FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY IN SELECTED UNGULATE

SPECIES IN AL AIN WILDLIFE PARK AND RESORT, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES.

By:Chege S.M., Kitala, P. & Muchemi G.

AWPR (Formerly Al Ain Zoo) founded in 1968 by the late

Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan

Importance of zoos – education, conservation,

exhibition(Goossens et al. 2005)

Ex-situ conservation challenges- resistance to diseases,

naivety to predators, Inbreeding (few founders)

Introduction

Overall objective

◦ To investigate the causes of morbidity and mortality in some selected

ungulate species in the zoo

Specific objectives

◦ Estimate crude and cause-specific morbidity and mortality rates

◦ Determine the risk factors associated with morbidity and mortality

Objectives

Study area - Al Ain Wildlife Park and Resort (Latitude

24°10'45.37"N, Longitude 55°44'19.99"E), Abu Dhabi, in the

United Arab Emirates

Climate – Long summer (temperatures > 50oc) and short

winter (≤ 6oc). Average annual rainfall >100mm

Study design – Historical data(6yrs) and follow up study

(6mo)

Data analysis – Excel, Genstat, Univariate and multivariate

analysis (Logistic regression-backward elimination)

Materials and methods

Study population

Study pop continued

Sex and age structure – (1Y:6A), (1M:1F), Arabian

oryx neonates (2M:1F)

Feed – Alfalfa, hay, & pellets

1keeper per 100 animals

Vet care – team, clinic, vaccination program

2005-2010 morbidity cases = 1021. Arabian

Oryx(28.5%) and Speke’s gazelle(27%)

Results

Species 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Arabian oryx

130 156 166 158 154 180 174

Addax 22 29 41 40 42 47 52

Dama 28 29 28 24 21 25 21

Mhorr 22 24 30 40 41 43 45

SHO 120 139 167 181 179 195 195

Speke’s 56 64 72 64 66 58 60

Total 378 441 504 507 503 548 547

Previous population (2004-2010)

Morbidity and Mortality trends (2005-2010)

Year

50

100

150

2007

175

200

2005 2006 2008

125

75

225

20102009

Nu

mbe

r of ca

ses (M

orb

idity &

Mo

rtality)

Mortality v YearMorbidity v Year

Trends of morbidity and mortality of the selected ungulate species at AWPR, (2005-2010)

Morbidity causes Trauma (40%) Septicaemia(18%) Diarrhoea(16%) Reproductive

disorders(9%) Pneumonia(6%) Nutritional

deficiency(5%) Unknown (5%)

Mortality causes Septicaemia(38%) Trauma (25%) Reproductive

disorders (12%) Pneunomia (8%) Diarrhoea (6%) Unknown (6%) Nutritional

deficiencies (3%)

Major causes of Morbidity & Mortality

Constant Estimate s.e t* tpr OR

4.8 13.9 0.35 0.728Age (Young=1, Old=0)

1.995 0.347 5.75 <.001  7.3Sex (M=1, F=0)

1.548 0.308 5.02 <.001  4.7

Risk factors -Morbidity & Mortality

Constant Estimate s.e t* tpr OR

-3.055 0.212 -14.41 <0.001 0.0471Age (Young=1, Old=0)

2.981 0.307 9.7 <0.001 22.8

Morbidity and mortality increases with increased herd size (Lance et al. 1992; Silva del Rio et al. 2007)

Biased sex ratio of 2:1of the Arabian oryx newborns. Price (1989) reported a similar finding. On the contrary, Vie (1996),observed a sex ratio of 1:1

Neonates were 7x and 23x likely to get sick or die respectively…other similar reports ;Heinrichs and Radostits, (2001), Morrow et al. (1999),.

Lower birth weights recorded – may be related to inbreeding

Discussion

Conclusion True rates of morbidity(19.2%) and

mortality (11.3%) per animal-month respectively – high

Trauma as leading cause of morbidity. Young die more than old. Low birth weights

Recommendations Trauma – manage overcrowding , single

male & several females Initiate studies on genetic viability and

maternal relatedness of the population

Conclusion & Recommendation

Thank you for your attention