Respiratory Intervals and Swimming Speed as Remotely Sensed Health Metrics in Free-Ranging Killer Whales (Orcinus orca).

Respiratory rate (mean number of breaths per minute) and respiratory interval (mean time between breaths) can offer insight into a diving mammal's activity state, metabolic rate, behavior, and synchronization due to social cohesion. Also, respiratory rate can reflect an individual animal's health and has the potential to be an informative remotely assessed health metric for monitoring individual animal health in endangered whale species and populations such as southern resident killer whales (Orcinus orca). Using data collected from noninvasive, land-based theodolite tracking, we analyzed swimming speed and surfacing intervals (i.

Laparoscopic Evaluation of the Reproductive Tract in Two Female Polar Bears (Three Procedures) ().

Polar bears () face a number of challenges that threaten the survival of the species. Captive breeding represents one essential facet of species conservation, but aspects of the polar bear's reproductive physiology, such as follicle maturation, coitus-induced ovulation, and pseudopregnancy, are poorly characterized and present challenges for enhancing natural reproductive success and the application of advanced reproductive techniques. Due to the absence of a reliable transrectal or transabdominal ultrasound method for ovarian examination in the species, the ovaries of two adult female polar bears were examined laparoscopically to evaluate the feasibility of surgical access to the ovaries, oviduct, and uterus.

Epidemiology of skin changes in endangered Southern Resident killer whales (Orcinus orca).

Photographic identification catalogs of individual killer whales (Orcinus orca) over time provide a tool for remote health assessment. We retrospectively examined digital photographs of Southern Resident killer whales in the Salish Sea to characterize skin changes and to determine if they could be an indicator of individual, pod, or population health. Using photographs collected from 2004 through 2016 from 18,697 individual whale sightings, we identified six lesions (cephalopod, erosions, gray patches, gray targets, orange on gray, and pinpoint black discoloration).

Environmental Enrichment Devices Are Safe and Effective at Reducing Undesirable Behaviors in California Sea Lions and Northern Elephant Seals during Rehabilitation.

Environmental enrichment devices (EEDs) have been proven to promote positive wellbeing in zoos and aquariums, and support animals' reintroduction success; however, their use in rehabilitation centers is still limited. This pilot study investigated the safety and efficacy of three EEDs, Artificial Kelp, Horse KONG and Wubba Kong, and their ability to decrease and/or eliminate undesired stereotypic behaviors or looking at staff/staff areas in seven wild California sea lions (CSLs) and eight northern elephant seals (NESs) undergoing rehabilitation in Southern California. Observers conducted instantaneous sampling once a minute during a 30-min baseline, followed by a 30-min EED implementation on one focal animal at a time.

EFFICACY OF HUMAN RECOMBINANT GRANULOCYTE COLONY-STIMULATING FACTOR (G-CSF, FILGRASTIM; NEUPOGEN) IN NEUTROPENIC CETACEANS.

Neutrophils are one of the initial cell lines of protection against pathogens, and when their concentrations in the blood are low, animals are highly susceptible to infections. Neutropenia has been reported in cetaceans secondary to administration of systemic sulfa antibiotics or antifungal medications and severe, overwhelming infection. Filgrastim was administered to treat neutropenia over a 15-y period in 11 cetaceans comprising four species-beluga (, = 1), bottlenose dolphin (, = 4), killer whale (, = 5), and short-finned pilot whale (, = 1)] ranging in age from 1 wk to >24 y.