Chordate Zoology - textbook - Y. V. Tsaryk - 2013

Chapter 5. SUPERCLASS TETRAPODS (LAND VERTEBRATES) TETRAPODA, seu QUADRIPEDA.

ANAMNIOTES (ANAMNIA) AND AMNIOTES (AMNIOTA)

5.4. CLASS MAMMALS, or BEASTS, MAMMALIA, seu THERIA

5.4.5. Importance of Mammals to Humans

Beneficial mammals are numerous and diverse. Among long-domesticated animals, they account for over 60% (15 species). To these, we must add fur-bearing animals bred in cages that are in the Cytology/cytology/16.html">Early stages of domestication (approximately 20 species), as well as numerous laboratory animals (rats, mice, guinea pigs, and many others). Captive breeding is accompanied by The Emergence of new breeds of these animals. The number of dog breeds reaches 200 and continues to grow; over a hundred breeds of rabbits are known; among laboratory animals, the number of genetically pure strains of mice and rats is increasing. The domestication of new species continues: the elk as a transport animal, the maral deer for harvesting velvet antlers, and new fur-bearing and laboratory animals. To improve existing breeds and develop new ones, Hybridization of domestic animals with wild species is used.

Game animals yield significant profits in many regions. The successful conservation of their stocks and the recovery of populations of sable, beaver, sea otter, fur seals, and other animals, which were nearly wiped out by predatory exploitation, have increased the hunting resources of Ukraine and neighboring states; the successful acclimatization of American rodents—muskrat and nutria—has also augmented them. The harvesting of sable, martens, squirrels, Arctic foxes, red foxes, and other fur-bearing animals, combined with the captive breeding of the most valuable fur species, meets the demand for fur. The main commercial species of the forest zone are the squirrel, sable, marten, ermine, foxes, and hares. Due to the population growth of valuable mustelids, the squirrel has yielded its top position to them (in terms of the total value of harvested pelts). In the tundra zone, the Arctic fox and mountain hare remain of primary importance; in steppes and deserts—foxes, hares, small mustelids, and ground squirrels; in river valleys—muskrat, Water vole, otter, and in the south—nutria; in mountainous regions, marmots are of great importance. Other species (bears, felids, etc.) account for only a small fraction of the harvested fur. Wild ungulates are an important source of meat and hides: reindeer in the tundra, elk and deer in the forest zone, and saiga in steppes and semi-deserts. A special place is occupied by marine mammal hunting, either on rookeries (fur seals), where the animals come to breed, or from vessels (whaling and sealing). In the former case, the harvesting of young males predominates. Marine whaling is regulated by international agreements, which do not always guarantee the preservation of the breeding stock, so their numbers are noticeably declining. Marine hunting products include not only animal skins (fur) but also blubber and other valuable substances (for example, spermaceti from sperm whales).

The list of harmful animals includes carnivorans that attack domestic animals and humans, forest and agricultural pests, and carriers and vectors of human and domestic animal diseases. Attacks by large carnivorans (tiger, lion, leopard, wolves, hyenas, bears, etc.) on humans are quite rare; typically, this is done by individuals that have lost The ability to hunt their natural prey. Man-eating animals must certainly be removed from the wild. Wolf attacks on humans are almost always associated with rabies in these predators. It is necessary to control the population of wolves and other carnivorans in areas where they attack livestock, but their harmfulness should not be exaggerated. Often, wolves are driven to such attacks by a decline in the population of ungulates, their natural prey. A sharp decline in the numbers of large carnivorans necessitates conservation measures: hunting polar bears, tigers, and snow leopards is strictly prohibited.

Crops, plantations, and pastures are typically damaged by rodents and lagomorphs. Their destructiveness is compounded by the fact that many mice and voles are capable of population explosions. Orchards are damaged by dormice and mice. They are primarily controlled with chemical pesticides, which helps reduce their numbers; however, this often leads to environmental pollution and does not eliminate the risk of recurrent population explosions.

Many mammals are hosts and vectors of dangerous diseases affecting humans and domestic animals; furthermore, the vectors of these diseases—ticks, fleas, lice, and sandflies—feed on mammals. Marmots, ground squirrels, gerbils, certain voles, mice, and other rodents (about 200 species in total) are hosts and vectors of the dangerous bacterium that causes plague. Water voles (over 60 species in total) spread tularemia. Viral infections, especially tick-borne encephalitis, are linked to small mammals (which host the larval and nymphal stages of ticks) and large mammals, such as carnivores and ungulates (which host adult ticks). A similar range of hosts is found for hemorrhagic fever, tick-borne typhus, and relapsing fever. Desert rodents are reservoirs of cutaneous leishmaniasis, while canids are reservoirs of visceral leishmaniasis. Without the involvement of vectors, mammals maintain and transmit infections such as rabies (carnivorans, some bats), erysipeloid, leptospirosis, and Listeriosis (voles, rats, mice, shrews, carnivorans, and ungulates). Many of these infections have natural foci, meaning they permanently persist in the wild. Humans can contract these diseases through contact with an infected animal or one carrying a vector (such as a flea or tick).