by Lisa Barrett
It is widely known that elephants can live to be very old
(sometimes up to 65 or 70 years!)--just like humans—but what causes an elephant
to finally kick the bucket? And how has our knowledge of these health issues in
elephants helped to extend their lifespan in captivity? Please excuse the
morbidity, and let’s talk causes of elephant death.
Unfortunately, humans are to blame for most causes of elephant
death, including habitat loss, fragmentation, and poaching for ivory and meat. But
don’t feel too guilty, because you can have a meaningful impact on
elephant conservation by educating your friends and supporting our cause (Donate here: http://bit.ly/J
Most elephant deaths are caused by humans (through poaching or habitat destruction).
Photo from:
There are a number of illnesses that target different
populations of elephants. For example, we find foot problems (ex: zoo-genic
foot disease, pressure cracks, and overgrown nails) to be much more common in
captive elephants than in their wild counterparts. This is especially true of
zoo elephants, who historically were made to stand on hard concrete floors.
Fortunately, this issue is being mitigated as zoo enclosures become
better-designed for elephants. Another painful foot issue affects street
elephants who walk on paved roads or concrete for extended periods of time and may
develop smoothed feet and lose necessary traction.
Elephants in captivity may suffer from serious foot problems.
Photo from:
Elephants in the wild may succumb to more naturally
occurring diseases. For example, anthrax, which is transmitted by rats, can
lead to paralysis of the trunk. Heart disease, twisted gut, and parasite
infections are other major illnesses contracted by wild elephants. Interestingly,
elephants in the wild have been known to seek out their own remedies to deal
with illness. For example, digestive dilemmas can be treated by fasting or
consuming bitter herbs or bark. They may also protect open wounds by coating
them with mud! Our veterinary staff has employed several natural remedies to
help cure elephant abscesses, like using paste from plant material known to aid
in skin health.
Elephant herpes virus affects both wild and captive
elephants. Interestingly, it greatly affects young Asian elephants, whereas
African elephants generally experience benign versions of the virus. It causes fatal
hemorrhagic disease and is believed to be transmitted between elephants through
trunk secretions. What’s more, it can produce pinkish nodules on the head or
trunk of juveniles. More research is critical to understand the causes and
effects of this rather widespread disease among elephants, especially because
there is no known cure to the elephant herpes virus.
A nodular growth an an African elephant's trunk caused by elephant herpes virus.
Photo from:
Tuberculosis is another common illness found in elephants,
but it can also be passed between humans and elephants (and vice versa) through
prolonged intensive contact. It is caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis in
droplets in the air and affects the lungs and causes chronic weight loss,
coughing, and diminished appetite.
Elderly eles who live into their sixties will most likely
expire when their final (sixth) set of molars wear down and they are no longer
able to chew or ingest their food, which will lead to starvation. Some captive
elephants living out their lives receive special diets of mashed bananas to
help mitigate this.
In order to avoid late detection of any illness at the
elephant camp, the elephants here at the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant
Foundation receive regular health check-ups from our elephant veterinarian, Dr.
Cherry. She uses positive reinforcement to have her patients present certain
body parts for examination.
Here, Dr. Cherry checks the feet of an elephant.
Photo from: Lisa Barrett
Resources:
Just a couple of updates:
ReplyDeleteAnthrax - actually is an endemic soil bacteria common to low wetland pastures. Practically all ungulates and humans are immune to the live bacteria.
When the dry season comes, the bacteria "mummifies" to survive dry conditions. The process creates extremely fine anthrax spores - which are coated in a glycoprotein which will rehydrate the spores by attacking living animal tissue after the next rainfall. This strategy works by letting the glycoprotein form cell pores which then allow insertion of an edema factor - followed by a cell death trigger. The edema factor converts lipids to sugars and waters - and the cell death factor triggers apoptosis - collapsing the cell walls so anthrax can feed. As a spore, many millions of anthrax bacteria can invade an animal in a single breath - but as a bacteria, the immune system actively seeks out and destroys it. As a spore, the spores are ingested by T-cells - where the outer coating dissolves - resulting in the spore rehydrating and multiplying inside T-cells - before killing them. The spore form can overcome the immune system of mammals, in less than 10-days, unless treated with antibiotics like doxycycline and cipro.
While rodents are said to spread anthrax - in actuality - any mammal which feeds in a wet lowland pasture after a drought - is likely to encounter virulent anthrax spores - just by breathing the dust - or letting the dust invade cuts and scratches.
Second update: Samson, the Elephant at the Baltimore Zoo, survived an EEHV infection this year with the help of the CDC and the USDA. The CDC has an interest in EEHV - since theoretically it could someday cross over to humans.
Samson was given a high dosage antiviral treatment - including enemas - to purge his gut of the EEHV virus.
Last report is that Samson is doing fine at the Baltimore Zoo. So, EEHV no longer has to be fatal for young Asian elephants if it is detected early enough and treated with antivirals like interferon.
On the other hand, that is still one big veterinarian bill.