. In chapter 1, I reviewed GSD cases from literature reports and surveying efforts of individuals working with giraffes in the wild and in captivity in order to compile a database of known GSD cases. I detected variation in the manifestation, prevalence and severity of GSD in sub-Saharan Africa and giraffe populations in captivity. In chapter 2, I used photographic capture-reca...

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Research paper thumbnail of IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Masai Giraffe

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Research paper thumbnail of Camera settings and biome influence the accuracy of citizen science approaches to camera trap image classification

Scientists are increasingly using volunteer efforts of citizen scientists to classify images capt... more Scientists are increasingly using volunteer efforts of citizen scientists to classify images captured by motion‐activated trail cameras. The rising popularity of citizen science reflects its potential to engage the public in conservation science and accelerate processing of the large volume of images generated by trail cameras. While image classification accuracy by citizen scientists can vary across species, the influence of other factors on accuracy is poorly understood. Inaccuracy diminishes the value of citizen science derived data and prompts the need for specific best‐practice protocols to decrease error. We compare the accuracy between three programs that use crowdsourced citizen scientists to process images online: Snapshot Serengeti, Wildwatch Kenya, and AmazonCam Tambopata. We hypothesized that habitat type and camera settings would influence accuracy. To evaluate these factors, each photograph was circulated to multiple volunteers. All volunteer classifications were aggre...

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Research paper thumbnail of Conservation Status of Giraffe: Evaluating Contemporary Distribution and Abundance with Evolving Taxonomic Perspectives

Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences

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Research paper thumbnail of Camera settings and habitat type influence the accuracy of citizen science approaches to camera trap image classification

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Research paper thumbnail of Quantifying the Severity of Giraffe Skin Disease via Photogrammetry Analysis of Camera Trap Data

Journal of Wildlife Diseases

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Research paper thumbnail of Examining Evident Interdisciplinarity Among Prides of Lion Researchers

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

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Research paper thumbnail of The many faces of fear: A synthesis of the methodological variation in characterizing predation risk

The Journal of animal ecology, Jul 8, 2017

1.Predators affect prey by killing them directly (lethal effects) and by inducing costly antipred... more 1.Predators affect prey by killing them directly (lethal effects) and by inducing costly antipredator behaviors in living prey (risk effects). Risk effects can strongly influence prey populations and cascade through trophic systems. A prerequisite for assessing risk effects is characterizing the spatiotemporal variation in predation risk. 2.Risk effects research has experienced rapid growth in the last several decades. However, preliminary assessments of the resultant literature suggest that researchers characterize predation risk using a variety of techniques. The implications of this methodological variation for inference and comparability among studies have not been well-recognized or formally synthesized. 3.We couple a literature survey with a hierarchical framework, developed from established theory, to quantify the methodological variation in characterizing risk using carnivore-ungulate systems as a case study. Via this process, we documented 244 metrics of risk from 141 studi...

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Research paper thumbnail of Examining disease prevalence for species of conservation concern using non-invasive spatial capture-recapture techniques

Journal of Applied Ecology, 2016

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Research paper thumbnail of Regional variation of the manifestation, prevalence, and severity of giraffe skin disease: A review of an emerging disease in wild and captive giraffe populations

Biological Conservation, 2016

Large mammals have drastically declined in the past few decades yet we know little about their ec... more Large mammals have drastically declined in the past few decades yet we know little about their ecology. Giraffe numbers for instance, have dropped by more than 40% in the last 15 years and recently, a skin disease, has been observed in numerous giraffe populations across Africa. The disease(s), commonly referred to as giraffe skin disease (GSD), manifests as lesions, wrinkled skin, and encrustations that can affect the limbs, shoulder or neck of giraffes. Here, we review GSD cases from literature reports and surveying efforts of individuals working with giraffes in the wild and in captivity. The aim of this review was to describe spatial variation in the anatomical location of lesions, prevalence, and severity of GSD. In total, we retrieved 16 published sources that referenced GSD and we received 63 respondents to our survey. We found that GSD has been observed in 13 protected areas across 7 countries in Africa and in 11 out of 48 zoos distributed across 6 countries. The prevalence of GSD in wild populations ranged from 2% to 80% of observed giraffes. Although little research to date has focused on GSD, our review reveals that the disease is more prevalent than initially thought and more severe in some areas than previously assumed. With vast areas of Sub-Saharan Africa still without information on GSD, researching the prevalence and conservation impacts of this disease should be a priority. We propose broader and longer-term studies to further describe and comprehend the effects of GSD on giraffe vital rates among populations in the wild and in captivity.

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