Specifically unspecific – Simple devices as feasible and effective enrichment for small mammals

In a golden lion tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia rosalia) colony kept indoors in a German zoo, two animals presented a sudden onset of reduced general condition, lethargy, and diarrhea. At animal capture for clinical examination, adult nematode stages were observed after stress-induced defecation. Despite treatment, two golden lion tamarins died in the following 2 days. At necropsy, spirurid stages were found in the lungs and intestine. Additionally, adult Pterygodermatites spp. were identified in histopathological samples of intestine and pancreas, confirming the previous diagnosis. Upon diagnosis, all animals were treated with ivermectin (0.2 mg/kg; SC). Thereafter, the general condition of the golden lion tamarins improved, whereby some of them excreted spirurid nematodes over 3 days. Four weeks after treatment, 20 fecal samples from the colony were examined and proved negative for parasitic stages. Given that common German cockroaches (Blattella germanica) are suitable intermediate hosts of Pterygodermatites nycticebi, 30 specimens were collected from seven different locations around the golden lion tamarins housing. Third-stage larvae of Pterygodermatites spp. were recovered from those cockroaches. Regular anthelmintic treatments, coprological screenings, and controls for intermediate hosts were recommended. More than 2 years later, P. nycticebi infection was diagnosed again histopathologically in an aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) which suddenly died. Coprological analysis confirmed the presence of spirurid eggs. Due to prosimian primates' cockroach-eating habits and given that total cockroach eradication proved impossible, continuous cockroach control strategies and regular treatments of primates are currently performed to prevent further P. nycticebi infections.

Here, we present a review of the dataset resulting from the 11-years follow-up of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in free-ranging populations of Leontopithecus rosalia (golden lion tamarin) and Leontopithecus chrysomelas (golden-headed lion tamarin) from distinct forest fragments in Atlantic Coastal Rainforest. Additionally, we present new data regarding T. cruzi infection of small mammals (rodents and marsupials) that live in the same areas as golden lion tamarins and characterisation at discrete typing unit (DTU) level of 77 of these isolates. DTU TcII was found to exclusively infect primates, while TcI infected Didelphis aurita and lion tamarins. The majority of T. cruzi isolates derived from L. rosalia were shown to be TcII (33 out 42) Nine T. cruzi isolates displayed a TcI profile. Golden-headed lion tamarins demonstrated to be excellent reservoirs of TcII, as 24 of 26 T. cruzi isolates exhibited the TcII profile. We concluded the following: (i) the transmission cycle of T. cruzi in a same host species and forest fragment is modified over time, (ii) the infectivity competence of the golden lion tamarin population fluctuates in waves that peak every other year and (iii) both golden and golden-headed lion tamarins are able to maintain long-lasting infections by TcII and TcI.

Pheromones for amphibian conservation – considering new approaches in conservation breeding programmes

Animal welfare and stress refer to the subjective experience of the animal, which depends on its emotional and cognitive capacities to evaluate the situation it is in, to know its body state in terms of needs, and the higher-order, conscious, processing of the information. The origin of stress-inducing factors may be psychological, such as fear, or physical, such as food deprivation. In both cases, they influence the emotional status of the animal. Due to its subjective, therefore unmeasurable, character, the assessment of animal welfare is indirect. During the preslaughter period, this assessment relies on the physiological and behavioural stress reactions and environmental context. Physiological reactions are not specific to stress; they allow any adaptive response potentially requiring increased physical activity and vigilance. Combining physiological measurements and behavioural observations in relation to the environmental context allow interpreting these different types of information in terms of stress. Physiological and behavioural reactions further influence meat quality traits, such as post-mortem temperature and pH decline, which influence other traits, such as colour and tenderness, and carcass quality characteristics, such as bruising. Individuals show a degree of consistency in their responses to stress factors. The determination of the animal’s stress reactivity using standardised tests before slaughter facilitates the interpretation of the physiological and behavioural observations made in the slaughter setting. Stress reactivity determined before slaughter may predict stress reactions at slaughter, and future meat quality. Summarising, the assessment of animal welfare and stress involves the interpretation of a range of measurements on the physiology and behaviour of the animal, the environmental context, post-mortem meat and carcass quality traits, and the characteristics of the animal itself, in terms of stress reactivity and rearing and genetic background.

Effects of livestock grazing and habitat characteristics on small mammal communities in the Knersvlakte, South Africa

