Pangolins have existed for more than 40 million years. Covered from head to toe in scales, they are certainly not your typical furry and fluffy mammal. On closer inspection of their precious little faces, one can begin to imagine that this mammal is not too far removed from the domestic dog.
Imagine an island far removed from any human encroachment that teems with animal life. Such a place exists: it is called Marion Island and forms part of the Prince Edward islands archipelago, situated between South Africa and Antarctica.
The University of Pretoria (UP) is in a unique position that it is the only tertiary institution in the country that has a Faculty of Veterinary Science. The Faculty of Veterinary Science values its role and responsibility in conserving the environment.
Bovine brucellosis is a disease caused by the bacterium Brucella abortus that leads to reproductive failure in infected cattle and to production losses in affected herds. The organism may also cause potentially serious illness in people who have contact with infected animals or drink unpasteurized, contaminated milk.
At first sight, the Central African rainforest is a picturesque paradise, filled with luscious vegetation, amazing animals, and birds of all kinds.
Prof Anita Michel of the Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases in the Faculty of Veterinary Science strongly doubts that there is a single buffalo herd in the nearly two million hectares of the Kruger National Park (KNP) that does not have bovine tuberculosis (BTB).
Despite the great advancements made by humankind through research, which is an exclusively human ability, nature still holds many unexplored secrets.
A collaborative team effort is needed to counter the increasing danger of bovine tuberculosis (BTB) in wildlife evident in the continuous spread of the disease to wildlife on unrelated properties in different parts of South Africa.
A few years ago, PhD candidate Lourens Swanepoel, under supervision of Prof Michael Somers and Dr Fredrik Dalerum of the Centre for Wildlife Management at UP, decided to look into the survival rates and causes of mortality of leopards in southern Africa.
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