Xylazine-midazolam-ketamine versus medetomidine-midazolam-ketamine anesthesia in captive Siberian tigers (Panthera tigris altaica).

Two alpha2-adrenoceptor agents, xylazine and medetomidine, in combination with midazolam and ketamine safely and effectively immobilized Siberian tigers (Panthera tigris altaica). The medetomidine protocol used smaller drug volumes, and induction and recovery times were shorter. Although cardiopulmonary abnormalities were noted, none were likely to be life threatening.     

Barbiturate ingestion in three adult captive tigers (Panthera tigris) and concomitant fatal botulism of one

Zoo animals, including tigers, have been reported to suffer from barbiturate intoxication, with pentabarbitone being most commonly recorded. Clinical signs range from mild ataxia to general anaesthesia with recovery over hours to days with several factors affecting hepatic barbiturate metabolism and tissue partitioning. Botulism is an often fatal intoxication in man, animals, birds and certain fish. The occurrence in carnivores is uncommon to rare, with only 2 reports found of botulism in felids. This report relates to 3 adult captive cohabiting tigers that simultaneously developed signs of abdominal discomfort, progressive ataxia, recumbency and comatose sleep resembling stage 2 anaesthesia, alternating with periods of distracted wakefulness and ataxic movements. These signs occurred 4 days after being fed the carcass of a horse that had ostensibly died of colic and not been euthanased. The male tiger that was the dominant animal in the feeding hierarchy was worst affected and had to be given intravenous fluids. The female that was lowest in hierarchy was unaffected. After 48-72 hours of treatment at the Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital the females could eat and made an uneventful recovery. The male tiger showed partial recovery but died during the night a few hours after drinking water on his return to the owner. Necropsy revealed severe oesophageal dilation and impaction with decaying grass; some of this material and water were present in the pharynx and trachea, and had been aspirated causing acute widespread bronchopneumonia. Colon content tested negative for common pesticides but, together with liver, tested positive for barbiturate. Serum taken on the day of admission had tested negative for barbiturate and the residual serum from the 3 animals later tested negative for botulinum toxin. Colon and oesophageal content from the male at necropsy were positive for Clostridium botulinum toxin type C by the mouse bioassay neutralisation test, confirming that this male had had concomitant barbiturate toxicity and botulism, and had succumbed to aspiration bronchopneumonia secondary to pharyngeal, laryngeal and oesophageal paralysis and oesophageal     

Attempted treatment of tigers (Panthera tigris) infected with Microsporum canis.

An outbreak of dermatophytosis caused by Microsporum canis occurred in tigers (Panthera tigris) at an exotic felid sanctuary in 2003. In an attempt to find an effective, practical, safe, and affordable method for controlling this epizootic, a clinical treatment trial was conducted. Nonalopecic tigers were studied to address the inapparent carrier state observed at the facility. The efficacy of three topical and environmental treatment combinations of a 2% lime sulfur solution and a peroxide-based cleaner were evaluated in nonalopecic, culture-positive tigers (n = 18) housed in four separate enclosures. Lime sulfur solution was applied topically to all of these animals. As a control, nonalopecic but culture-positive tigers (n = 6) housed in two other enclosures were not treated. Environmental treatments included lime sulfur solution (n = 1), a peroxide-based cleaner (n = 1), and no treatment (n = 2). All solutions were applied at 2-wk intervals for seven treatments. The 2% lime sulfur solution treatments were unsuccessful in resolving infections in most tigers. Lime sulfur was effective in suppressing environmental fungal growth immediately posttreatment, whereas the peroxide-based cleaner was not effective. A follow-up survey of all study tigers and their enclosures was conducted 2 yr later, at which time 22 of 24 tigers (92%) had attained resolution, defined as two sequential negative hair cultures. Review of the culture results during the clinical trial and follow-up study suggests that nonalopecic dermatophytosis in tigers that are housed outdoors may not warrant aggressive individual or environmental treatment, as the infection may clear with time.     

Survey of transport environments of circus tigers (Panthera tigris).

