Abstract
The sustainability of captive cheetah populations is limited by high mortality due to chronic renal disease. This necropsy study, conducted on 243 captive cheetahs from one institution, investigated the relationships between focal palatine erosions, gastritis, enterocolitis, glomerulosclerosis, chronic renal infarcts, renal cortical and medullary fibrosis, and renal medullary amyloidosis at death. Associations between the individual renal lesions and death due to chronic renal disease and comparisons of lesion prevalence between captive bred and wild born and between normal and king coated cheetahs were also assessed. All lesions were significantly positively correlated with age at death. Renal medullary fibrosis was the only lesion associated with the likelihood of death being due to chronic renal disease, and cheetahs with this lesion were younger, on average, than cheetahs with other renal lesions. Alimentary tract lesions were not associated with amyloidosis. All lesions, except for palatine erosions, were more common in wild born than in captive bred cheetahs; the former were older at death than the latter. Having a king coat had no clear effect on disease prevalence. These results suggest that age and renal medullary fibrosis are the primary factors influencing the pathogenesis of chronic renal disease in captive cheetahs. Apart from amyloidosis, these findings are analogous to those described in chronic renal disease in domestic cats, which is postulated to result primarily from repetitive hypoxic injury of renal tubules, mediated by age and stress. Cheetahs may be particularly susceptible to acute renal tubular injury due to their propensity for stress and their extended life span in captivity, as well as their adaptation for fecundity (rather than longevity) and adrenaline-mediated high speed prey chases. The presence of chronic renal disease in subadult cheetahs suggests that prevention, identification and mitigation of stress are critical to the successful prevention of chronic renal disease in captive cheetahs.
Highlights
MethodsAcquisition, breeding, disease and mortality records as well as pathological descriptions were examined for 243 cheetahs from a single cheetah breeding centre (1967–2014)
Populations of free-ranging cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) are considered endangered primarily by habitat loss, habitat fragmentation and conflict with livestock and game farmers
Focal palatine erosions and renal lesions were seen primarily in cheetahs that died as adult and elderly animals
Summary
Acquisition, breeding, disease and mortality records as well as pathological descriptions were examined for 243 cheetahs from a single cheetah breeding centre (1967–2014). All cases included were animals submitted for necropsy examination to investigate the cause of death. All cases included were animals submitted for necropsy examination to investigate the cause of death so an ethical statement is not relevant. The project was approved by the University of Pretoria Animal Ethics Committee (Project number VO63-14) and the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa Research Ethics and Scientific Committee (Project number P13/27). One author (E.P. Mitchell) conducted full necropsies and histological examinations of all tissues apart from the eye and spinal cord on 231 of the cheetahs between 1996 and 2014 and scrutinized the necropsy reports and, where available, histological slides from the remaining 12 cheetahs (S1 Table)
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