PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Wild orangutans stressed by eco-tourists, but not for long, IU study out of north Borneo finds

Wild orangutans stressed by eco-tourists, but not for long, IU study out of north Borneo finds
2012-03-19
(Press-News.org) BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Wild orangutans that have come into contact with eco-tourists over a period of years show an immediate stress response but no signs of chronic stress, unlike other species in which permanent alterations in stress responses have been documented, new research from an Indiana University anthropologist has found.

IU anthropologist Michael P. Muehlenbein can't say yet what makes the wild orangutans of Borneo deal with stress differently than other species in other locations, but an analysis of orangutan stress hormone levels recorded before, during and after the apes interacted in the wild with eco-tourists found evidence of acute elevation of the stress hormone cortisol the day of an interaction, with levels then returning to baseline afterward.

By analyzing fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGM) levels of orangutans in the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary in Sabah, Malaysia, the team led by Muehlenbein was looking to, among other things, gather evidence about levels of disturbance on wildlife exposed to eco-tourism, a multi-billion-dollar-a-year industry that is growing annually. Red Ape Encounters, a community-owned and -operated eco-tourism program in Sabah that assisted with the research, facilitates the only trekking program for wild orangutans in the world.

"Revenue can enhance economic opportunities for the locales involved, and it can support environmental education, protect natural and cultural heritage, and be used to conserve biodiversity," Muehlenbein said. "But rapid, unmonitored development of nature-based tourism can also lead to habitat degradation and negative impacts on the very species we wish to protect. Given the increasing demand of tourists to encounter wild orangutans, it is critical to evaluate any potential physiological effects this and future programs may have on this charismatic and endangered species."

Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus morio) are considered an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which produces the Red List of Threatened Species.

Eco-tourism guidelines used by Red Ape Encounters include limiting visitation groups to seven people for no more than one hour; excluding sick tourists; maintaining a 10-meter minimum distance; and requiring appropriate behavior. The company hosts about 250 tourists per year, with most of the visitor activity centered on the two wild habituated orangutans used in the study: Jenny, an adult approximately 32 years old, and her 11-year-old son Etin.

To produce the results, researchers collected fecal samples from Jenny and Etin in association with 25 unique tourism visits, along with fecal samples collected from several previously unidentified wild unhabituated orangutans. After developing standardized hormone degradation rates through earlier comparative studies of samples from captive orangutans at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and those from two other wild orangutans in Borneo, the team was able to collect samples within an optimum time after defecation in order to limit the effects of time-based physiological processes that degrade samples.

"When we compared samples from Jenny and Etin obtained the day before, the day of and the day after tourist visitation, we found that stress hormone levels were significantly elevated in samples collected the day after tourist visitation, which is indicative of elevated cortisol production on the previous day," Muehlenbein said. "As for the unknown wild orangutans that we were also able to gather samples from, we found numerically, but not statistically, higher stress hormone levels in these animals following contact with researchers than in the habituated animals."

Different species and populations of animals likely react differently to human exposure, and those differences may be due to variation in tourism intensity (including distance between animals and visitors), the animal's stage of habituation, animal temperament, and even the presence of adequate coping or escape mechanisms, he believes.

"Transiently elevated stress hormone levels must be interpreted conservatively, as these may simply reflect normal responses to stimuli," Muehlenbein said. "But nature-based tourism programs that result in permanent alterations of stress physiology in their animals cannot be viewed as sustainable. However, low levels of predictable disturbance likely result in low physiological impact on these orangutans."

On a wider scale, he pointed out, animal usage should be kept minimal -- at least for pregnant females and ill animals and during times of resource restriction -- and the habituation processes gradual for all animals involved in eco-tourism.



INFORMATION:



Funding for this research was provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Great Ape Conservation Fund, the Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund and Indiana University.

Co-authors with Muehlenbein were Marc Ancrenaz of the Sabah Wildlife Department, the Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Programme, and the North of England Zoological Society; Rosman Sakong of Red Ape Encounters; Laurentius Ambu of the Sabah Wildlife Department; Sean Prall of IU Bloomington's Department of Anthropology; Grace Fuller of Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and Case Western Reserve University; and Mary Ann Raghanti of Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and Kent State University.