The type of equipment used to transport circus tigers, environmental factors experienced during transport, and resultant body temperatures of tigers transported were surveyed during hot and cold weather conditions with six different circus tiger acts. Dataloggers recorded interior and exterior temperatures, relative humidity, and radiant heat at 5-min intervals during each trip. Microdataloggers fed to the tigers recorded body temperature and were recovered from eight Bengal (Panthera tigris tigris), Siberian (P. t. altaica), or Bengal-Sumatran (P. t. tigris-P. t. sumatrae) cross tigers from four different circuses. Three basic types of systems were used by circus acts to transport tigers: freestanding cages mounted on wheels that were winched or pushed into a semitrailer for transport, cages built into the trailer itself, and weather-resistant units transported on flatbed railcars or flatbed truck trailers. The highest temperature encountered inside a trailer was 37.3 degrees C in hot weather conditions, but overall, temperatures were usually between 21.1-26.7 degrees C. Temperature inside the trailers did not appear to be affected by movement and did not generally exceed ambient temperatures, indicating adequate insulation and passive ventilation. During cold weather trips, the lowest temperature inside the trailers was -1.1 degrees C, occurring during an overnight stop. Interior temperatures during cold weather transport stayed 2-6 degrees C warmer than ambient temperatures. The body temperatures of the tigers were unaffected by extreme temperatures. The only changes observed in body temperature were increases of 1-2 degrees C caused by activity and excitement associated with loading in several groups of tigers, regardless of whether it was hot or cold weather. Whenever measured, carbon monoxide and ammonia were below the detectable concentrations of 10 and 1 ppm. respectively. Overall, transport did not appear to have any adverse effects on the tigers' ability to thermoregulate.     

Pentobarbital poisoning in Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae).

Three Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae) at the Heidelberg Zoo in Germany presented with severe neurologic signs. Physical examination and diagnostic tests did not reveal a definitive diagnosis. Two days after initial presenting signs, all of the animals appeared clinically normal. An investigation into this outbreak revealed that all animals received horse meat on the evening before the incident. A toxicologic examination was initiated and serum analysis of the affected female tiger cub and the horse meat revealed contamination with pentobarbital.     

Oral eosinophilic granulomas in tigers (Panthera tigris)--a collection of 16 cases.

Oral eosinophilic granulomas were diagnosed in 16 tigers (Panthera tigris). All lesions were located on the hard or soft palate and typically consisted of flat or slightly raised circular ulcers. Histologic features of these lesions were essentially identical to those seen in oral eosinophilic granulomas of domestic cats and dogs. No clinical signs were noted in eight cases, though various degrees of inappetence, excessive salivation, and dysphagia were noted in the other eight tigers. Six cases were not treated. Treatment for the remaining 10 cases centered on corticosteroids and additional treatments included surgical removal, cryotherapy, antibiotics, and chlorpheniramine. Treatment with corticosteroids did appear to be effective in some cases, though lesions would worsen after cessation of therapy and no cases were cured. In addition, three cases developed complications possibly related to this corticosteroid therapy. The etiology of these lesions remains unknown, though an underlying allergic condition is likely.     

Combination therapy for footpad lesions in a captive Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris).

A captive adult male Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) was treated for chronic footpad ulcers associated with pacing on concrete cage surfaces. Combination therapy of oral fluoxetine and acepromazine administration to diminate pacing behavior, daily application of moisturizing ointment, and oral vitamin E supplementation resulted in complete resolution of all footpad lesions. Subsequent clinical episodes completely resolved with similar treatments.     

Disseminated coccidioidomycosis in a captive Indochinese tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti) with chronic renal disease.

A 19-yr-old, 78.2-kg captive female Indochinese tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti) from the El Paso Zoo (El Paso, Texas, USA) with chronic renal disease was euthanized after a 10-day course of anorexia, depression, progressive rear limb weakness, muscle fasciculations, and head tremors. Postmortem findings included pericardial effusion, generalized lymphadenopathy, glomerulosclerosis, glomerular atrophy with membranous glomerulonephropathy, and pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Pyogranulomatous pneumonia, pericarditis, and lymphadenitis were associated with fungal spherules histomorphologically consistent with Coccidioides immitis. Rising antibodies to C. immitis were detected on samples obtained perimortem and 2 mo before euthanasia. Retrospective serology was negative for two additional Indochinese tigers, two Iranian leopards (Panthera pardus saxicolor), two jaguars (Panthera onca), two bobcats (Lynx rufus texensis), two ocelots (Leopardus pardalis), and three Amur leopards (Panthera pardus orientalis) housed at the zoo over an 8-yr period. Despite being located within the endemic region for C. immitis, this is only the second case of coccidioidomycosis reported from this institution.     

