Historically, the nutrition of captive giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) has been regarded as difficult, and several different disease complexes suspected to be at least partially of dietary aetiology have been observed in this species (Clauss et al., 2002a). From the literature, it seems that the condition of serous fat atrophy (SAF) at necropsy is the most predominant of these problems (Fowler, 1978; Junge and Bradley, 1993; Potter and Clauss, 2005), and a variety of causes has been proposed for this finding (9). However, other problems, such as acidosis, phytobezoars (Clauss et al., 2002a), excessive tooth wear (Enqvist et al., 2003), mandibular fractures (Kaandorp, 2001), or vitamin E deficiency (Letzner, 2001) have been described. From the existing literature, it is difficult to judge whether these are really frequent problems, or whether their occurrence is overestimated. Therefore, we contacted European zoos participating in the giraffe EEP with the question to send us copies of their available necropsy reports.
Key Words: Giraffe, Giraffa camelopardalis, serous fat atrophy, necropsy
Authors: M. CLAUSS, P. ROSE , J. HUMMEL and J-M. HATT
Journal: EAZWV 6th Scientific Meeting