Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-4hhp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-18T17:27:11.087Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Canid attacks on sea turtles along the Northeastern Brazilian Coast

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2024

Isadora Campos de Almeida ,
Rafaelle Monteiro Nunes Messenger ,
Fabiola Fonseca Almeida Gomes ,
Davi Emanuel Ribeiro de Sousa ,
Rodolfo de França Alves ,
Isis Chagas de Almeida ,
Jociery Einhardt Vergara Parente ,
Daniel Alvares Silveira de Assis  and
João Carlos Gomes Borges Open the ORCID record for João Carlos Gomes Borges [Opens in a new window]
Isadora Campos de Almeida
Affiliation:
Grupo de Estudo e Pesquisa em Organismos Aquáticos, Faculdade Pio X, Av. Tancredo Neves, 5655, 49.095-000, Aracaju, SE, Brazil
Rafaelle Monteiro Nunes Messenger
Affiliation:
Fundação Mamíferos Aquáticos, Chácara Anjo Gabriel, Estrada de Matapuã, 411, 49.100-000, São Cristóvão, SE, Brazil
Fabiola Fonseca Almeida Gomes
Affiliation:
Fundação Mamíferos Aquáticos, Chácara Anjo Gabriel, Estrada de Matapuã, 411, 49.100-000, São Cristóvão, SE, Brazil
Davi Emanuel Ribeiro de Sousa
Affiliation:
Fundação Mamíferos Aquáticos, Chácara Anjo Gabriel, Estrada de Matapuã, 411, 49.100-000, São Cristóvão, SE, Brazil Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Animais, Universidade de Brasília, qd.606-607, 70.910-900, Brasília, DF, Brazil
Rodolfo de França Alves
Affiliation:
Fundação Mamíferos Aquáticos, Chácara Anjo Gabriel, Estrada de Matapuã, 411, 49.100-000, São Cristóvão, SE, Brazil
Isis Chagas de Almeida
Affiliation:
Fundação Mamíferos Aquáticos, Chácara Anjo Gabriel, Estrada de Matapuã, 411, 49.100-000, São Cristóvão, SE, Brazil Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Monitoramento Ambiental, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Rua da Mangueira, s/n, 58.297-000, Rio Tinto, PB, Brazil
Jociery Einhardt Vergara Parente
Affiliation:
Fundação Mamíferos Aquáticos, Chácara Anjo Gabriel, Estrada de Matapuã, 411, 49.100-000, São Cristóvão, SE, Brazil
Daniel Alvares Silveira de Assis
Affiliation:
Fundação Mamíferos Aquáticos, Chácara Anjo Gabriel, Estrada de Matapuã, 411, 49.100-000, São Cristóvão, SE, Brazil
João Carlos Gomes Borges*
Affiliation:
Fundação Mamíferos Aquáticos, Chácara Anjo Gabriel, Estrada de Matapuã, 411, 49.100-000, São Cristóvão, SE, Brazil Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Monitoramento Ambiental, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Rua da Mangueira, s/n, 58.297-000, Rio Tinto, PB, Brazil
*
Corresponding author: João Carlos Gomes Borges; Email: jcgborges@hotmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to report canid attacks on sea turtles in northeastern Brazil. The study was conducted on the Sergipe-Alagoas Basin coastline between March 2010 and October 2019. Injured-stranded sea turtles or carcasses were recorded through systematic beach monitoring. The specimens were submitted for clinical or postmortem assessments, providing evidence for the identification of injuries caused by canids. In the study period, 9841 stranded sea turtles were recorded, with the diagnosis of canid attacks in 55 (0.55%) events. Lepidochelys olivacea was the species with the largest number of events (90.90%), followed by Chelonia mydas (7.27%), and Caretta caretta (1.81%). The attacked sea turtles were clinically healthy, with a good body score and no apparent diseases; most were in the reproductive stage. The injuries were mainly found on the front flippers, with considerable loss of musculature affecting the brachial plexus, with the rupture of large blood vessels, and in some cases, exposure of the humerus or oesophagus. Thus, these events hampered the reproductive cycle, limiting the egg-laying process and preventing the hatching of hundreds of new turtles. Therefore, mitigating measures should be implemented, addressing the consequences of abandoning pets and their unsupervised presence on beaches.