Simple SummaryWild mammals under human care are routinely exposed to management procedures that could be stressful and affect their welfare. Besides, wild animals in captivity are frequently housed under natural climatic conditions, which could also be a year-round challenge that affects how they cope with human intervention. Therefore, stress responses to seasons and management procedures of zoo-housed lesser anteaters (Tamandua tetradactyla) were non-invasively monitored. Behavioural and physiological stress responses differed between seasons. Then, lesser anteaters were studied during winter and summer by exposing them to a routine veterinary check and transportation. Behaviour before and after the procedures was video-recorded and analysed for possible alterations of activity. Faecal glucocorticoid metabolites were measured to evaluate adrenocortical activity. Both procedures altered only behavioural activities, and the response was stronger in summer than winter. We conclude that routine procedures may only slightly compromise the welfare of zoo-housed lesser anteaters, affecting them less in winter than in summer.Management procedures affect behavioural and physiological stress responses of wild mammals under human care. According to the Reactive Scope Model, normal values are presumed to exist within predictive and reactive ranges. First, stress parameters of zoo-housed adult Tamandua tetradactyla were evaluated in winter and summer (29 days each), determining the level of behaviour and/or physiological parameters needed to respond to predictable environmental changes. Secondly, the effects of veterinary procedures and transportation were studied in both seasons. Non-invasive methods were applied, assessing behaviour through videos and adrenocortical activity by faecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGMs). Lesser anteaters exhibited seasonality (summer > winter) in some behavioural parameters, such as nocturnal activities, as well as in the activity cycle (e.g., acrophase) and FGMs. A veterinary check elicited an increase in total activity (TA), natural behaviours and repetitive locomotion and affected the activity cycle, particularly in summer. Transport produced changes in TA, nocturnal and natural activity and some variables of the activity cycle, mostly during summer. Although the effects of routine management procedures were different from each other and presumably stressful, they elicited changes only at the behavioural level, which was greater during summer. The differences observed according to non-invasive methodologies highlight the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in this context and suggest that it is unlikely that individual welfare was affected.

CRH: The link between hormonal-, metabolic- and behavioral responses to stress

Cowpox virus is considered to be a re-emerging zoonotic pathogen and a public health threat due to increasing numbers of cases in humans and animals in Europe over the past decade, including within the United Kingdom (UK). We present epidemiological data and diagnostic features of 27 recent, naturally occurring cowpox cases in zoo and wild animals across the UK, including the first reports of cowpox in two snow leopards (Panthera uncia), a Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris), three Chilean pudus (Pudu puda), a Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus) and a Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra), and the first reports of Orthopoxvirus infection in a lar gibbon (Hylobates lar), a Southern tamandua (Tamandua tetradactyla) and an aardvark (Orycteropus afer). This study provides a detailed overview of cowpox infections in a wide range of non-domestic animal species, presents a range of methods for diagnosis and demonstrates the value of retrospective analysis of pathology surveillance in revealing epidemiological links.

We provide the first germination data on the root-holoparasitic Hydnoraceae. Aqueous root extracts of host and non-host Euphorbia spp. were applied to seeds of Hydnora triceps Drège & Meyer, a narrow endemic of Namibia and South Africa. The seeds of H. triceps germinated only in response to root extracts of its exclusive host, Euphorbia dregeana Meyer, and not for co-occurring non-host Euphorbia spp. This pattern of host specific germination suggests that germination response to host-root cues may be responsible for host partitioning. Provenance of H. triceps seeds and E. dregeana root extracts did not significantly affect germination rates. The round-eared elephant shrew ( Macroscelides proboscideus ) and the striped mouse ( Rhabdomys pumilio ) were observed feeding on the fleshy pulp of H. triceps fruits. Small-mammal droppings collected from the same partially consumed fruits contained intact seeds (1.9 ± 1.1 seeds/dropping) providing indirect evidence of seed dispersal by small mammals.

Six animals in a free-ranging herd often Aberdeen Angus cattle showed mouth movements induced by skin stimulation by grooming of the sacro-coccygeal region with a horse grooming brush. Three of the animals reacted by mouth movements similar to stereotypic tongue rolling. Twenty-two (ie 37 %) of 59 animals at a cattle show reacted by mouth movements when firmly scratched by hand on the skin in the sacro-coccygeal region and among these animals, significantly more beef breed cattle reacted compared to dairy breeds (P<0.02).Stereotypic mouth movements of cattle including tongue-rolling, bar-biting and bar-licking are regularly observed in dairy cows and calves. Although it is generally accepted that these kinds of behaviour are behavioural stress reactions, scientific evidence related to the mechanisms behind these oral movements is scarce. In relation to animal welfare science these behavioural stress reactions ewe important because knowledge of the aetiology of the abnormal behaviour is necessary for the prevention and cure of the symptoms. The present demonstration of skin stimulated induction of mouth movements in cattle, similar to tongue-rolling, therefore seems interesting, as the discovery of such a behaviour may be used in further research on oral stereotypies in cattle.

The feeding habits of a community of small mammals from the semi‐arid Karoo, South Africa were analysed by microscopic examination of the stomach contents of animals caught during a 13‐month snap‐trapping study. The community comprised eight rodent species (Gerbillurus paeba, Mus minutoides, Rhabdomys pumilio, Otomys unisulcatus, Saccostomus campestris, Desmodillus auricularis, Malacothrix typica, Mastomys natalensis) and a single macroscelid elephant shrew (Macroscelides proboscideus.) The rodents were all predominantly herbivorous, while the elephant shrew ate mainly insects. No granivores or omnivores were represented in this community. The results presented here (including the first analysis of the diet of M. typica) indicate a greater emphasis on herbivory than previously described for these species. Limited dietary overlap was recorded between these species, although some instances of potential dietary competition that deserve further study were identified. The paucity of granivorous small mammals in the semi‐arid Karoo contrasts the patterns of trophic specialization for North American and Israeli semi‐arid communities, but is similar to that of South American, Australian and other southern African semi‐arid communities.

