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Background: Monitoring blood oxygenation is essential in immobilised rhinoceros, which are susceptible to opioid-induced hypoxaemia. This study assessed the reliability, clinical performance and trending ability of the Nonin PalmSAT 2500 A pulse oximeter's and the Masimo Radical-7 pulse co-oximeter's dual-wavelength technology, with their probes placed at two measurement sites, the inner surface of the third-eyelid and the scarified ear pinna of immobilised white rhinoceroses. Eight white rhinoceros were immobilised with etorphine-based drug combinations and given butorphanol after 12 min, and oxygen after 40 min, of recumbency. The Nonin and Masimo devices, with dual-wavelength probes attached to the third-eyelid and ear recorded arterial peripheral oxygen-haemoglobin saturation (SpO 2 ) at pre-determined time points, concurrently with measurements of arterial oxygen-haemoglobin saturation (SaO 2 ), from drawn blood samples, by a benchtop AVOXimeter 4000 co-oximeter (reference method). Reliability of the Nonin and Masimo devices was evaluated using the Bland-Altman and the area root mean squares (ARMS) methods. Clinical performance of the devices was evaluated for their ability to accurately detect clinical hypoxemia using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and measures of sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values. Trending ability of the devices was assessed by calculating concordance rates from four-quadrant plots., Results: Only the Nonin device with transflectance probe attached to the third-eyelid provided reliable SpO 2 measurements across the 70 to 100% saturation range (bias - 1%, precision 4%, ARMS 4%). Nonin and Masimo devices with transflectance probes attached to the third-eyelid both had high clinical performance at detecting clinical hypoxaemia [area under the ROC curves (AUC): 0.93 and 0.90, respectively]. However, the Nonin and Masimo devices with transmission probes attached to the ear were unreliable and provided only moderate clinical performance. Both Nonin and Masimo devices, at both measurement sites, had concordance rates lower than the recommended threshold of ≥ 90%, indicating poor trending ability., Conclusions: The overall assessment of reliability, clinical performance and trending ability indicate that the Nonin device with transflectance probe attached to the third-eyelid is best suited for monitoring of blood oxygenation in immobilised rhinoceros. The immobilisation procedure may have affected cardiovascular function to an extent that it limited the devices' performance., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Translocation and dehorning are common and important practices for rhinoceros management and conservation. It is not known if dehorning causes a stress response or negatively affects rhinoceroses during transport. Twenty-three subadult wild Southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum) bulls were immobilized and translocated >280 km for population management reasons. Ten animals were dehorned at capture, and 13 animals were transported without dehorning. For transport, five dehorned and six nondehorned rhinoceroses were sedated with azaperone (62.38±9.54 μg/kg) and five dehorned and seven nondehorned rhinoceroses with midazolam (64.61±9.28 μg/kg). Blood samples were collected at capture, start of transport, and after 6 h of transport. Measurements included 10 physiologic variables: hematocrit, total serum protein, creatine kinase (CK), aspartate aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), creatinine, urea, cholesterol, β-hydroxybutyrate, and glucose; and four stress response variables: cortisol, epinephrine, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, and leukocyte coping capacity. Using a linear mixed model, CK and GGT were higher in dehorned compared with nondehorned rhinoceroses. There were no significant differences in the other variables between the two groups. The likely cause of these differences is that dehorned animals spent more time in the crate before the start of transport than nondehorned rhinoceroses (3:11±0:54 h vs. 1:12±0:56 h, P<0.001). These results indicate that dehorning does not negatively alter the white rhinoceros' physiologic and stress responses during translocation, supporting its use for antipoaching measures., (© Wildlife Disease Association 2024.)

Comparatively little is known about the distribution and ecology of Aardvark ( Orycteropus afer ) and Temminck's Ground Pangolin ( Smutsia temminckii ). Both are elusive species that are normally nocturnal, solitary, and fossorial. Formally collected records have been used to map the distribution of these species, and social media records provide a tool to gather information on their distribution and ecology. We obtained 680 photographs and videos of aardvarks and 790 of ground pangolins in southern Africa from publicly available posts on Facebook and Instagram (2010-2019). The images provide new insights into the distribution, activity, drinking, and predation-and confirm that aardvarks are more diurnally active when they are in poor body condition. Social media can provide useful supplementary information for understanding of elusive mammals. These "soft" data can be applied to other species., Competing Interests: None declared., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society of Mammalogists.)