Keywords

conservationdog attackpredationstrandingsTestudinesthreat factors
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 104 , 2024 , e18
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aguirre, AA, Balazs, GH, Zimmerman, B and Spraker, T (1994) Evaluation of Hawaiian green turtles (Chelonia mydas) for potential pathogens associated with fibropapillomas. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 30, 8–15.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Alfaro, LD, Montalvo, V, Guimaraes, F, Saenz, C, Cruz, J, Morazan, F and Carrilo, E (2016) Characterization of attack on sea turtles (Chelonia mydas and Lepidochelys olivacea) by jaguar (Panthera onca) in Naranjo sector, Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica. International Journal of Conservation Science 7, 101–108.Google Scholar
Almeida, AP, Moreira, LMP, Bruno, SC, Thomé, JCA, Martins, AS, Bolten, AB and Bjorndal, KA (2011) Green turtle nesting on Trindade Island, Brazil: abundance, trends, and biometrics. Endangered Species Research 14, 193–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baptistotte, C (2010) Projeto Tamar-ICMBIO–30 anos protegendo as tartarugas marinhas no Brasil. Revista Ciência Veterinária nos Trópicos 13, 83–87.Google Scholar
Bellini, C and Sanches, TM (1996) Reproduction and feeding of marine turtles in Fernando de Noronha Archipelago. Brazil. Marine Turtle Newsletter 74, 12–13.Google Scholar
Bugoni, L, Krause, L and Petry, MV (2001) Marine debris and human impacts on sea turtles in southern Brazil. Marine Pollution Bulletin 42, 1330–1334.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chaloupka, M, Kamezaki, N and Limpus, C (2008) Is climate change affecting the population dynamics of the endangered Pacific loggerhead sea turtle? Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 356, 136–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colman, LP, Lara, PH, Bennie, J, Broderick, AC, Freitas, JR, Marcondes, A, Witt, MJ and Godley, BJ (2020) Assessing coastal artificial light and potential exposure of wildlife at national scale: the case of marine turtles in Brazil. Biodiversity and Conservation 29, 1135–1152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corcoran, PL, Biesinger, MC and Grifi, M (2009) Plastics and beaches: a degrading relationship. Marine Pollution Bulletin 58, 80–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Da Silva, ACCD, de Castilhos, JC, dos Santos, EAP, Brondízio, LS and Bugoni, L (2010) Efforts to reduce sea turtle bycatch in the shrimp fishery in Northeastern Brazil through a co-management process. Ocean & Coastal Management 53, 570–576.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Castilhos, JC, Giffoni, B, Medeiros, L, Santos, A, Tognin, F, da Silva, ACCD, Oliveira, FLC, Fonseca, EL, Weber, MI, de Melo, ACC, de Abreu, JAG, Marcovaldi, MA and Tiwari, M (2022) Long-term trend of olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) Nesting in Brazil Reveals one of the largest Rookeries in the Atlantic. Herpetological Conservation and Biology 17, 593–601.Google Scholar
Drake, DL, Behm, JE, Hagerty, MA, Mayour, PA, Goldenberg, SJ and Spotila, JR (2003) Marine turtle nesting at Playa Naranjo, Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica, for the 1998–1999 season. Chelonian Conservation & Biology 4, 675–678.Google Scholar
Eckert, KL, Bjorndal, KA, Abreu-Grobois, FA and Donnelly, M (1999) Research and management techniques for the conservation of sea turtles. IUCN/SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group Publication 4, 1–248.Google Scholar
Escobar-Lasso, S, Gil-Fernández, M, Sáenz, J, Carrilo-Jiménez, E, Wong, G, Fonseca, LG and Gómez-Hoyos, DA (2017) Distribution and hotspots of the feeding areas of jaguars on sea turtles at a national park in Costa Rica. Neotropical Biology and Conservation 12, 2–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geraci, JR and Lounsbury, VJ (2005) Marine Mammals Ashore: a Field Guide for Strandings, 2nd Edn. Baltimore: National Aquarium in Baltimore.Google Scholar
