Abstract
Captive management of many wildlife species can be challenging, with individuals displaying health disorders that are not generally described in the wild population. Retrospective studies have identified gastrointestinal (GI) diseases, in particular inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), as the second leading cause of captive adult red wolf (Canis rufus) mortality. Recent molecular studies show that imbalanced gut microbial composition is tightly linked to IBD in the domestic dog. The goal of the present study was to address two main questions: (1) how do red wolf gut microbiomes differ between animals with loose stool consistency, indicative of GI issues, and those with normal stool consistency and (2) how does dietary type relate to stool consistency and red wolf gut microbiomes? Fresh fecal samples were collected from 48 captive wolves housed in eight facilities in the United States and from two wild wolves living in Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, NC, United States. For each individual, the stool consistency was categorized as loose or normal using a standardized protocol and their diet was categorized as either wild, whole meat, a mix of whole meat and kibble or kibble. We characterized gut microbiome structure using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. We found that red wolves with a loose stool consistency differed in composition than wolves with normal stool consistency, suggesting a link between GI health and microbiome composition. Diet was not related to stool consistency but did significantly impact gut microbiome composition; gut microbiome composition of wolves fed a kibble diet were significantly different than the gut microbiome composition of wolves fed a mixed, whole meat and wild diet. Findings from this study increase the understanding of the interplay between diet and GI health in the red wolf, a critical piece of information needed to maintain a healthy red wolf population ex situ.
Highlights
Extreme losses to animal populations globally prompted the establishment of captive breeding programs that strive to maintain genetic diversity and integrity of the species (Association of Zoos and Aquariums Canid Taxonomic Advisory Group, 2012)
We addressed two main questions through statistical analyses: (1) how do red wolf gut microbiomes differ between loose stool consistency and normal stool consistency and (2) how does dietary type relate to stool consistency and red wolf gut microbiomes? As a general outline for microbiome analysis, we examined variation in microbiome structure at three levels: (1) alpha diversity—which is within-sample variation, (2) betadiversity—which is between-sample variation, and (3) changes in relative abundance at the phylum and amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) level
The gut is filled with a large population of bacteria that protect against pathogens, ferment non-digestible dietary carbohydrates and aid in the development of the immune system (Omori et al, 2017)
Summary
Extreme losses to animal populations globally prompted the establishment of captive breeding programs that strive to maintain genetic diversity and integrity of the species (Association of Zoos and Aquariums Canid Taxonomic Advisory Group, 2012). The ex situ population serve to maintain the genetic diversity of the red wolf and is critical for the continued existence of the species (Hedrick and Fredrickson, 2008). Gastrointestinal disease is the second most common cause of mortality in the captive red wolf population (Acton et al, 2000; Seeley et al, 2016). From 1992 through 2012, 21% (32/151) of mortalities in adult red wolves were related to GI disease, with 25% (8/32) of these individuals suffering from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) (Acton et al, 2000; Seeley et al, 2016). Since 2018, there were four GI related deaths within the captive population, one of which was caused by gastric perforations that were potentially associated with IBD (Wolf, 2019)
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