{"id":517149,"date":"2022-11-27T18:10:01","date_gmt":"2022-11-27T15:10:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/wolves-emboldened-by-parasite-more-likely-to-lead-pack-study\/"},"modified":"2022-11-27T18:10:01","modified_gmt":"2022-11-27T15:10:01","slug":"wolves-emboldened-by-parasite-more-likely-to-lead-pack-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wolves-emboldened-by-parasite-more-likely-to-lead-pack-study\/","title":{"rendered":"#Wolves emboldened by parasite more likely to lead pack: study"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a30da0d1b69c\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a30da0d1b69c\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wolves-emboldened-by-parasite-more-likely-to-lead-pack-study\/#%E2%80%9CWolves_emboldened_by_parasite_more_likely_to_lead_pack_study%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Wolves emboldened by parasite more likely to lead pack: study&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CWolves_emboldened_by_parasite_more_likely_to_lead_pack_study%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Wolves emboldened by parasite more likely to lead pack: study&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-gallery lightGallery\">\n<div data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2022\/leader-of-the-pack-a-p.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/2022\/leader-of-the-pack-a-p.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Leader of the pack? A parasite may make grey wolves in Yellowstone National Park take more risks, research suggests.\">\n<figure class=\"article-img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800a\/2022\/leader-of-the-pack-a-p.jpg\" alt=\"Leader of the pack? A parasite may make grey wolves in Yellowstone National Park take more risks, research suggests\" title=\"Leader of the pack? A parasite may make grey wolves in Yellowstone National Park take more risks, research suggests.\" width=\"800\" height=\"530\"\/><figcaption class=\"text-darken text-low-up text-truncate-js text-truncate mt-3\">\n                Leader of the pack? A parasite may make grey wolves in Yellowstone National Park take more risks, research suggests.<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Wolves infected with a common parasite are far more likely to become the leader of their pack, according to a new study, suggesting that the brain-dwelling intruder emboldens its host to take more risks.<\/p>\n<section class=\"article-banner first-banner ads-336x280\"><!-- \/4988204\/Phys_Story_InText_Box --><br \/>\n      <\/section>\n<p>The single-celled parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, only sexually reproduces in cats but can infect all warm-blooded animals.<\/p>\n<p>Between 30-50 percent of people worldwide are estimated to be infected with the parasite, which remains for life as dormant tissue cysts. However people with a healthy immune system rarely have any symptoms.<\/p>\n<p>While some studies have reported an association between people having the parasite in their brain and increased risk-taking, other research has disputed these findings and no definitive link has been proven.<\/p>\n<p>The new study, published in the journal <i>Communications Biology<\/i> on Thursday, took advantage of 26 years&#8217; worth of data on gray wolves living in the Yellowstone National Park in the United States to investigate how the parasite could affect their behavior.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers from the Yellowstone Wolf Project analyzed the blood samples of nearly 230 wolves and 62 cougars\u2014the big cats are known spreaders of the parasite.<\/p>\n<p>They found that infected wolves were more likely to foray deeper into cougar territory than uninfected wolves.<\/p>\n<p>Infected wolves were also 11 times more likely to leave their pack than wolves without the parasite, the study said, indicating a higher rate of risk-taking.<\/p>\n<p>And an infected wolf is up to 46 times more likely to become pack leader, the researchers estimated, adding that the role is normally won by more aggressive animals. <\/p>\n<p>Study co-author Kira Cassidy told AFP that while &#8220;being bolder is not necessarily a bad thing,&#8221; it can &#8220;lower survival for the most bold animals as they might make decisions that put them in danger more often.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Wolves do not have the survival space to take too many more risks than they already do.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Cassidy said it was only the second study on T. gondii&#8217;s effect on a wild animal, after research last year found increased boldness in infected hyena cubs made them more likely to get closer to\u2014and killed by\u2014lions in Kenya.<\/p>\n<p>Laboratory research has also found that rodents with the parasite lose their instinctual fear of cats\u2014driving them into the hands of the only host where T. gondii can reproduce.<\/p>\n<p>William Sullivan, a professor of pharmacology and toxicology at the Indiana University School of Medicine who has been studying T.gondii for more than 25 years, called the wolf paper &#8220;a rare gem&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>However he warned that such an observational study could not show causation.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;A wolf that is a born risk-taker may simply be more likely to venture into cougar territory and contract Toxoplasma,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>But &#8220;if the findings are correct, they suggest we may be underestimating the impact Toxoplasma has on ecosystems around the world,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p><b>What about humans?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s the million-dollar question,&#8221; Sullivan said, adding that &#8220;no one knows for sure and the literature is mixed&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Ajai Vyas, a T. gondii expert at Singapore&#8217;s Nanyang Technological University, warned against inferring that infection could increase risk-taking in people.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There is a lot about human behavior that is different from other animals,&#8221; he told AFP.<\/p>\n<p>People often get infected by T. gondii from eating undercooked meat\u2014or via their pet cat, particularly when cleaning out their litter boxes.<\/p>\n<p>In some cases, especially in people with weakened immune systems, T. gondii can lead to toxoplasmosis, a disease that can cause brain and eye damage.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-main__more p-4\">\n                                                                                        <strong>More information:<\/strong><br \/>\n                                                Connor J. Meyer et al, Parasitic infection increases risk-taking in a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social<\/a>, intermediate host carnivore, <i>Communications Biology<\/i> (2022).  <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-doi=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/s42003-022-04122-0\">DOI: 10.1038\/s42003-022-04122-0<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"article-main__note mt-4\">\n                                                  \u00a9 2022 AFP<\/p>\n<p>                                        <!-- print only --><\/p>\n<div class=\"d-none d-print-block\">\n<p>                                                    <strong>Citation<\/strong>:<br \/>\n                                                    Wolves emboldened by parasite more likely to lead pack: study (2022, November 27)<br \/>\n                                                    retrieved 28 November 2022<br \/>\n                                                    from https:\/\/phys.org\/<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>\/2022-11-wolves-emboldened-parasite.html<\/p>\n<p>                                             This document is subject to copyright. 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A parasite may make grey wolves in Yellowstone National Park take more risks, research suggests. Wolves infected with a common parasite are far more likely to become the leader of their pack, according to a new study, suggesting that the brain-dwelling&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":517150,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/2022\/leader-of-the-pack-a-p.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-517149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sciencee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}