Wildlife Management Office Province of Trento, 38121 Trento, Italy
Lia Morpurgo
Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health (MAPS), University of Padua, 35020 Legnaro, PD, Italy
Simone Roberto Rolando Pisano
Centre for Fish and Wildlife Health (FIWI), Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Carlo Vittorio Citterio
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, 35020 Legnaro, PD, Italy
Rudi Cassini
Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health (MAPS), University of Padua, 35020 Legnaro, PD, Italy
Since 1995, the Alpine chamois (Rupicapra r. rupicapra) population of the Dolomites has been affected by sarcoptic mange with considerable management concerns. In this study, 15 years (2006–2020) of passive surveillance and demographic data were analyzed in order to describe a mange outbreak. Furthermore, an enhanced passive surveillance protocol was implemented in order to evaluate the efficiency of ordinary vs. enhanced surveillance protocol in identifying dead chamois in the field and in reaching a correct diagnosis. Our results confirm the role of mange as a determining factor for chamois mortality, while stressing the importance of a wider view on the factors affecting population dynamics. The enhanced passive surveillance protocol increased the probability of carcass retrieval and identification of the cause of death; however, its adoption may be too costly if applied for long periods on a wide scale. Passive surveillance, in both ordinary and enhanced surveillance protocol, should encompass the use of other strategies in the future to study the eco-epidemiology of the disease in wild Caprinae.
