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Morbidity and mortality of monotremes admitted to the Australian Wildlife Health Centre, Healesville Sanctuary, Australia, 2000–2014
Author(s) -
Scheelings TF
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
australian veterinary journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.382
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1751-0813
pISSN - 0005-0423
DOI - 10.1111/avj.12417
Subject(s) - platypus , monotreme , wildlife , mammal , zoology , biology , medicine , ecology , taxonomy (biology) , systematics
Objective The medical records of individual monotremes admitted to the Australian Wildlife Health Centre from 2000 to 2014 were reviewed to determine the causes of morbidity and mortality. Results During this period, a total of 38 platypus ( Ornithorhyncus anatanus ) and 273 short‐beaked echidnas ( Tachyglossus aculeatus ) were examined. Trauma was the most significant reason for monotreme admissions, accounting for 73.7% of platypus cases and 90.1% of short‐beaked echidna cases. Within the category of trauma, entanglement (28.6%) and unknown trauma (28.6%) were most significant for platypus, while impact with motor vehicle (73.2%) and domestic dog attack (14.2%) were the most significant subcategories for short‐beaked echidnas. Conclusion Indirect anthropogenic factors are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality of monotremes in Victoria, Australia.