白化孟加拉虎的人工育幼

对1窝4只白化孟加拉虎从1日龄到70日龄的人工育幼全过程进行了详细记述,对代乳犬和幼虎的饲养,幼虎的脐部护理,视觉器官发育、听觉器官发育、牙齿发育、行为观察、体重增长情况、体长和尾长增长情况、室温判定等进行了全面记述和分析讨论。结果显示：幼虎4—6日龄脐带脱落,8～10日龄眼睛睁开,12～16日龄具有防御意识,50日龄能够看15～20m,65日龄30颗牙齿基本长出。随着日龄增加,幼虎体重、体长、尾长均呈现线性增长,且在1月龄内增长速度受初生重影响很大。     

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. Tapetalreflection was absent due to a mature cataract. Rebound tonometry under generalanesthesia revealed 70 mmHg and 21 mmHg in the right and left eye, respectively.

Procedure

A trans-conjunctival enucleation was performedand the globe was submitted for histopathology.

Results

Histopathology revealed a thin sclera, amorphousmaterial contouring an imperforate and hypoplastic iridocorneal angle, ahypoplastic lens with severe anterior-posterior compression, subcapsularepithelial hyperplasia, and Morganian globules, and segmental moderate retinalatrophy. Periodic acid-Schiff stain highlighted segmental dilations of theDescemet's membrane. Masson trichrome stain highlighted a pre-irido collagenmembrane.

Conclusion

The tiger's age and histopathologic findingsare consistent with congenital goniodysgenesis. This is the first known reportof congenital glaucoma in a tiger.     

A comparison of reproductive parameters of female Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica) in the wild and captivity

A healthy population of captive Amur tigers might assist recovery of the wild population in Northeast China if individuals were properly prepared and considered suitable for release in the wild. We analyzed the breeding records of 68 female Amur tigers from 1995 to 2010 in the Hengdaohezi Felid Breeding Center of China and compared the reproductive parameters of this population to wild female Amur tigers. We found that the reproductive parameters of the captive population (the age of first parturition, length of gestation and litter survival rate) were not significantly different from those of wild Amur tigers. Differences in birth date and litter size between wild and captive populations may be caused by management protocols for the captive population or insufficient field data from the wild population. Reproductive parameters of females giving birth after losing a litter were similar to parameters of females that did not lose a litter, except for birth date. These results provide no indication of major problems in using captive females for a breeding program for release of cubs into the wild, but additional information is still needed to assess their suitability.     

Disseminated histoplasmosis in a Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris)

Disseminated infection with Histoplasma capsulatum was diagnosed in a 7-yr-old female Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris). Clinical signs were nonspecific with the exception of brief periods of tachypnea for 5 days prior to death. H. capsulatum organisms were found in the lungs, tracheobronchial lymph nodes, and liver. Diagnosis was confirmed by tracheal wash, urine H. capsulatum enzyme immunoassay, and necropsy results. This report represents the first published account of disseminated histoplasmosis in a tiger.     

Abdominal pythiosis in a Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris).

An adult Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) housed in an outdoor sanctuary in Florida exhibited vomiting, diarrhea, and weight loss. A clinical workup did not reveal the source of the clinical signs and antibiotic therapy was unrewarding. Radiographs revealed the presence of an abdominal mass. The tiger died during an immobilization for a follow-up clinical examination. A necropsy was performed and tissue samples of intestine and mesenteric lymph nodes were submitted for histopathologic diagnosis. A pyogranulomatous panenteritis and lymphadenitis with intralesional hyphae led to a presumptive etiologic diagnosis of intestinal/abdominal pythiosis. The diagnosis of pythiosis was confirmed by serology and immunoblotting.     

Disseminated mycobacteriosis due to Mycobacterium avium in captive Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris).

A 2-year-old captive female Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris) died after prolonged anorexia in the Gwangju Uchi Park Zoo, Gwangju, Republic of Korea. Necropsy revealed multiple nodules of varying sizes in the lung, liver, kidney, and spleen. Histopathologic examination revealed a typical granuloma composed of caseous necrotic areas surrounded by lymphocytes with a few giant cells and foamy macrophages. Periodic acid-Schiff stain and Gomori methenamine silver stain did not reveal any fungal bodies. The Ziehl-Neelsen acid-fast stain revealed few acid-fast organisms in the lung, liver, kidney, and spleen. A polymerase chain reaction assay of the lung, liver, kidney, and spleen yielded a positive result for Mycobacterium avium subsp. avium. This is an unusual case of disseminated infection of a wild mammal with avian mycobacteriosis, and is believed to be most likely associated with the feeding of tigers with culled chickens infected with M. avium.     

