Left medial liver lobe torsion and postoperative acute gastric rupture in a 2.5-year-old male-castrated Flemish Giant rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus).

A 2.5-year-old male-castrated rabbit presented with acute abdominal pain, lethargy, and anorexia. Digital radiography revealed increased left-sided hepatomegaly, gastric dilation, and decreased peritoneal serosal detail.

Impacts of large herbivores on terrestrial ecosystems.

Large herbivores play unique ecological roles and are disproportionately imperiled by human activity. As many wild populations dwindle towards extinction, and as interest grows in restoring lost biodiversity, research on large herbivores and their ecological impacts has intensified. Yet, results are often conflicting or contingent on local conditions, and new findings have challenged conventional wisdom, making it hard to discern general principles.

Congenital glaucoma in a tiger (Panthera tigris).

Objective: To describe a case of congenital glaucoma in atiger (Panthera tigris).

Animal Studied: An 8-month-old intact female tiger wasreferred for suspected glaucoma of the right eye. The right eye was buphthalmicwith moderate episcleral injection, circumferential superficial cornealneovascularization, moderate corneal edema, and a fixed dilated pupil.

Maternal Psychosocial Stress Is Associated with Reduced Diversity in the Early Infant Gut Microbiome.

The developing infant gut microbiome is highly sensitive to environmental exposures, enabling its evolution into an organ that supports the immune system, confers protection from infection, and facilitates optimal gut and central nervous system function. In this study, we focus on the impact of maternal psychosocial stress on the infant gut microbiome. Forty-seven mother-infant dyads were recruited at the HEAL Africa Hospital in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo.

A randomized clinical trial to compare ketamine-butorphanol-azaperone-medetomidine and detomidine-etorphine-acepromazine for anesthesia of captive Przewalski horses (Equus przewalskii).

Objective: To compare ketamine-butorphanol-azaperone-medetomidine (KBAM) to detomidine-etorphine-acepromazine (DEA) for field anesthesia in captive Przewalski horses (Equus przewalskii).

Animals: 10 adult Przewalski horses.

Procedures: A prospective randomized crossover trial was conducted.

Aural Abscesses in Wild Midland Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta marginata) Admitted to a Wildlife Hospital in Ontario, Canada, 2011-20.

Between 2011 and 2020, the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre's veterinary hospital admitted 6,335 turtles of eight different species, with 3,246 being midland painted turtles (Chrysemys picta marginata). At the time of admission from the wild, aural abscesses were present in 26 of the painted turtles (0.8%).

The meta-gut: community coalescence of animal gut and environmental microbiomes.

All animals carry specialized microbiomes, and their gut microbiota are continuously released into the environment through excretion of waste. Here we propose the meta-gut as a novel conceptual framework that addresses the ability of the gut microbiome released from an animal to function outside the host and alter biogeochemical processes mediated by microbes. We demonstrate this dynamic in the hippopotamus (hippo) and the pools they inhabit.

Luteal phase length, endometrial edema, and behavior differentiate post-ovulatory events in a giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca).

Despite decades of reproductive research on the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), the post-ovulatory phase continues to confound zoologists in conservation and breeding centers around the world, often resulting in significant investments of time and resources without reproductive success. The purpose of this project was to document and compare post-ovulatory characteristics during a non-productive and productive breeding in the same individual in consecutive years. A multidisciplinary approach was used to monitor the visiting female giant panda at the Toronto Zoo through the luteal phase of her first two full reproductive cycles in 2014 and 2015.

Using sediment fingerprinting to identify erosion hotspots in a sub-catchment of Lake Kivu, Rwanda.

Sedimentation of water bodies affects water quality and biotic communities of aquatic ecosystems. Understanding the causes and origin of sediments is crucial for planning watershed management activities and safeguarding aquatic biodiversity and critical ecosystem services. Rwanda, as a hilly country, experiences increased sedimentation due to unsustainable land use practices in upstream catchment areas which negatively affects irrigation, fishing and hydropower generation.

Hippopotamus are distinct from domestic livestock in their resource subsidies to and effects on aquatic ecosystems.

In many regions of the world, populations of large wildlife have been displaced by livestock, and this may change the functioning of aquatic ecosystems owing to significant differences in the quantity and quality of their dung. We developed a model for estimating loading rates of organic matter (dung) by cattle for comparison with estimated rates for hippopotamus in the Mara River, Kenya. We then conducted a replicated mesocosm experiment to measure ecosystem effects of nutrient and carbon inputs associated with dung from livestock (cattle) versus large wildlife (hippopotamus).

Effects of midazolam and nitrous oxide on the minimum anesthetic concentration of isoflurane in the ball python (Python regius).

Objective: To evaluate the effects of midazolam and nitrous oxide (NO) on the minimum anesthetic concentration of isoflurane (MAC) in ball pythons.

Study Design: Prospective, crossover, randomized, semi-blinded study.

Animals: A total of nine healthy adult female ball pythons (Python regius) weighing 2.

Pharmacokinetics of midazolam and its major metabolite 1-hydroxymidazolam in the ball python (Python regius) after intracardiac and intramuscular administrations.

