Bizarre Behavior in Endangered Tigers Traced to Dog Virus

A rare breed of tigers in Russia has been spotted behaving bizarrely for more than a decade, and now researchers say they may know why.

The majestic, endangered felines have stumbled into villages and roads, emaciated and unafraid of people. Eventually, most of the tigers died, or had to be killed.

Now a new study shows these Amur tigers (also called Siberian tigers) suffered from a fatal neurological infection called canine distemper virus.

The virus, which normally infects domestic dogs, may be responsible for the deaths of at least 1 percent of Amur tigers since 2009, the researchers said. 

Continued

Asian tigers at risk from domestic dog distemper virus

By Mark Kinver, Environment reporter, BBC News

Some of the world's rarest big cat species are facing a potentially deadly threat from a virus carried by domestic dogs, a wildlife expert has warned.

John Lewis, director of Wildlife Vets International, said there was evidence that Indonesian tigers were at risk.

Canine distemper virus has evolved in recent decades from infecting only dogs to affecting other animal groups.

Dr Lewis plans to work with Indonesian vets to develop a strategy to protect the nation's tigers from the virus.

A close relative of measles, Canine distemper virus (CDV) was first described at the beginning of the 20th Century and has been cited as contributing to the demise of the thylacine (commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger as a result of the black stripes on its back).

"If you wind the clock back about 30 or 40 years, it was a dog disease - it was a canine virus and only affected dogs," Dr Lewis explained.

"But in the intervening years, the virus has evolved and has changed its pattern of animals it can infect to include marine mammals (such as seals) and big cats."

Continued

Russian and US Veterinarians Collaborate to Solve Mysterious Wild Tiger Deaths

ScienceDaily (Sep. 30, 2011) — A team of Russian veterinary colleagues and health experts from the Wildlife Conservation Society's Bronx Zoo are collaborating to understand how distemper -- a virus afflicting domestic dogs and many wildlife species -- may be a growing threat to Siberian (Amur) tigers.

The team presented its results at the first-ever Russian symposium on wildlife diseases recently held in the Russian Far East city of Ussurisk. The symposium underscores the growing recognition of the importance of the health sciences to successful wildlife conservation efforts.

Working at WCS's Wildlife Health Center at the Bronx Zoo, Russian health experts and WCS pathologists used histology along with PCR and DNA sequencing to confirm and characterize the infection in two wild Siberian tigers from the Russian Far East. This diagnosis provides long-awaited genetic confirmation of the fact that distemper is impacting wild tigers, which WCS and Russian colleagues first documented in 2003.

The collaboration will enable conservationists to formulate health measures to counter this latest threat to the world's largest cat.

Read on...