HOW FAR WILL A DOG ROAM? MOVEMENTS OF DOGS FN ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER COMMUNITIES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR RABIESSPREAD

摘要

Transmission parameters are the core of epidemic models, but they are difficult to estimate, especially when outbreak data are lacking. Investigation of home range (HR) can provide the foundation for such parameter estimation in free-ranging animals.The objectives of this study were to estimate HR and utilization distributions (UD) of 48 domestic dogs in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in northern Australia and to compare three different methods of HR estimation. Median core HR (50% isopleth) of the dogs were estimated to be 0.2 to 0.4 ha and for the 95% isopleth 3.4 to 5.5 ha. The HR and UD shapes were found to be principally circular around the owner's house; however, the UD of some dogs covered large parts of their community. HR sizes differed significantly between some of the three methods and isopleth levels used. One of the methods, the Biased Random Bridge approach, provides several advantages for the analysis of this dataset and was therefore found to be most suitable forUD estimation.