For more information or to speak with Muehlenbein, please contact Steve Chaplin, IU Communications, at 812-856-1896 or stjchap@iu.edu. Tweeting IU science news: @IndianaScience

"Ape conservation physiology: Fecal glucocorticoid responses in wild Pongo pygmaeus morio following human visitation," published March 15, 2012, in PLoS ONE, by Michael P. Muehlenbein, Marc Ancrenaz, Rosman Sakong, Laurentius Ambu, Sean Prall, Grace Fuller and Mary Ann Raghanti.


[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Wild orangutans stressed by eco-tourists, but not for long, IU study out of north Borneo finds

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Researchers develop graphene supercapacitor holding promise for portable electronics

2012-03-19
Electrochemical capacitors (ECs), also known as supercapacitors or ultracapacitors, differ from regular capacitors that you would find in your TV or computer in that they store substantially higher amounts of charges. They have garnered attention as energy storage devices as they charge and discharge faster than batteries, yet they are still limited by low energy densities, only a fraction of the energy density of batteries. An EC that combines the power performance of capacitors with the high energy density of batteries would represent a significant advance in energy storage ...

A wandering mind reveals mental processes and priorities

2012-03-19
MADISON – Odds are, you're not going to make it all the way through this article without thinking about something else. In fact, studies have found that our minds are wandering half the time, drifting off to thoughts unrelated to what we're doing – did I remember to turn off the light? What should I have for dinner? A new study investigating the mental processes underlying a wandering mind reports a role for working memory, a sort of a mental workspace that allows you to juggle multiple thoughts simultaneously. Imagine you see your neighbor upon arriving home one ...

Process makes polymers truly plastic

Process makes polymers truly plastic
2012-03-19
DURHAM, N.C. -- Just as a chameleon changes its color to blend in with its environment, Duke University engineers have demonstrated for the first time that they can alter the texture of plastics on demand, for example, switching back and forth between a rough surface and a smooth one. By applying specific voltages, the team has also shown that it can achieve this control over large and curved surface areas. "By changing the voltage applied to the polymer, we can alter the surface from bumpy to smooth and back again," said Xuanhe Zhao, assistant professor of mechanical ...

Combination treatment in mice shows promise for fatal neurological disorder in kids

Combination treatment in mice shows promise for fatal neurological disorder in kids
2012-03-19
Infants with Batten disease, a rare but fatal neurological disorder, appear healthy at birth. But within a few short years, the illness takes a heavy toll, leaving children blind, speechless and paralyzed. Most die by age 5. There are no effective treatments for the disease, which can also strike older children. And several therapeutic approaches, evaluated in mouse models and in young children, have produced disappointing results. But now, working in mice with the infantile form of Batten disease, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis ...

Fraser Yachts: Global Charter Options 2012

Fraser Yachts: Global Charter Options 2012
2012-03-19
Motor yacht IONIAN PRINCESS is a luxury yacht for charter based in Athens and can be chartered in Greece or anywhere on the Mediterranean this summer. Able to accommodate 12 guests in elegant yet comfortable quarters the motor yacht IONIAN PRINCESS is an exceptional vessel to sail upon. Charter guests can choose to dine in one of three designated areas. One option is the sundeck, complete with barbeque; alternatively the aft deck of the sky lounge offers fantastic views or, for more formal dining there is the main salon. Appointed with only the finest of materials throughout ...

Cancer cells send out the alarm on tumor-killing virus

2012-03-19
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Brain-tumor cells that are infected with a cancer-killing virus release a protein "alarm bell" that warns other tumor cells of the impending infection and enables them to mount a defense against the virus, according to a study led by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James). The infected tumor cells release a protein called CCN1 into the narrow space between cells where it initiates an antiviral response. The response limits the spread ...

