Disease transmission across the domestic-wild animal interface is increasing with anthropogenic change, including human land clearing and increased human populations along the borders of protected areas.  All of these changes increase contact between domestic and wild animals either directly or indirectly.  This is especially true for domestic dogs, which frequently roam freely, allowing them to come into contact with their wild relatives and transmit diseases.

Thailand may be an ideal place to study disease transmission between domestic dogs and wild carnivores.  The country’s natural forests declined from 75% to 25% between the 1960s and 1980s and remaining protected areas often are islands of forest surrounded by human-altered landscapes.  Households along the borders of these protected areas often keep multiple guard dogs or tolerate street dogs.  We already have an established research project in one such protected area: Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary (KARN) and are studying the ecology of dholes.  Our camera trapping studies in the area demonstrate that dholes as well as domestic dogs are found in KARN, and direct and indirect contact (via urine, fecal, or other body fluids) is likely to exist between domestic dogs and carnivores in this ecosystem.

We propose to study the role domestic dogs play in transmitting viral diseases to wild carnivore populations. We will use a combination of techniques, ranging from demographic analyses of domestic dog populations, tracking dog movements via GPS collars, detection of wild carnivores in domestic dog home ranges via camera-trapping, and lab analyses of domestic dog to detect viral disease antibodies.

Dhole (left) and domestic dogs (right) photo-captured at the same location at Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand.