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

2.  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)

3.  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

4.  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)

7.  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  2005-2010 morbidity cases = 1021. Arabian Oryx(28.5%) and Speke’s gazelle(27%)

8. Species2004200520062007200820092010 Arabian oryx 130156166158154180174 Addax 22294140424752 Dama 28292824212521 Mhorr 22243040414345 SHO 120139167181179195 Speke’s 56647264665860 Total 378441504507503548547

10. 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%)

11. ConstantEstimates.et*tprOR 4.813.90.350.728 Age (Young=1, Old=0) 1.9950.3475.75<.001 7.3 Sex (M=1, F=0) 1.5480.3085.02<.001 4.7 ConstantEstimates.et*tprOR -3.0550.212-14.41<0.0010.0471 Age (Young=1, Old=0) 2.9810.3079.7<0.00122.8

12.  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

13.  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

14. Thank you for your attention