Goldberg, DW and Reis, EC (2017) Biologia, ecologia e conservação de tartarugas marinhas. In Reis, EC and Curbelo-Fernandez, MP (eds), Mamíferos, quelônios e aves: caracterização ambiental regional da Bacia de Campos, Atlântico Sudoeste. Rio de Janeiro: Elsevier, pp. 63–89.Google Scholar
Hackradt, CW (2005) Análise de um processo de predação de ninhos de tartarugas marinhas, com vistas a conservação. Monography, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil.Google Scholar
Hammer, Ø, Harper, DAT and Ryan, PD (2001) PAST: paleontological statistics software package for education and data analysis. Palaeontologia Electronica 4, 1–9.Google Scholar
Harvell, CD, Kim, K, Burkholder, JM, Colwell, RR, Epstein, PR, Grimes, DJ, Hofmann, EE, Lipp, EK, Osterhaus, AD, Overstreet, RM, Porter, JW, Smith, GW and Vasta, GR (1999) Emerging marine diseases: climate links and anthropogenic factors. Science (New York, N.Y.) 285, 1505–1510.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hays, GC, Broderick, AC, Godley, BJ, Luschi, P and Nichols, WJ (2003) Satellite telemetry suggests high levels of fishing-induced mortality in marine turtles. Marine Ecology Progress Series 262, 305–309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ICMBIO (2018) Livro Vermelho da Fauna Brasileira Ameaçada de Extinção. Brasília: Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade/Ministério do Meio Ambiente.Google Scholar
IUCN. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2023-1. Available at http://www.iucnredlist.org/ Accessed online 26 January 2023.Google Scholar
Kotas, JE, Santos, S, Azevedo, VG, Gallo, BMG and Barata, PCR (2004) Incidental capture of loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) sea turtles by the pelagic longline fishery off southern Brazil. Fishery Bulletin 102, 393–399.Google Scholar
Kurz, DJ, Straley, KM and Degregorio, BA (2011) Outfoxing the red fox: how best to protect the nests of the endangered loggerhead marine turtle Caretta caretta from mammalian predation? Oryx 46, 223–228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lima, MA, Lima, SA, de Oliveira, REM, Attademo, FLN and Silva, FJL (2021) Fatores de encalhes de tartarugas marinhas no litoral oriental do Rio Grande do Norte (Brasil). Revista Brasileira de Meio Ambiente 9, 109–120.Google Scholar
Lobato, BG (2019) Monitoramento de ninhos de tartarugas marinhas: uma análise da atração por predadores por falsos ninhos (PhD thesis). Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil.Google Scholar
Manire, CA, Stacy, BA, Kinsel, MJ, Daniel, HT, Anderson, ET and Wellehan and, JFX Jr (2008) Proliferative dermatitis in a loggerhead turtle, Caretta caretta, and a green turtle, Chelonia mydas, associated with novel papillomaviruses. Veterinary Microbiology 130, 227–237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marcovaldi, MA and Marcovaldi, GG (1999) Marine turtles of Brazil: the history and structure of Projeto TAMAR-IBAMA. Biological Conservation 91, 35–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marcovaldi, MA, Thomé, JC, Sales, G, Coelho, AC, Gallo, B and Bellini, C (2002) Brazilian plan for reduction of incidental sea turtle capture in fisheries. Marine Turtle Newsletter 96, 24–25.Google Scholar
Marcovaldi, MA, Sales, G, Thomé, JCA, da Silva, ACCD, Gallo, BMG, Lima, EHSM, Lima, EP and Bellini, C (2006) Sea turtles and fishery interactions in Brazil: identifying and mitigating potential conflicts. MTN 112, 4–8.Google Scholar
Marcovaldi, MA, Lopez, GG, Soares, LS, Santos, AJB, Bellini, C and Barata, PCR (2007) Fifteen years of hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) nesting in Northern Brazil. Chelonian Conservation and Biology Biol 6, 223–228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marcovaldi, MA, Santos, AS and Sales, G (2011) Plano de Ação Nacional para a Conservação das Tartarugas Marinhas. ICMBIO: Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade.Google Scholar
Margaritoulis, D and Touliatou S, (2011) Mediterranean monk seals present ongoing threat for loggerhead sea turtles in Zakynthos. Marine Turtle Newsletter 113, 18–23.Google Scholar
Margaritoulis, D, Theodorou, P, Tsaros, P and Nestoridou, P (2019) Dog attacks on loggerhead turtles nesting in Greece. Marine Turtle Newsletter 158, 22–23.Google Scholar
