Diego Montecino-Latorre, Mathieu Pruvot, Sarah H Olson

Deficits in wildlife health (WH) monitoring at protected areas (PAs) can weaken the detection of infectious diseases; physical, and chemical threats; rapid response; and assessment of health management practices, threatening biodiversity conservation and global health. However, there is a lack of baseline information regarding the local perception of wildlife, human, and livestock health relevance at these sites. Current WH monitoring practices and WH data collection and management in PAs are also unknown. To address these gaps, we conducted a survey targeting globally distributed protected area data managers (PADMs). Eighty-six valid responses were considered for analysis. 

PADMs considered WH as relevant to the conservation goals of PAs and >90% of them confirmed that non-healthy wildlife (injured, sick, and dead) are encountered. However, >50% and >20% of PADMs claimed that these animals were not recorded, respectively. When these animals were documented, the recording methods and information collected differed. Although domestic animal presence was common and considered a conservation concern, these animals and their health status were not always recorded. Health data were often stored in a database, but paper forms and spreadsheets were also used. 

Responses suggest that valuable syndromic WH surveillance data from PAs are being lost due to non-collection or inadequate management and their value could be limited by unstandardized recording. Rangers could become a globally distributed “One Health workforce” but these flaws must be addressed first.