Translocations of Rhinocerotidae are commonly performed for conservation purposes but expose the animals to a variety of stressors (e.g. prolonged fasting, confinement, novel environment, etc.). Stress may change the composition of gut microbiota, which can impact animal health and welfare. White rhinoceroses in particular can develop anorexia, diarrhea and enterocolitis after translocation. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations of age, sex and translocation on the rhinoceros' fecal bacterial microbiota composition. fecal samples were collected from rhinoceroses at capture ( n  = 16) and after a >30-hour road transport ( n  = 7). DNA was isolated from these samples and submitted for 16S rRNA V3-V4 phylotyping. Alpha diversity indices of the rhinoceros' fecal microbiota composition of different age, sex and before and after transport were compared using non-parametric statistical tests and beta diversity indices using Permutational Multivariate Analysis Of Variance (PERMANOVA). Resulting P -values were alpha-corrected ( P adj . ). Alpha and beta diversity did not differ between rhinoceroses of different age and sex. However, there was a significant difference in beta diversity between fecal samples collected from adult animals at capture and after transport. The most abundant bacterial phyla in samples collected at capture were Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes (85.76%), represented by Lachnospiraceae , Ruminococcaceae and Prevotellaceae families. The phyla Proteobacteria ( P adj . = 0.009) and Actinobacteria ( P adj . = 0.012), amongst others, increased in relative abundance from capture to after transport encompassing potentially pathogenic bacterial families such as Enterobacteriaceae ( P adj . = 0.018) and Pseudomonadaceae ( P adj . = 0.022). Important commensals such as Spirochaetes ( P adj. = 0.009), Fibrobacteres ( P adj. = 0.018) and Lachnospiraceae ( P adj. = 0.021) decreased in relative abundance. These results indicate that the stressors associated with capture and transport cause an imbalanced fecal microbiota composition in white rhinoceroses that may lead to potentially infectious intestinal disorders. This imbalance may result from recrudescence of normally innocuous pathogens, increased shedding of pathogens or increased vulnerability to new pathogens., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press and the Society for Experimental Biology.)

Background: Enterprise Point-of-Care (EPOC) blood analysis is used routinely in wildlife veterinary practice to monitor blood oxygenation, but the reliability of the EPOC calculated arterial oxygen-hemoglobin saturation (cSaO 2 ) has never been validated in the white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum), despite their susceptibility to hypoxemia during chemical immobilization., Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the reliability of the EPOC cSaO 2 by comparing it against arterial oxygen-hemoglobin saturation (SaO 2 ) measured by a co-oximeter reference method in immobilized white rhinoceroses., Methods: Male white rhinoceroses in two studies (both n = 8) were immobilized by darting with different etorphine-based drug combinations, followed by butorphanol or saline (administered intravenously). Animals in both studies received oxygen via intranasal insufflation after 60 min. Blood samples were drawn, at predetermined time points, from a catheter inserted into the auricular artery and analyzed using the EPOC and a co-oximeter. Bland-Altman (to estimate bias and precision) and area root mean squares (ARMS) plots were used to determine the reliability of the EPOC cSaO 2 compared with simultaneous co-oximeter SaO 2 readings., Results: The rhinoceros were acidotic (pH of 7.3 ± 0.1 [mean ± standard deviation]), hypercapnic (PaCO 2 of 73.7 ± 10.5 mmHg), and normothermic (body temperature of 37.4 ± 1.8°C). In total, 389 paired cSaO 2 -SaO 2 measurements were recorded (the cSaO 2 ranged between 13.2% and 99.0%, and the SaO 2 ranged between 11.8% and 99.9%). The EPOC cSaO 2 readings were unreliable (inaccurate, imprecise, and poor ARMS) across the entire saturation range (bias -6%, precision 5%, and ARMS 8%)., Conclusions: The EPOC cSaO 2 is unreliable and should not be used to monitor blood oxygenation in immobilized white rhinoceroses., (© 2023 The Authors. Veterinary Clinical Pathology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of the American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology.)

Climate change is impacting mammals both directly (for example, through increased heat) and indirectly (for example, through altered food resources). Understanding the physiological and behavioural responses of mammals in already hot and dry environments to fluctuations in the climate and food availability allows for a better understanding of how they will cope with a rapidly changing climate. We measured the body temperature of seven Temminck's pangolins ( Smutsia temminckii ) in the semi-arid Kalahari for periods of between 4 months and 2 years. Pangolins regulated body temperature within a narrow range (34-36°C) over the 24-h cycle when food (and hence water, obtained from their prey) was abundant. When food resources were scarce, body temperature was regulated less precisely, 24-h minimum body temperatures were lower and the pangolins became more diurnally active, particularly during winter when prey was least available. The shift toward diurnal activity exposed pangolins to higher environmental heat loads, resulting in higher 24-h maximum body temperatures. Biologging of body temperature to detect heterothermy, or estimating food abundance (using pitfall trapping to monitor ant and termite availability), therefore provide tools to assess the welfare of this elusive but threatened mammal. Although the physiological and behavioural responses of pangolins buffered them against food scarcity during our study, whether this flexibility will be sufficient to allow them to cope with further reductions in food availability likely with climate change is unknown., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press and the Society for Experimental Biology.)

