Descriptive Epidemiology of Mortality in Certain Species of Captive Ungulates in Pakistan

†S. Ali, *A. Khurshid, *U. Farooq, †S. Hussain, †Z. Abidin, †S A. Khaliq, †A. W. Manzoor, †A. Mushtaq and *M. Idris

†Veterinary Research Institute, Lahore, Pakistan,
*University College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan

ABSTRACT

Postmortem record of 217 captive ungulates including Black buck (31), Chinkara (20), Hog deer (116), spotted deer (35), Red Deer (04) and Rusa deer (11) submitted to the Veterinary Research Institute, Lahore, Pakistan was analyzed to determine the primary cause of mortality in these animals. The carcasses of these animals were from Lahore Wildlife Park, Lahore Zoo, Jallo Wildlife Park and Private ownerships, over a period of three years (2007-2009). The most common cause of death was trauma (20.27%), followed by parasitic diseases (15.67%), bacterial diseases (11.98%), still births (9.21%), snakebites (2.76%), gut affections (2.30%), neoplasia (1.38%) and starvation (0.92%). Among the bacterial diseases Pneumonia(8.29%)and tuberculosis (3.69%) were the most common. Analysis for parasitic infestation revealed tapeworms to be highest (11.05%), followed by roundworms (8.29%) and hemoparasitism (5.07%) (babesiosis and theileriosis).  Mortality rate in young ungulates was lower as compared to adults (32.26% and 67.74% respectively). Gender wise mortality was higher in females (55.30%) as compared to males (44.70%). Furthermore, necropsies provided substantial information on etiology of death and other related epidemiological aspects.
Key words: Ungulates, Pecorans, Wildlife, Epidemiology