Biomarkers: New tools of modern medicine

2012-03-19
Philadelphia, PA, March 15, 2012 – Over the last few decades there has been an explosion in the discovery of biomarkers for diagnosis, disease monitoring, and prognostic evaluation. In the April issue of Translational Research, entitled "Biomarkers: New Tools of Modern Medicine," an international group of medical experts explores the promise and challenges of biomarker discovery and highlights the latest advances in the use of biomarkers in various diseases. In a commentary introducing this single-topic issue, Nikolaos G. Frangogiannis, MD, The Wilf Family Cardiovascular ...

Study looks at discrimination's impact on smoking

2012-03-19
Smoking, the leading preventable cause of mortality in the United States, continues to disproportionately impact lower income members of racial and ethnic minority groups. In a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health, Jason Q. Purnell, PhD, assistant professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, looked at how perceived discrimination influences smoking rates among these groups. "We found that regardless of race or ethnicity, the odds of current smoking were higher among individuals who perceived that they were treated differently ...

NYC suicide rate 29 percent higher at economy's nadir vs. peak

2012-03-19
NEW YORK (March 15, 2012)—New evidence on the link between suicide and the economy shows that the monthly suicide rate in New York City from 1990 to 2006 was 29% higher at the economic low point in 1992 than at the peak of economic growth in 2000. The study, conducted by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, the McGill Institute for Health and Social Policy, the University of California San Francisco School of Nursing, and Weill Cornell Medical College, appears in the February 22 American Journal of Epidemiology and is available online. "The ...

New research suggests cap and trade programs do not provide sufficient incentives for innovation

2012-03-19
Cap and trade programs to reduce emissions do not inherently provide incentives to induce the private sector to develop innovative technologies to address climate change, according to a new study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In fact, said author Margaret Taylor, a researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) who conducted the study while an assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy, the success of some cap and trade programs in achieving predetermined pollution ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

USC team demonstrates first optical device based on “optical thermodynamics”

Microplastics found to change gut microbiome in first human-sample study

Artificially sweetened and sugary drinks are both associated with an increased risk of liver disease, study finds

Plastic in the soil, but not as we know it: Biodegradable microplastics rewire carbon storage in farm fields

Yeast proteins reveal the secrets of drought resistance

Psychiatry, primary care, and OB/GYN subspecialties hit hardest by physician attrition

New Canadian study reveals where HIV hides in different parts of the body

Lidocaine poisonings rise despite overall drop in local anesthetic toxicity

Politics follow you on the road

Scientists blaze new path to fighting viral diseases

The mouse eye as a window to spotting systemic disease

AI and the Future of Cancer Research and Cancer Care to headline October 24 gathering of global oncology leaders at the National Press Club: NFCR Global Summit to feature top scientists, entrepreneurs

FDA clears UCLA heart tissue regeneration drug AD-NP1 for clinical trials

Exploring the therapeutic potential of cannabidiol for Alzheimer's

We need a solar sail probe to detect space tornadoes earlier, more accurately, U-M researchers say

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML): Disease risk but not remission status determines transplant outcomes – new ASAP long-term results

Sperm microRNAs: Key regulators of the paternal transmission of exercise capacity

Seeing double: Clever images open doors for brain research

Inhaler-related greenhouse gas emissions in the US

UCLA Health study finds inhalers for asthma and COPD drive significant greenhouse gas emissions

A surgical handover system for patient physiology and safety

Cardiovascular health changes in young adults and risk of later-life cardiovascular disease

Nurse workload and missed nursing care in neonatal intensive care units

How to solve the remote work stalemate – dissertation offers tools for successful hybrid work

Chip-based phonon splitter brings hybrid quantum networks closer to reality

Texas Children’s researchers create groundbreaking tool to improve accuracy of genetic testing

Milken Institute, Ann Theodore Foundation announce more than $2.5 million in new funding for sarcoidosis research and launch new call for proposals

Boston University professor to receive 2025 Eugene Braunwald Academic Mentorship Award

Pusan National University researchers reveal how forest soil properties influence arsenic mobility and toxicity in soil organisms

Korea University researchers find sweet taste cells resist nerve damage through c-Kit protein

[Press-News.org] Wild orangutans stressed by eco-tourists, but not for long, IU study out of north Borneo finds