Disease and mortalities in selected zoological gardens in Nigeria.
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2021
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Comparative Clinical Pathology
Abstract
Diseases in captive wildlife constitute a major challenge to the function of zoological gardens only second to management.
These diseases vary in etiology depending on susceptibility, the environment, and husbandry method used. Exposure to
infectious diseases is known to be responsible for the declining figures in wild animal population especially wild felids. Sick
or dead animals subjected to laboratory diagnosis, diagnostic imaging, and necropsy from three (3) zoological gardens in
Nigeria between 2014 and 2018 were included in this study, while dead animals not subjected to any form of clinical, laboratory,
and necropsy diagnosis were excluded. Between 2014 and 2018, carcass submission at the Jos, Kano, and Unilorin zoo
comprised wild ungulates, non-human primates, small mammals, reptiles, felids, and aviary from the selected zoological
gardens combined. In total, sixty-six (66) cases were studied, and this included a wide variety of animal species. All cases
resulted in mortalities distributed across these zoological gardens. Non-infectious conditions accounted for 23% of total
cases reported including fractures, nutritional deficiencies, toxicity, and dystocia, among others. Infectious diseases including
bacterial, parasitic, and viral were the dominant groups of diseases of captive wild animals in these zoos. Bacterial infections
were the most common infectious causes accounting for 41% of the cases. Isolates include Mannheimia haemolytica biotype
A serotype 2 (A2), Salmonella spp, and Escherichia coli. While non-infectious causes were responsible for some mortalities
either singly or as co-morbidities with bacterial agents, mixed causes accounted for 15% of all the cases. This study enumerates
the common diseases, species affected, in wild captive animals in three zoological gardens in Nigeria, making the ation
available to clinicians, biologists, pathologists, public health workers, and policy makers.
Description
Keywords
Captive animals · Infectious · Non-infectious · Nigeria · Wild · Zoo
Citation
Akanbi, O. B., Jegede, H. O., Adam, M., Oludairo, O. O., Aiyedun, J. O., Rimfa, A. G., Ahmed, J., Barde, I. J., Hanga, A. B., Ajadi, A. A., Atata, J. A., Taiwo, V. O. & Shoyinka, S.V.O. (2021). Disease and mortalities in selected zoological gardens in Nigeria. Comparative Clinical Pathology, 30(5):743–753, Published by Springer. Available online at Comparative Clinical Pathology | Volume 30, issue 5 (springer.com)