Prevalence of Salmonella spp. in translocated wild reptiles and effect of duration of quarantine on their body condition

Figures & data

Figure 1. Location of sites within Northland, New Zealand where reptiles were captured and translocated to Matakohe-Limestone Island.

Table 1. Location of origin and days in quarantine (DIQ) of five endemic reptile species translocated to Matakohe-Limestone Island (MLI), New Zealand between 2007 and 2009. Prevalence of carriage of Salmonella spp. in these reptiles and in copper skinks (Oligosoma aeneum) resident on MLI is shown along with a translocation and sampling summary.

Species	Location^a	DIQ^a	Salmonella spp. carriage		Translocation summary
			Test prevalence (95% CI)^b	Serovars^a
Shore skink (O. smithi; n = 30)	MSR	41	0.4 (0.25–0.58)	Warragul (11) Mississippi (1)	Samples collected in November 2007 (2 days). Skinks caught by hand-searches and live pitfall traps (n = 30) set across eight sites. Faecal samples were collected during quarantine. Animals were released December 2007
Ornate skink (O. ornatum; n = 30)	WI	20	0 (0–0.10)		Samples were collected in November 2008 (5 days). Skinks were caught by hand-searches and live pitfall traps (n = 30) at two sites. Faecal samples were collected during quarantine. Animals were released in November 2008
Moko skink (O. moco; n = 49)	LAI (31), WI (9), CI (9)	35	0 (0–0.06)		Samples were collected in November (3 days) and December (3 days) 2009. Skinks were caught by hand-searches, live pitfall traps (n = 18), and funnel traps (n = 90) set at LAI (n = 3 sites), WI (n = 2) and CI (n = 2). Faecal samples were collected during quarantine. Animals were released December 2009
Pacific gecko (Dactylocnemis pacificus; n = 51)	PI (25), MI (10), MS (8), WI (8)	35 (48), 14 (1), 35 (2)	0 (0–0.06)		Samples were collected in November 2009 (3 days). Geckos caught by hand-searches at PI (n = 1 site), WI (n = 3), MI (n = 4), and MS (n = 1). Faecal samples were collected during quarantine. Animals were released in December 2009
Raukawa gecko (Woodworthia maculata; n = 31)	MI (17), WI (14)	15	0 (0–0.09)		Samples were collected in November 2009 (3 days). Geckos were caught by hand-searches at PI (n = 1 site), WI (n = 3), MI (n = 4), and MS (n = 1). Faecal samples were collected during quarantine. Animals were released in December 2009
Copper skink (n = 30)	MLI	0	0 (0–0.10)		Samples were collected in October 2007 (1 day). Skinks were caught by hand-searches and live pitfall traps (n = 12) set across the island. Animals were released as soon as cloacal samples were taken

^aWhere shown, numbers in parentheses indicate number of reptiles.

^bCI are calculated using the Wilson method and those where prevalence was zero were estimated using the rule of three (Jovanovic and Levy 1997).

CI = Coppermine Island; LAI = Lady Alice Island; MS = Middlestack; MSR = Mimiwhangata Scenic Reserve; MI = Muriwhenua Island; PI = Pupuha Island; WI = Wareware Island.

Figure 2. Mean (±95% CI) change in body condition (BC; calculated as scaled mass index) during quarantine as a proportion of BC at start of quarantine, of five endemic reptile species (○ = Dactylocnemis pacificus, n = 50; ▵ = Woodworthia maculata, n = 15; ▪ = Oligosoma ornatum, n = 30; • = O. moco, n = 8; ▴ = O. smithi, n = 14) which were translocated to Matakohe-Limestone Island during 2007–2009.

Jovanovic BD, Levy PS. A look at the rule of three. The American Statistician 51, 137–9, 1997

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