Free-living lions (12 per group) were immobilized with tiletamine-zolazepam-medetomidine (TZM), ketamine-medetomidine (KM), or ketamine-butorphanol-medetomidine (KBM). During immobilization, respiratory, blood gas and acid-base variables were monitored for 30 minutes. Respiratory rates were within expected ranges and remained constant throughout the immobilizations. Ventilation increased in lions over the immobilization period from 27.2 ± 9.5 to 35.1 ± 25.4 L/min (TZM), 26.1 ± 14.3 to 28.4 ± 18.4 L/min (KM) and 23.2 ± 10.8 to 26.7 ± 14.2 L/min (KBM). Tidal volume increased over the immobilization period from 1800 ± 710 to 2380 ± 1930 mL/breath (TZM), 1580 ± 470 to 1640 ± 500 mL/breath (KM) and 1600 ± 730 to 1820 ± 880 mL/breath (KBM). Carbon dioxide production was initially lower in KBM (0.4 ± 0.2 L/min) than in TZM (0.5 ± 0.2 L/min) lions but increased over time in all groups. Oxygen consumption was 0.6 ± 0.2 L/min (TZM), 0.5 ± 0.2 L/min (KM) and 0.5 ± 0.2 L/min (KBM) and remained constant throughout the immobilization period. Initially the partial pressure of arterial oxygen was lower in KBM (74.0 ± 7.8 mmHg) than in TZM (78.5 ± 4.7 mmHg) lions, but increased to within expected range in all groups over time. The partial pressure of arterial carbon dioxide was higher throughout the immobilizations in KBM (34.5 ± 4.2 mmHg) than in TZM (32.6 ± 2.2 mmHg) and KM (32.6 ± 3.8 mmHg) lions. Alveolar-arterial gradients were initially elevated, but decreased over time for all groups, although in KM lions it remained elevated (26.9 ± 10.4 mmHg) above the expected normal. Overall, all three drug combinations caused minor respiratory and metabolic side-effects in the immobilized lions. However, initially hypoxaemia occurred as the drug combinations, and possibly the stress induced by the immobilization procedure, hinder alveoli oxygen gas exchange., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press and the Society for Experimental Biology.)

Capture myopathy (CM), which is associated with the capture and translocation of wildlife, is a life-threatening condition that causes noteworthy morbidity and mortality in captured animals. Such wildlife deaths have a significant impact on nature conservation efforts and the socio-economic wellbeing of communities reliant on ecotourism. Several strategies are used to minimise the adverse consequences associated with wildlife capture, especially in ungulates, but no successful preventative or curative measures have yet been developed. The primary cause of death in wild animals diagnosed with CM stems from kidney or multiple organ failure as secondary complications to capture-induced rhabdomyolysis. Ergo, the development of accurate and robust model frameworks is vital to improve our understanding of CM. Still, since CM-related complications are borne from biological and behavioural factors that may be unique to wildlife, e.g. skeletal muscle architecture or flighty nature, certain differences between the physiology and stress responses of wildlife and rodents need consideration in such endeavours. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to summarise some of the major etiological and pathological mechanisms of the condition as it is observed in wildlife and what is currently known of CM-like syndromes, i.e. rhabdomyolysis, in laboratory rats. Additionally, we will highlight some key aspects for consideration in the development and application of potential future rodent models., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Wild animals are commonly captured for conservation, research, and wildlife management purposes. However, capture is associated with a high risk of morbidity or mortality. Capture-induced hyperthermia is a commonly encountered complication believed to contribute significantly to morbidity and mortality. Active cooling of hyperthermic animals by dousing with water is believed to treat capture-induced pathophysiological effects, but remains untested. This study aimed to determine the pathophysiological effects of capture, and whether cooling by dousing with cold water effectively reduces these effects in blesbok (Damaliscus pygargus phillipsi). Thirty-eight blesbok were randomly allocated into three groups: a control group that was not chased (Ct, n=12), chased not cooled (CNC, n=14), and chased plus cooled group (C+C, n=12). The CNC and C+C groups were chased for 15 min prior to chemical immobilization on day 0. Animals in the C+C group were cooled with 10 L of cold water (4 C) for 10 min during immobilization. All animals were immobilized on days 0, 3, 16, and 30. During each immobilization, rectal and muscle temperatures were recorded, and arterial and venous blood samples collected. Blesbok in the CNC and C+C groups presented with capture-induced pathophysiological changes characterized by hyperthermia, hyperlactatemia, increased markers of liver, skeletal, and cardiac muscle damage, hypoxemia, and hypocapnia. Cooling effectively returned body temperatures to normothermic levels, but neither the magnitude nor the duration of the pathophysiological changes differed between the CNC and C+C groups. Therefore, at least in blesbok, capture-induced hyperthermia appears not to be the primary cause of the pathophysiological changes, but is more likely a clinical sign of the hypermetabolism resulting from capture-induced physical and psychological stress. Although cooling is still recommended to prevent the compounding cytotoxic effects of persistent hyperthermia, it is unlikely to prevent stress- and hypoxia-induced damage caused by the capture procedure., (© Wildlife Disease Association 2023.)

