By: Chege S.M., Kitala, P. & Muchemi G.

 AWPR (Formerly Al Ain Zoo) founded in 1968 by the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan  Importance of zoos – education, conservation, exhibition(Goossens et al. 2005)  Ex-situ conservation challenges- resistance to diseases, naivety to predators, Inbreeding (few founders)

 Overall objective ◦ To investigate the causes of morbidity and mortality in some selected ungulate species in the zoo  Specific objectives ◦ Estimate crude and cause-specific morbidity and mortality rates ◦ Determine the risk factors associated with morbidity and mortality

 Study area - Al Ain Wildlife Park and Resort (Latitude 24°10'45.37"N, Longitude 55°44'19.99"E), Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates  Climate – Long summer (temperatures > 50 o c) and short winter (≤ 6 o c). Average annual rainfall >100mm  Study design – Historical data(6yrs) and follow up study (6mo)  Data analysis – Excel, Genstat, Univariate and multivariate analysis (Logistic regression-backward elimination)

 Sex and age structure – (1Y:6A), (1M:1F), Arabian oryx neonates (2M:1F)  Feed – Alfalfa, hay, & pellets  1keeper per 100 animals  Vet care – team, clinic, vaccination program  morbidity cases = Arabian Oryx(28.5%) and Speke’s gazelle(27%)

Species Arabian oryx Addax Dama Mhorr SHO Speke’s Total

Morbidity causes  Trauma (40%)  Septicaemia(18%)  Diarrhoea(16%)  Reproductive disorders(9%)  Pneumonia(6%)  Nutritional deficiency(5%)  Unknown (5%) Mortality causes  Septicaemia(38%)  Trauma (25%)  Reproductive disorders (12%)  Pneunomia (8%)  Diarrhoea (6%)  Unknown (6%)  Nutritional deficiencies (3%)

ConstantEstimates.et*tprOR Age (Young=1, Old=0) < Sex (M=1, F=0) < ConstantEstimates.et*tprOR < Age (Young=1, Old=0) <

 Morbidity and mortality increases with increased herd size (Lance et al. 1992; Silva del Rio et al. 2007)  Biased sex ratio of 2:1of the Arabian oryx newborns. Price (1989) reported a similar finding. On the contrary, Vie (1996),observed a sex ratio of 1:1  Neonates were 7x and 23x likely to get sick or die respectively…other similar reports ;Heinrichs and Radostits, (2001), Morrow et al. (1999),.  Lower birth weights recorded – may be related to inbreeding

 Conclusion  True rates of morbidity(19.2%) and mortality (11.3%) per animal-month respectively – high  Trauma as leading cause of morbidity. Young die more than old. Low birth weights  Recommendations  Trauma – manage overcrowding, single male & several females  Initiate studies on genetic viability and maternal relatedness of the population

Thank you for your attention