Márquez, R (1990) Sea Turtles of the World, an Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Sea Turtles Known to Date. Rome: FAO Species Synopsis.Google Scholar
Matos, L, Silva, ACCD, Castilhos, JC, Weber, MI, Soares, LS and Vicente, L (2012) Strong site fidelity and longer interesting interval for solitary nesting olive ridley sea turtles in Brazil. Marine Biology 159, 1011–1019.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monteiro, DS, Estima, SC, Gandra, TBR, Silva, AP, Bugoni, L, Swimmer, Y, Seminoff, JA and Secchi, ER (2016) Long-term spatial and temporal patterns of sea turtle strandings in southern Brazil. Marine Biology 163, 1–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mrosovsky, N, Ryan, G and James, M (2009) Leatherback turtles: the menace of plastic. Marine Pollution Bulletin 58, 287–289.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oliveira, EVS and Landim, MF (2014) Caracterização fitofisionômica das restingas da Reserva Biológica de Santa Isabel, litoral norte de Sergipe. Scientia Plena 10, 1–10.Google Scholar
Peters, A, Verhoeven, KJF, Van Piggelen, DCG and Strijbosch, H (1994) Caretta caretta (loggerhead sea turtle). Predation. Herpetological Review 25, 120.Google Scholar
Pheasey, H, McCargar, M, Glinsky, A and Humphreys, N (2018) Effectiveness of concealed nest protection screens against domestic predators for green (Chelonia mydas) and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) sea turtles. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 17, 263–270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
QGIS (2020) QGIS Geographic Information System. Open Source Geospatial Foundation Project. Available at http://www.qgis.org/ Accessed online 10 May 2020.Google Scholar
Reis, ECR, Carneiro, MER, Moreira, AL, de Almeida, BJM, Borges, JCG and Parente, JEV (2019) Quelônios, aves e mamíferos marinhos da Bacia de Sergipe-Alagoas: Área de Estudo e Métodos de campo. In Reis, EC and Carneiro, MER (eds), Quelônios, aves e mamíferos marinhos da Bacia de Sergipe e Alagoas. São Cristóvão, SE: Editora UFS, pp. 8–38.Google Scholar
Rojas-Cañizales, D, Mejías-Balsalobre, C, Naranjo, I and Arauz, R (2022) First report of fatal dog attacks on nesting turtles in Costa Rica. Marine Turtle Newsletter 159, 5–9.Google Scholar
Santos, AS and Godfrey, MH (2001) Caretta caretta (loggerhead sea turtle) and Eretmochelys imbricate (hawksbill sea turtle) predation. Herpetological Review 32, 37.Google Scholar
Santos, CNC and Vilar, JWC (2012) O litoral sul de Sergipe: contribuição ao planejamento ambiental e territorial. Revista Geonorte 3, 1128–1138.Google Scholar
Santos, H, Mello, R and Carvalho, M (2016) Geodiversidade do Sistema Costeiro de Estância/SE. In III Seminário Nacional Espaços Costeiros, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, October 04-07 2016.Google Scholar
Sarlin, PJ and Heeralal, S (2021) Record of fatal stray dog attack on nesting olive ridley sea turtle Lepidochelys olivacea at a beach in Kollam, Kerala, South West Coast of India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 118, 94–95.Google Scholar
Schuyler, Q, Hardesty, BD, Wilcox, C and Townsend, K (2013) Global analysis of anthropogenic debris ingestion by sea turtles. Conservation Biology 28, 129–139.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Silva, ACCD, Castilhos, JC, Lopez, G and Barata, PCR (2007) Nesting biology and conservation of the olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) in Brazil, 1991/1992 to 2002/2003. Journal of Marine Biological Association, United Kingdom 87, 1047–1056.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silverman, BW (1998) Density Estimation for Statistics and Data Analysis. London: Chapman and Hall/CRC.Google Scholar
Thomson, JA, Burkholder, D, Heithaus, MR and Dill, LM (2009) Validation of a rapid visual-assessment technique for categorizing the body condition of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in the field. Copeia 2, 251–255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wyneken, J (2001) The Anatomy of Sea Turtles. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-470. Miami: National Fisheries Service.Google Scholar