Zurich Open Repository and Archive University of Zurich Main Library Strickhofstrasse 39 CH-8057 Zurich www.zora.uzh.ch Year: 2018 Body condition scores in European zoo elephants Schiffmann, Christian Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-161468 Dissertation Published Version Originally published at: Schiffmann, Christian. Body condition scores in European zoo elephants. 2018, University ofZurich, Vetsuisse Faculty. Klinik für Zoo-, Heim- und Wildtiere der Vetsuisse-Fakultät Universität Zürich Direktor: Prof. Dr. med. vet. Jean-Michel Hatt Arbeit unter wissenschaftlicher Betreuung von Prof. Dr. med. vet. Jean-Michel Hatt Prof. Dr. med. vet. Marcus Clauss Body Condition Scores in European Zoo Elephants Inaugural Dissertation Zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde der Vetsuisse-Fakultät Universität Zürich vorgelegt von Christian Schiffmann Tierarzt von Homberg, Bern genehmigt auf Antrag von Prof. Dr. med. vet. Marcus Clauss, Referent 2018 Klinik für Zoo-, Heim- und Wildtiere der Vetsuisse-Fakultät Universität Zürich Direktor: Prof. Dr. med. vet. Jean-Michel Hatt Arbeit unter wissenschaftlicher Betreuung von Prof. Dr. med. vet. Jean-Michel Hatt Prof. Dr. med. vet. Marcus Clauss Body Condition Scores in European Zoo Elephants Inaugural Dissertation Zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde der Vetsuisse-Fakultät Universität Zürich vorgelegt von Christian Schiffmann Tierarzt von Homberg, Bern genehmigt auf Antrag von Prof. Dr. med. vet. Marcus Clauss, Referent 2018 Inhaltsverzeichnis Zusammenfassung 1 Summary 2 Abdruck des publizierten Artikels bzw. des zur Publikation angenommenen Manuskriptes 3 Zusatzteil mit Angaben zu weiteren Forschungsarbeiten 39 Danksagung Curriculum vitae Vetsuisse Fakultät Universität Zürich (2018) Christian Schiffmann Klinik für Zoo-, Heim- und Wildtiere [email protected] Body Condition Scores der Zooelefanten Europas Zusammenfassung Zur Beurteilung der Verfassung von Zootieren wurden verschiedene Body Condition Scoring (BCS) Protokolle entwickelt. Diese werden nach Vorgehen als “composite”, “algorithm” und “overview” klassifiziert. Anwendbarkeit und Verlässlichket der Ansätze wurden beim Scoring einer Bilderzusammenstellung Afrikanischer (Loxodonta africana) bzw. Asiatischer (Elephas maximus) Zooelefanten durch Studenten untersucht. Das „overview“ Protokoll wies die höchste Trennschärfe auf. Darauf basierend wurde eine Erhebung zum BCS der Zooelefanten Europas durchgeführt. Dabei konnten 192 Afrikanische und 326 Asiatische Elefanten (97% der Population) beurteilt werden. Mit 56% lag die Mehrheit der Elefanten im Scorebereich 7-10 von maximal 10. Adulte Asiatische wiesen signifikant tiefere Werte als Afrikanische Elefanten auf. Im Vergleich zu Stichproben freilebender Populationen lagen die Scores der Zooelefanten unabhängig von Art, Alter und Geschlecht signifikant höher. Verglichen mit anderen Elefantenpopulationen in Menschenobhut scheinen die Zooelefanten Europas aber weniger übergewichtig. Bei adulten Asiatischen Weibchen wiesen züchtende Elefanten tiefere Werte als nicht-züchtende auf. Ein langfristiges Gewichtsmanagement der Zooelefanten mittels BCS wird empfohlen. Stichworte: Zooelefanten, Body Condition Scoring 1 Vetsuisse Fakultät Universität Zürich (2018) Christian Schiffmann Clinic for Zoo Animals, Exotic Pets and Wildlife [email protected] Body Condition Scores in European Zoo Elephants Summary Various body condition scoring (BCS) methods have been developed in zoo animals. Composite, algorithm and overview protocols are distinguished. To compare their practicability and consistency, a test was conducted with students scoring an equal number of African (Loxodonta africana) and Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) photographs. The overview protocol led to the highest differentiation of elephant condition. Based on these finding, a population-wide evaluation of body condition of European zoo elephants was conducted. The assessment included 192 African and 326 Asian elephants (97% of the population). The majority of elephants were in the upper score categories with 56% of adults assessed in the range 7-10 out of 10. Adult Asian had significantly lower BCS than African elephants. Comparison with samples of free-ranging populations revealed lower scores in free-ranging elephants independent of species, age and sex. Compared to previous reports from captive populations, European zoo elephants are less obese. In adult Asian females, BCS was correlated to their breeding status with lower scores in current breeders. Further attention to zoo elephant weight management is recommended with longitudinal monitoring by body condition scoring. Keywords: zoo elephants, body condition scoring 2 Visual body condition scoring in zoo animals – composite, algorithm and overview approaches in captive Asian and African elephants Christian Schiffmann, Marcus Clauss, Stefan Hoby, Jean-Michel Hatt Published in the Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research Schiffmann C, Clauss M, Hoby S, Hatt J-M (2017) Visual body condition scoring in zoo animals – composite, algorithm and overview approaches in captive Asian and African elephants. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 5:1-10 3 Review article Visual body condition scoring in zoo animals – composite, algorithm and overview approaches in captive Asian and African elephants Christian Schiffmann1, Marcus Clauss1, Stefan Hoby2 and Jean-Michel Hatt1 1Clinic for Zoo Animals, Exotic Pets and Wildlife, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Switzerland 2Zoologischer Garten Basel, Switzerland Correspondence: Christian Schiffmann; [email protected] JZAR Review article Review JZAR Keywords: Abstract: body condition scoring (BCS), Elephas Various body condition scoring (BCS) methods have been developed as management tools in zoo maximus, Loxodonta africana, weight animal husbandry. In contrast to BCS for farm animals, where visual and palpable features are used, monitoring, zoo animal these protocols are mainly restricted to visual cues. Considering their inherent subjectivity, such methods face scepticism as their reliability is questioned. In terms of their respective methodology, Article history: composite BCS (where individual body regions are scored and a sum or mean is calculated), algorithm Received: 2 July 2016 BCS (where a score is achieved by following a flow chart) and overview BCS protocols (where a score is Accepted: 20 January 2017 given based on overall appearance) can be distinguished. In order to compare their practicability and Published online: 31 January 2017 consistency, we conducted a test with veterinary students (n=18) scoring an equal number (n=15) of African (Loxodonta africana) and Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) photographs using three different protocols. The composite approach showed least inter-observer consistency, while the overview protocol led to the highest differentiation of individual elephant condition. When regularly assessed, visual body condition scoring may serve as an important tool for the health surveillance and complete the medical history of individual zoo animals. Nonetheless, a validation process for each protocol developed should be carried out before its application. Further research might concentrate on long- term, individual-based body condition monitoring, using archives of standardised photographs. OPEN ACCESS Introduction seem to occur more frequently. Moreover, body condition scoring systems are used extensively by ecologists investigating The assessment of body condition is an important tool in wild populations and their interaction with restricted resources various animal management systems, whether one manages or changing environments (DelGiudice et al. 2011; Lane et al. free-ranging populations, domesticated farm animals or 2014; Carpio et al. 2015; McWilliams and Wilson 2015). captive zoo animal species. While economic interest motivates In order to achieve the most accurate estimation of an the practice in production animals, animal health issues are the animal´s physical condition, a number of different scoring motivation in scoring pets (Laflamme 2012). A high proportion methods have been developed, such as the kidney fat of companion animals suffer from obesity (Laflamme 2012), and index, bone marrow fat index (Jakob et al. 1996; Cook et al. obesity has been a concern in zoo animal husbandry as well. 2007), bioelectrical impedance analysis, and morphometric Under the conditions of captivity several wildlife species are measurements such as weight, size, circumferences and ratios known to be prone to obesity (e.g. equids (Bray and Edwards from these values (Barthelmess et al. 2006; Pitt et al. 2006; 1999), tapirs (Clauss et al. 2009), rhinos (Clauss et al. 2005), Peig and Green 2009). Production and hunted animals can be elephants (Morfeld et al. 2014) and monogastric primates scored by invasive non-repeatable techniques at slaughter, (Dierenfeld 1997; Terranova et al. 1997; Videan et al. 2007)), but including fresh-carcass weight or fat indices, and also with there are also examples such as giraffe (Potter and Clauss 2005) non-invasive methods such as morphometric measurements and moose (Clauss et al. 2002), in which poor body conditions and visual scores. For the monitoring of pets, only non-invasive Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 5(1) 2017 1 Schiffmann et al. repeatable techniques seem adequate. Although post mortem The visual approach information is important in zoo animals, in vivo information is required to facilitate the