Juvenile Mortality in Captive Lesser Kudu (Tragelaphus imberbis) at Basle Zoo and its Relation to Nutrition and Husbandry

• DOI: 10.1638/2007-0004.1
• Publication Date: 2009-02-05T15:32:11Z
• Authors: Dorothea Besselmann; Daniela Schaub; Christian Wenker; Jürg Völlm; Nadia Robert; Claude Schelling; Hanspeter Steinmetz; Marcus Clauss
• Keywords: Male; 0106 biological sciences; 10253 Department of Small Animals; 3400 General Veterinary; Nutritional Status; 01 natural sciences; 0403 veterinary science; Selenium; Cause of Death; Animals; Humans; Vitamin E Deficiency; Animal Husbandry; Mortality; Population Density; 2. Zero hunger; 630 Agriculture; White Muscle Disease; Age Factors; 04 agricultural and veterinary sciences; Animals, Newborn; Antelopes; 570 Life sciences; biology; Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Animals, Zoo; Female; 1103 Animal Science and Zoology; Switzerland

Since 1956, when the Basle Zoo (Switzerland) initiated the breeding of lesser kudu (Tragelaphus imberbis), 43% of the lesser kudu juveniles died before reaching an age of 6 mo. In this study, the objective was to obtain the pathological findings, nutritional history, and family tree information in order to evaluate the influence of husbandry on juvenile mortality in these animals. The main cause of death was white muscle disease (WMD), diagnosed in 14 cases (26%) of the deceased juveniles. Although enclosure size had remained constant and animal accessibility to the public was constantly high, both herd size and juvenile mortality had increased from 1956-2004. The diet consumed by the whole group in 2004 had deficient levels of vitamin E and selenium. The increasing linear trend of the mortality rate since the 1960s was significant, and there was a significant correlation between herd size and overall juvenile mortality. In contrast, there was no correlation between herd size and the occurrence of juvenile mortality associated specifically with WMD. Other investigated factors (sex, inbreeding, and season) had no significant effect on overall mortality up to 6 mo of age or on mortality associated with WMD. These results characterize both a dietary and a husbandry problem, and are supported by a lack of similar juvenile mortality in another facility where the diet was supplemented with vitamin E, animal numbers were kept low, and the enclosure structure offered more retreat options for the animals.