笼养东北虎的繁殖研究

对济南动物园笼养的1雄2雌东北虎2006和2007年的繁殖情况进行了研究。从笼养东北虎的饲养环境、发情交配、妊娠分娩、自然育幼、人工育幼及各阶段存在的问题,对笼养东北虎的繁殖进行了详细分析,同时提出了应采取的相应手段和措施,对笼养的繁殖和育幼提供参考和借鉴。     

Antibody response to vaccines for rhinotracheitis, caliciviral disease, panleukopenia, feline leukemia, and rabies in tigers (Panthera tigris) and lions (Panthera leo)

This article presents the results of a study of captive tigers (Panthera tigris) and lions (Panthera leo) vaccinated with a recombinant vaccine against feline leukemia virus; an inactivated adjuvanted vaccine against rabies virus; and a multivalent modified live vaccine against feline herpesvirus, calicivirus, and panleukopenia virus. The aim of the study was to assess the immune response and safety of the vaccines and to compare the effects of the administration of single (1 ml) and double (2 ml) doses. The animals were separated into two groups and received either single or double doses of vaccines, followed by blood collection for serologic response for 400 days. No serious adverse event was observed, with the exception of abortion in one lioness, potentially caused by the incorrect use of the feline panleukopenia virus modified live vaccine. There was no significant difference between single and double doses for all vaccines. The recombinant vaccine against feline leukemia virus did not induce any serologic response. The vaccines against rabies and feline herpesvirus induced a significant immune response in the tigers and lions. The vaccine against calicivirus did not induce a significant increase in antibody titers in either tigers or lions. The vaccine against feline panleukopenia virus induced a significant immune response in tigers but not in lions. This report demonstrates the value of antibody titer determination after vaccination of nondomestic felids.     

An outbreak of canine distemper virus in tigers (Panthera tigris): possible transmission from wild animals to zoo animals

Canine distemper virus (CDV), a morbillivirus that causes one of the most contagious and lethal viral diseases known in canids, has an expanding host range, including wild animals. Since December 2009, several dead or dying wild raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) were found in and around one safari-style zoo in Japan, and CDV was isolated from four of these animals. In the subsequent months (January to February 2010), 12 tigers (Panthera tigris) in the zoo developed respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases, and CDV RNA was detected in fecal samples of the examined tigers. In March 2010, one of the tigers developed a neurological disorder and died; CDV was isolated from the lung of this animal. Sequence analysis of the complete hemagglutinin (H) gene and the signal peptide region of the fusion (F) gene showed high homology among these isolates (99.8-100%), indicating that CDV might have been transmitted from raccoon dog to tiger. In addition, these isolates belonged to genotype Asia-1 and had lower homology (<90%) to the vaccine strain (Onderstepoort). Seropositivity of lions (Panthera leo) in the zoo and wild bears (Ursus thibetanus) captured around this area supported the theory that a CDV epidemic had occurred in many mammal species in and around the zoo. These results indicate a risk of CDV transmission among many animal species, including large felids and endangered species.     

Endoparasites of the Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica)

There have been few reports on the diversity and prevalence of parasitic fauna of the endangered Siberian tiger, which inhabits the territory of the Russian Far East. The present review attempts to summarize the information about the parasitic fauna of wild Siberian tigers, which includes 15 helminths and 3 protozoan species. The most prevalent parasitic species was found to be Toxocara cati, followed by Toxascaris leonina. Another commonly recorded Platyhelminth species is Paragonimus westermani, which causes a lethal infection of the lung parenchyma in Siberian tigers. However, the information about infections by this fluke in the Siberian tigers is scarce, although P. westermani infections pose a serious health hazard to tiger populations. The nematodes Aelurostrongylus abstrusus and Thominx aerophilus are found in Siberian tigers with an occurrence rate of 2.3% and 19%, respectively. The information on the parasitic infestations of captive populations of Siberian tigers is also presented along with the sources of infection and hazards for the wild tiger populations in their natural environment.