Thirty-six free-ranging lions (12 per group) were immobilized with tiletamine-zolazepam (Zoletil 0.6 mg/kg i.m.) plus medetomidine (0.036 mg/kg i.m.) (TZM), ketamine (3.0 mg/kg i.m.) plus medetomidine (0.036 mg/kg i.m.) (KM) or ketamine (1.2 mg/kg i.m.) plus butorphanol (0.24 mg/kg i.m.) plus medetomidine (0.036 mg/kg i.m.) (KBM). During immobilization cardiovascular variables were monitored at 5-minute intervals for a period of 30 minutes. Lions immobilized with all three drug combinations were severely hypertensive. Systolic arterial pressure was higher at initial sampling in lions immobilized with KM (237.3 ± 24.8 mmHg) than in those immobilized with TZM (221.0 ± 18.1 mmHg) or KBM (226.0 ± 20.6 mmHg) and decreased to 205.8 ± 19.4, 197.7 ± 23.7 and 196.3 ± 17.7 mmHg, respectively. Heart rates were within normal ranges for healthy, awake lions and decreased throughout the immobilization regardless of drug combination used. Lions immobilized with TZM had a higher occurrence (66%) of skipped heart beats than those immobilized with KBM (25%). The three drug combinations all caused negative cardiovascular effects, which were less when KBM was used, but adverse enough to warrant further investigations to determine if these effects can be reversed or prevented when these three combinations are used to immobilize free-living lions., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press and the Society for Experimental Biology.)

Background: Hematocrit (HCT) determination is an integral part of health and disease assessments in captive and wild white rhinoceroses. Several affordable automated hematology analyzers have been developed for in-clinic and field use and have the advantage of being able to measure a large number of additional measurands. However, the accuracy of these analyzers for rhinoceros HCT measurements has not yet been investigated., Objectives: We aimed to compare the HCT results generated by the EPOC portable analyzer system and the Abaxis VetScan HM5 with the gold standard of a manual packed cell volume (PCV) measured using the microhematocrit method., Methods: Hematocrits were measured with the EPOC and the Abaxis VetScan HM5 (bovine setting) and compared with the PCVs of 69 white rhinoceros whole blood samples. Results were compared using Bland-Altman difference plots and Passing-Bablok regression analysis. A total allowable analytical error of 10% was set as the performance goal., Results: A significant positive bias, with a mean of 7.7% for the EPOC and 17.9% for the Abaxis, was found compared with the manual PCV method., Conclusions: The allowable error goal of 10% was not exceeded with the EPOC analyzer. Although not analytically equivalent to the gold standard, the EPOC results could therefore be used as approximations in critical situations where manual measurements cannot be performed. The Abaxis exceeded this allowable error and overestimated HCTs in rhinoceroses. Therefore, method-specific reference intervals should be used., (© 2022 The Authors. Veterinary Clinical Pathology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology.)

Background: The potent sedative medetomidine is a commonly used adjunct for the immobilisation of non-domestic mammals. However, its use is associated with pronounced cardiovascular side effects, such as bradycardia, vasoconstriction and decreased cardiac output. We investigated the effects of the peripherally-acting alpha-2-adrenoceptor antagonist vatinoxan on cardiovascular properties in medetomidine-tiletamine-zolazepam anaesthetised wild boar (Sus scrofa)., Methods: Twelve wild boars, anaesthetised twice with medetomidine (0.1 mg/kg) and tiletamine/zolazepam (2.5 mg/kg) IM in a randomised, crossover study, were administered (0.1 mg/kg) vatinoxan or an equivalent volume of saline IV (control). Cardiovascular variables, including heart rate (HR), mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), pulmonary artery pressure (PAP), pulmonary artery occlusion pressure (PAOP) and cardiac output (CO), were assessed 5 min prior to vatinoxan/saline administration until the end of anaesthesia 30 min later., Results: MAP (p < 0.0001), MPAP (p < 0.001) and MPAOP (p < 0.0001) significantly decreased from baseline after vatinoxan until the end of anaesthesia. HR increased significantly (p < 0.0001) from baseline after vatinoxan administration. However, the effect on HR subsided 3 min after vatinoxan. All variables remained constant after saline injection. There was no significant effect of vatinoxan or saline on CO., Conclusion: Vatinoxan significantly reduced systemic and pulmonary artery hypertension, induced by medetomidine in wild boar., (© 2021 The Authors. Veterinary Record published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Veterinary Association.)