Long-term Survival and Reproduction in a North American River Otter (Lontra canadensis) with an Intraperitoneal Radio-Transmitter

Auteurs-es

  • Jennifer A. Bohrman Department of Biology and Natural Resources, Frostburg State University, Frostburg, Maryland 21532
  • Sadie S. Stevens Department of Biology and Natural Resources, Frostburg State University, Frostburg, Maryland 21532
  • Thomas L. Serfass Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003

DOI :

https://doi.org/10.22621/cfn.v125i3.1229

Mots-clés :

intraperitoneal, North American River Otter, Lontra canadensis, radio-telemetry, radio-transmitter, reproduction, survival

Résumé

Intraperitoneal implantation of radio-transmitters is a useful method of monitoring free-ranging aquatic and semi-aquatic mammals; however, some researchers are concerned about the physiological effects of such implants. Few studies have investigated the long-term consequences of intraperitoneal implants on survival or reproductive performance. An adult female North American River Otter (Lontra canadensis) surgically equipped with an intraperitoneal radio-transmitter and released in northwestern Pennsylvania in June 1990 as part of a reintroduction project was killed in March 1999. The North American River Otter was estimated to be 10 years old and was pregnant with two fetuses at the time of her death. Our observation suggests that wild North American River Otters surgically equipped with intraperitoneal radio-transmitters can live long after implantation of the radio-transmitter and continue to reproduce successfully.

Téléchargements

Numéro

Vol. 125 No. 3 (2011)

Rubrique

Notes

Licence

Copyright for Canadian Field-Naturalist content is held by the Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club, except for content published by employees of federal government departments, in which case the copyright is held by the Crown. In-copyright content available at the Biodiversity Heritage Library is available for re-use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence. For usage of content at the BHL for purposes other than those allowed under this licence, contact us.

 

To request use of copyright material,  please contact our editor, Dr. Dwayne Lepitzki: editor -at- canadianfieldnaturalist -dot- ca