Publicaties

Generic risk assessments of lead (Pb) toxicity to wildlife puts soil Pb limits below the natural background. The Tissue Residue Approach (TRA) is an alternative method by which the current risk of Pb to wildlife can be assessed and avoids uncertainties about Pb exposure routes or bioavailability of environmental Pb. About 80 toxicity studies were reviewed of which 19 experimental and 6 field studies with mammals and birds were selected. Blood ...

Hunting may be the greatest threat to wildlife populations across the Congo basin. Large-bodied species are the most vulnerable; alterations in assemblages of such keystone species can affect many important ecological functions. There may be a reduction or loss of ecological services, such as seed dispersal. Monitoring functional diversity within a wildlife community alongside descriptions of wildlife community structure (abundances and species ...

Wildlife trade between China and Africa, through the EU, is very intense. This trade includes several species listed in the CITES Appendices, including the African elephant. Major seizures of these products, such as elephant ivory, are being made around the world (China, Belgium, DRC, etc.). These seizures show that this trade is not only taking on worrying proportions, but is also threatening international security and the survival of the ...

Many infectious diseases originating from, or carried by, wildlife affect wildlife conservation and biodiversity, livestock health, or human health. We provide an update on changes in the epidemiology of 25 selected infectious, wildlife-related diseases in Europe (from 2010-16) that had an impact, or may have a future impact, on the health of wildlife, livestock, and humans. These pathogens were selected based on their: 1) identification in ...

The article introduces international, European and Belgian legislation on trade in endangered species of wild animals and plants and discusses the EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking. Notably, this contribution provides empirical insights in the functioning of the Belgian system for enforcement of wildlife trafficking regulations and provides a first set of empirical data on the effectiveness of criminal charges in this field of EU ...

According to the Convention on Biological Diversity, by 2020 invasive alien species (IAS) should be identified and their impacts assessed, so that species can be prioritised for implementation of appropriate control strategies and measures put in place to manage invasion pathways. For one quarter of the IAS listed as the “100 of the world's worst”, environmental impacts are linked to diseases of wildlife, undomesticated plants and animals. ...

Wildlife conservation is often challenged by a lack of knowledge about the reproduction biology and adaptability of endangered species. Although monitoring steroids and related molecules can increase this knowledge, the applicability of current techniques (e.g. immunoassays) is hampered by species-specific steroid metabolism and the requisite to avoid invasive sampling. This study presents a validated steroidomics method for the (un)targeted ...

In order to contribute to the valorisation of wild fungi whose nutritional potential, although considerable, is not sufficiently known in some countries such as Togo, a study has been carried out on Russula species. The diversity of Russula species from Aledjo Wildlife Reserve has been assessed using a focused inventory in woodlands dominated by Isoberlinia doka Craib & Stapf, Isoberlinia tomentosa (Harms) Craib & Stapf, Monotes ...

Challenges in forest management are linked to limitations of agency capacities to adjust decisions, especially in the face of dynamic and complex resource access and new information. This study analysed the dynamic character of actors and institutions, and the factors that shaped access to forest resources in Cameroon using the case of Tofala Hill Wildlife Sanctuary. Mixed methods, including focused interviews, questionnaires and field ...

The chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis has caused the most prominent loss of vertebrate diversity ever recorded, which peaked in the 1980s. Recent incursion by its sister species B. salamandrivorans in Europe raised the alarm for a new wave of declines and extinctions in western Palearctic urodeles. The European Commission has responded by restricting amphibian trade. However, private amphibian collections, the main end consumers, ...