Midazolam is a benzodiazepine with sedative, muscle relaxant, anxiolytic, and anticonvulsant effects. Twelve ball pythons (Python regius) were used in a parallel study evaluating the pharmacokinetics of 1 mg/kg midazolam following a single intracardiac (IC) or intramuscular (IM) administration. Blood was collected from a central venous catheter placed 7 days prior, or by cardiocentesis, at 15 time points starting just prior to and up to 72 hr after drug administration.

Hippos (): The animal silicon pump.

While the importance of grasslands in terrestrial silicon (Si) cycling and fluxes to rivers is established, the influence of large grazers has not been considered. Here, we show that hippopotamuses are key actors in the savannah biogeochemical Si cycle. Through a detailed analysis of Si concentrations and stable isotope compositions in multiple ecosystem compartments of a savannah-river continuum, we constrain the processes influencing the Si flux.

A 2000-year sediment record reveals rapidly changing sedimentation and land use since the 1960s in the Upper Mara-Serengeti Ecosystem.

The Mara River basin is a trans-boundary basin of international importance. It forms the headwaters of the Nile River and serves as the primary dry season water source for an estimated 1.1 million rural people and the largest remaining overland migration of 1.

ECHINOCOCCUS EQUINUS HYDATID CYST IN THE LIVER OF A PRZEWALSKI'S HORSE ( EQUUS PRZEWALSKII) IN A CANADIAN ZOO.

A 23-yr-old captive-born Przewalski's horse mare ( Equus przewalskii) was euthanized at a Canadian zoo because of severe colic resulting from rupture of a jejunal pseudodiverticulum. An incidental finding of an encysted larval cestode within a hepatic granuloma was diagnosed on histopathology. Gel-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on liver tissue was positive for Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato, and deoxyribonucleic acid sequencing of the PCR product was 100% homologous with Echinococcus equinus.

The Genome of the North American Brown Bear or Grizzly: Ursus arctos ssp. horribilis.

The grizzly bear ( ssp. ) represents the largest population of brown bears in North America. Its genome was sequenced using a microfluidic partitioning library construction technique, and these data were supplemented with sequencing from a nanopore-based long read platform.

Organic matter and nutrient inputs from large wildlife influence ecosystem function in the Mara River, Africa.

Animals can be important vectors for the movement of resources across ecosystem boundaries. Animals add resources to ecosystems primarily through egestion, excretion, and carcasses, and the stoichiometry and bioavailability of these inputs likely interact with characteristics of the recipient ecosystem to determine their effects on ecosystem function. We studied the influence of hippopotamus excretion/egestion and wildebeest carcasses, and their interactions with discharge, in the Mara River, Kenya.

Organic matter loading by hippopotami causes subsidy overload resulting in downstream hypoxia and fish kills.

Organic matter and nutrient loading into aquatic ecosystems affects ecosystem structure and function and can result in eutrophication and hypoxia. Hypoxia is often attributed to anthropogenic pollution and is not common in unpolluted rivers. Here we show that organic matter loading from hippopotami causes the repeated occurrence of hypoxia in the Mara River, East Africa.

The influence of a semi-arid sub-catchment on suspended sediments in the Mara River, Kenya.

The Mara River Basin in East Africa is a trans-boundary basin of international significance experiencing excessive levels of sediment loads. Sediment levels in this river are extremely high (turbidities as high as 6,000 NTU) and appear to be increasing over time. Large wildlife populations, unregulated livestock grazing, and agricultural land conversion are all potential factors increasing sediment loads in the semi-arid portion of the basin.

Aquatic bird bornavirus 1 infection in a captive Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae): presumed natural transmission from free-ranging wild waterfowl.

An adult female emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) presented with anorexia, maldigestion, weight loss, and various subtle nervous deficits. After four months of unrewarding diagnostics, treatments, and supportive care, the emu was euthanized due to lack of clinical improvement and progressive weight loss. Gross pathology revealed a very narrow pylorus and multiple flaccid diverticula of the small intestines.

SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT OF DIGITAL OSTEITIS BY INTRAVENOUS REGIONAL PERFUSION OF CEFTIOFUR IN AN AFRICAN ELEPHANT (LOXODONTA AFRICANA).

A 41-yr-old African elephant ( Loxodonta africana ) presented with a swollen third digit of the left forelimb and a 2-cm hole in the pad. Corrective trimming, topical treatments, and an oral antibiotic resulted in apparent resolution; however, it reoccurred after 4 mo. Radiographs suggested bone lysis in the third phalanx, with the primary differential diagnosis being septic osteitis.

Annual mass drownings of the Serengeti wildebeest migration influence nutrient cycling and storage in the Mara River.

The annual migration of ∼1.2 million wildebeest () through the Serengeti Mara Ecosystem is the largest remaining overland migration in the world. One of the most iconic portions of their migration is crossing of the Mara River, during which thousands drown annually.

Genome and Transcriptome Assembly of the Canadian Beaver ().

The Canadian beaver () is the largest indigenous rodent in North America. We report a draft annotated assembly of the beaver genome, the first for a large rodent and the first mammalian genome assembled directly from uncorrected and moderate coverage (< 30 ×) long reads generated by single-molecule sequencing. The genome size is 2.