The welfare of animals under human care is often assessed by observing behaviours indicative of stress or discomfort, such as stereotypical behaviour (SB), which often shows as repetitive, invariant pacing. Traditional behaviour monitoring methods, however, are labour-intensive and subject to observer bias. Our study presents an innovative automated approach utilising computer vision and machine learning to non-invasively detect and analyse SB in managed populations, exemplified by a longitudinal study of two polar bears. We designed an animal tracking framework to localise and identify individual animals in the enclosure. After determining their position on the enclosure map via homographic transformation, we refined the resulting trajectories using a particle filter. Finally, we classified the trajectory patterns as SB or normal behaviour using a lightweight random forest approach with an accuracy of 94.9 %. The system not only allows for continuous, objective monitoring of animal behaviours but also provides insights into seasonal variations in SB, illustrating its potential for improving animal welfare in zoological settings. Ultimately, we analysed 607 days for the occurrence of SB, allowing us to discuss seasonal patterns of SB in both the male and female polar bear monitored. This work advances the field of animal welfare research by introducing a scalable, efficient method for the long-term, automated detection and monitoring of stereotypical behaviour, paving the way for its application across various settings and species that can be continuously monitored with cameras. We made the code publicly available at https://github.com/team-vera/stereotypy-detector.

The aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) is an unusual lemur with a small population in human care. Cardiac pathologies, but not normal size parameters, have been reported in this species. This study aimed to determine whether radiographic cardiac scaling systems commonly used to evaluate heart size in domestic mammals have potential clinical application in aye-ayes. Selected cardiac silhouette, vertebral, and intrathoracic skeletal dimensions were measured retrospectively on paired sets of orthogonal thoracic radiographs collected during health examinations of aye-ayes maintained at three British zoos. Measurements from 21 healthy aye-ayes (10 males, 11 females) of varying ages were used to calculate reference intervals (RI) with 90% confidence intervals for vertebral heart scale in both right lateral (VHS-RLat) and ventrodorsal (VHS-VD) projections, a modified VHS (VHS-Mod), thoracic inlet heart size (TIHS), and cardiothoracic ratio (CTR). VHS-VD (9.49 ± 0.29) was slightly higher than VHS-RLat (9.32 ± 0.33; P = 0.08) and had the lowest coefficient of variation of the scaling indices; TIHS was 4.89 ± 0.36, VHS-Mod was 11.07 ± 0.49, and CTR was 0.53 ± 0.05. Thoracic depth-to-width ratio of aye-ayes ranged between 0.75 and 0.91, equivalent to an intermediate thoracic morphology in dogs. No scaling indices differed significantly by sex, age group, or thoracic morphology; however, VHS-Mod and CTR were significantly correlated with bodyweight (P = 0.0022 and P = 0.041, respectively) and CTR with age (P = 0.02). Summed cardiac dimensions demonstrated a near-linear relationship with bodyweight and T4 vertebral length (both P < 0.05), but not thoracic inlet length (P = 0.12). Analysis of measurements by using serial radiographs from hand-reared animals indicated potential utility of RI in aye-ayes >0.4 yr. Overall, results suggest VHS-VD and VHS-RLat are preferred cardiac scaling indices in aye-ayes. These data will aid zoo clinicians in the evaluation of cardiac size and identification of cardiomegaly in this endangered primate.

The cholinergic mechanisms role determination in epileptogenesis attracts the attention of researchers. Pilocarpine administration in rats contributes to chronic form of epileptiform activity development characterized by the presence of a pronounced acute stage and an interictal period - free from behavioral convulsive reactions. We consider the most important feature of the pilocarpine-induced seizures interictal period might be the change of various forms of nonconvulsive behavior. Attempts to investigate the animals’ behavioral reactions details during the seizure-free interictal period, as well as to determine the mechanisms of similar types of behavior formation, are interesting. The purpose of the work is to investigate the motor, stereotypic and aggressive-defensive behavior of rats throughout the interictal period of pilocarpine-induced convulsive syndrome with a frontal cortex functional activity change. It was found that the severity of non-convulsive behavioral reactions in the interictal period during pilocarpine-induced chronic seizures is mostly determined by the frontal cortex functional state. At the same time, the frontal cortex hyperactivation is an important feature of pilocarpine-induced chronic epileptogenesis. The authors proved that when the frontal cortex is activated in rats, there is an increase in horizontal and vertical motor activity, as well as the expressiveness of emotional reactions in the “open field” test and the strengthening of the aggressive-defensive behavior. In conditions of this part of the cortex selective destruction the opposite behavioral effects are noted which confirms the important role of the frontal cortex in the interictal non-convulsive behavior formation. Observed behavioral effects during the frontal cortex functional activity modulation, according to the authors, indicate the reasonability of regulatory influences searching aiming forward this brain part to activate complex mechanisms aimed to pilocarpine-induced chronic epileptiform activity elimination.

Surgical correction of familial diaphragmatic hernia of morgagni in the golden lion tamarin