Feeding the future zoo

Transcription

1 Feeding the future zoo Dr Amy Plowman Director of Conservation and Education Acting Director of Living Collections

2 A bit of history H.C. Chapman M.D., Prosector to the Philadelphia Zoological Society, 1876, My aim has been to design diets at reasonable costs that are My experience has readily acceptable, that prevent convinced me that the nutritional disease, and that allow principle causes of death animals to develop and maintain were three: first, high levels of resistance to many improper food, both in of the common agents of disease. quantity and quality; Current knowledge of nutrition second, effects of indicates this may be temperature; third, illconstructed cages. accomplished by a number of equally satisfactory formulations. Dr. Herbert Ratcliffe, pathologist, Philadelphia Zoological Garden 1930s, formulated some of the first zoo cakes

3 Prevent disease Adequate diet Cost Palatability

4 How do we know requirements? Nearest domestic relative Trial and error Zoo Zebra, rhino Large antelope Small antelope Bears, wolves Primates Birds Domestic Horses Cows Sheep, goats Dogs Humans Chickens, pigeons

5 Problems with the comparative approach Based on nearest taxonomic relative not the species with most similar diet or digestive system Domestic equivalents simply not available for many species e.g. anteaters Domestic livestock nutrition designed to maximise productivity in the shortest time

6 Black rhinos Captive black rhinos suffer a high incidence of fatal disorders Acute haemolytic anaemia Superficial necrolytic dermatopathy Leukoencephalomalacia High susceptibility to various infections Haemosiderosis/haemochromatosis Toxic hepatopathy Idiopathic haemorrhagic vasculopathy Hypophosphatemia Decreased insulin sensitivity

7 Rhinos wild diets

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11 Rotterdam Zoo Veterinary Faculty of Utrecht First European Zoo Nutrition Meeting Friday 8th January - Monday 11th January 1999 Expected about 80 delegates got 180! Sophie van Wees survey of zoos, universities and feed companies

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13 What have zoo nutrition researchers been doing?

14 Formulating nutrient not ingredient based diets Matching levels of protein, fat, fibre, minerals to the (best-estimate of) nutrient requirements Eg Fruits they are not all the same

15 Protein WSCs ADF NDF Fat Ash Tropical forest seeds Tropical forest fruit Tropical forest leaves Orchard fruit Sunflower seeds Root veg Green veg

16 Protein WSCs ADF NDF Fat Ash Tropical forest seeds Tropical forest fruit Tropical forest leaves Orchard fruit Sunflower seeds Root veg Green veg

17 Protein WSCs ADF NDF Fat Ash Tropical forest seeds Tropical forest fruit Tropical forest leaves Orchard fruit Sunflower seeds Root veg Green veg

18 Carbohydrates fermented into volatile fatty acids (VFA) plant fibre is fermented slowly the VFA can be absorbed as they are produced the ph in the fermentation chamber remains stable sugars/starch are fermented rapidly (some even explosively) more VFA produced than can be absorbed the ph in the fermentation chamber drops ACIDOSIS!

19 Foregut fermenters Hindgut fermenters Borrowed from Marcus Clauss

20 First fruit free diet All animals in the group had dental problems Gingivitis Tooth decay Gum disease Despite being 80% folivorous in the wild the diet contained a lot of fruit high in sugar

21 Comparison of nutrient composition Nutrient Old Diet New diet Recommended Soluble CHOs 68% 42% - Protein 12% 22% 17% kcals per day Fibre (NDF) % 28% Probably about 40% in wild

22 Outcomes - Colobus dental health

23 The 3 veg groups Group A Group B Group C Green leafy Other Starchy/sugary

24 Results nutrient composition Nutrient % change Non-structural carbohydrate 51-63% 48-55% 6-14% Protein 12-20% 17-22% 3-47% NDF 9-12% 17-19% 36-77% Fat 6-13% 3-6% 46-74%

25 Outcomes - Diana monkey weights

26 Oct-07 Nov-07 Dec-07 Jan-08 Feb-08 Mar-08 Apr-08 May- Jun-08 Jul-08 Aug-08 Sep-08 Oct-08 Nov-08 Dec-08 Jan-09 Feb-09 Mar-09 Apr-09 May- Jun-09 Jul-09 Aug-09 Sep-09 Oct-09 Nov-09 Dec-09 Jan-10 Feb-10 Mar-10 Weight kg Outcomes - Sulawesi macaque weights Tyrone Wanite Anneke Sara Heather Puzzle 4 2 0

27 Later species

28 Mean bouts per year Outcomes - Feacal condition Before Fruit-free Pied tamarin Emperor tamarin Goeldi's monkey Pygmy marmoset Pygmy slow loris

29 Percent time aggressive behaviours displayed Paignton and Newquay lemurs - aggression 2.5 Aggression c 2 [1,2] = 49.12, p <0.001 Kat Cowlard and Steph Britt Black and White Ruffed Lemurs Ring-tailed Lemurs Crowned Lemurs Red Ruffed Lemurs

30 Incidence of SDBs (Rate per minute) Paignton and Newquay lemurs - SDBs SDB c 2 [1,2] = 25.52, p <0.001 Kat Cowlard and Steph Britt 0 Black and White Ruffed Lemurs Ring-tailed Lemurs Crowned Lemurs Red Ruffed Lemurs

31 Prevent disease Adequate diet Cost Palatability

32 Sustainability Species Lifestage Cost and practicality Great diet Nutrient requirements Health Natural feeding behaviour Palatability Season Environ ment

33 Where are we now and what next? 20 zoo feed companies cf 6 in 1999

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35 Where are we now and what next? 20 zoo feed companies cf 6 in 1999 More nutrient info (gum, invertebrates, fish) and nutrient requirement info Browse, browse, browse Sustainability - palm oil, soy, fish Gut microbiome

36 Gut Microbiome? All of the microbes in Stomach Detrimental Bacteria Prevotella, clostridium, bacteroidetes Rumen Sacculated stomach Large Intestine Caecum Beneficial Bacteria Firmicutes, bifidobacteria

37 What does the microbiome do? Immune system Immune stimulating hormones are created by bacteria, especially important in early life Parasite/Pathogen Resistance A healthy and strong community blocks out pathogens Nutrient and energy harvesting Dysbiosis can lead to deficiencies, wasting or obesity Behaviour Food cravings and aggressiveness

38 Dysbiosis consequences? Low microbiome diversity and chronic dysbiosis common in captive animals (and Western humans) Obesity Crohn s disease Ulcerative colitis Diabetes Fatty Liver Atheroslerosis Autism Alzeimers

39 Clayton 2016 Wild animals had different microbes than captive Captive microbes resembled those of humans

40 Sidiropoulos et al. 2017

41 Cabana 2018

42 Where are we now and what next? 20 zoo feed companies cf 6 in 1999 More nutrient info (gum, invertebrates) and requirements Browse, browse, browse Sustainability - palm oil, soy, fish Gut microbiome Technical feeds

43 Technical feeds Successful contraception of giraffe (Chester) Regu-mate Porcine milled into pellets 32mg/kg Consumption at least 1.6kg/day

44 Where are we now and what next? 20 zoo feed companies cf 6 in 1999 More nutrient info (gum, invertebrates) and requirements Browse, browse, browse Sustainability - palm oil, soy, fish Gut microbiome Technical feeds Bridging the fat lemur gap

45 The fat lemur gap

46 Conclusions Zoo nutrition is hugely complex but undervalued Much more to do on simple nutrient information Only just touched the surface of more complex aspects Simple research can still have big impacts but we need to bridge the fat lemur gap