Health Assessments in Free-Ranging Sea Turtles: Perspective of Animal Welfare in Wildlife

Reséndiz, Eduardo; Lara-Uc, María Mónica

doi:10.5772/intechopen.76111

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Classification of the health of juvenile turtles was carried out by examining visible structures of the turtles (e.g., head, eyelids, skin, tegument, shoulder, flippers, tail, etc.) for signs of abscesses, wounds, and desquamation, as well as examining for slow movements and abnormal behavior [ 22 ]. After holding juvenile turtles for 3 hr, water samples were collected by using a 15 mL sterile tube.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria in Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) Rearing Seawater

Chuen-Im

Sawetsuwannakun

Neesanant³

et al. 2021

Animals

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Antibiotic resistance of microorganisms is a serious health problem for both humans and animals. Infection of these bacteria may result in therapy failure, leading to high mortality rates. During an early intervention program process, the Sea Turtle Conservation Center of Thailand (STCCT) has faced high mortality rates due to bacterial infection. Previously, investigation of juvenile turtle carcasses found etiological agents in tissue lesions. Further determination of sea water in the turtle holding tanks revealed a prevalence of these causative agents in water samples, implying association of bacterial isolates in rearing water and infection in captive turtles. In this study, we examined the antibiotic resistance of bacteria in seawater from the turtle holding tank for a management plan of juvenile turtles with bacterial infection. The examination was carried out in three periods: 2015 to 2016, 2018, and 2019. The highest isolate numbers were resistant to beta-lactam, whilst low aminoglycoside resistance rates were observed. No gentamicin-resistant isolate was detected. Seventy-nine isolates (71.17%) were resistant to at least one antibiotic. Consideration of resistant bacterial and antibiotic numbers over three sampling periods indicated increased risk of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to sea turtle health. Essentially, this study emphasizes the importance of antibiotic-resistant bacterial assessment in rearing seawater for sea turtle husbandry.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria in Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) Rearing Seawater

Chuen-Im

Sawetsuwannakun

Neesanant³

et al. 2021

Animals

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“…Reference intervals using American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology (ASVCP) guidelines (Friedrichs et al, 2012) have only been established for one wild-caught hawksbill population in Australia (Whiting et al, 2014); however, several other hawksbill studies report measures of central tendency and full range of values (Goldberg et al, 2013;Ehsanpour et al, 2015;Salvarani et al, 2018). Establishment of blood analyte reference intervals in sea turtles is important, as various stressors that sea turtles face continue to intensify; therefore, health assessments are becoming increasingly valuable to conservation efforts as they provide baseline data for future population health and fitness comparisons in the face of environmental changes, increasing stressors, and potential disease outbreaks (Deem et al, 2001;Aguirre and Lutz, 2004;Wikelski and Cooke, 2006;Cooke and O'Connor, 2010;Deem and Harris, 2017;Reséndiz and Lara-Uc, 2018;Mashkour et al, 2020;Page-Karjian et al, 2020;Perrault et al, 2020), in addition to improving clinical decision-making in individual animals undergoing veterinary care (Delgado et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Blood analytes of hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) from Florida waters: reference intervals and size-relevant correlations

Stacy

Perrault²,

Wood³

2023

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Assessments of health variables in wild animal populations have evolved into important tools for characterizing spatiotemporal population trends and fitness, effects of stressors, diseases, and ecosystem health. Blood as a sample matrix can be obtained fairly non-invasively in the field, with preservation and sample processing techniques that allow for readily available routine and advanced diagnostic testing of blood. For wild-caught hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) foraging in southeastern Florida, USA, the objectives of this study were to (1) establish reference intervals for hematological and 24 plasma biochemical analytes, (2) determine length-and body condition-specific relationships with blood analytes, and (3) determine how water temperature influenced plasma biochemical analytes. Reference intervals were established for clinically normal juvenile (n = 26) and subadult (n = 39) hawksbills, with descriptive data reported for adult turtles (n = 3). Although subadults (mainly captured at Palm Beach County) were heavier and larger with greater body depth, juveniles (mainly captured at Monroe County) had a higher body condition index. Positive length-specific correlations were identified for packed cell volume, eosinophils, aspartate aminotransferase, phosphorus, cholesterol, glutamate dehydrogenase, total protein, albumin, and globulins, with negative correlations including alkaline phosphatase, creatine kinase, calcium, calcium to phosphorus ratio, and glucose. Subadults had less frequent morphological features of red blood cell regeneration compared to juveniles. These findings provide insight into life-stage class differences regarding hematopoiesis, antigenic stimulation, somatic growth, dietary shifts, nutritional status, osmoregulation, metabolism, physical activity or stress levels, and possible habitat differences. Life-stage class is the likely driver for the observed blood analyte differences, in addition to influences from water temperature. The data herein offer baseline information for a snapshot in time for critically endangered hawksbills inhabiting the Florida reef system and for answering individual-and population-relevant questions of relevance to conservation and population management.

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“…Scientists have validated the methods used for health assessment of other animals in sea turtles [ 3 ] and applied these procedures for sea turtle health and rehabilitation [ 15 ]. Despite this, it is still challenging in some instances to diagnose the cause of disease or death in sea turtles [ 16 ] and prevention and control measures are therefore not fully achievable [ 17 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disease risk analysis in sea turtles: A baseline study to inform conservation efforts

et al. 2020

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The impact of a range of different threats has resulted in the listing of six out of seven sea turtle species on the IUCN Red List of endangered species. Disease risk analysis (DRA) tools are designed to provide objective, repeatable and documented assessment of the disease risks for a population and measures to reduce these risks through management options. To the best of our knowledge, DRAs have not previously been published for sea turtles, although disease is reported to contribute to sea turtle population decline. Here, a comprehensive list of health hazards is provided for all seven species of sea turtles. The possible risk these hazards pose to the health of sea turtles were assessed and “One Health” aspects of interacting with sea turtles were also investigated. The risk assessment was undertaken in collaboration with more than 30 experts in the field including veterinarians, microbiologists, social scientists, epidemiologists and stakeholders, in the form of two international workshops and one local workshop. The general finding of the DRA was the distinct lack of knowledge regarding a link between the presence of pathogens and diseases manifestation in sea turtles. A higher rate of disease in immunocompromised individuals was repeatedly reported and a possible link between immunosuppression and environmental contaminants as a result of anthropogenic influences was suggested. Society based conservation initiatives and as a result the cultural and social aspect of interacting with sea turtles appeared to need more attention and research. A risk management workshop was carried out to acquire the insights of local policy makers about management options for the risks relevant to Queensland and the options were evaluated considering their feasibility and effectiveness. The sea turtle DRA presented here, is a structured guide for future risk assessments to be used in specific scenarios such as translocation and head-starting programs.

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Health Assessments in Free-Ranging Sea Turtles: Perspective of Animal Welfare in Wildlife

Cited by 5 publications

References 36 publications

Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria in Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) Rearing Seawater

Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria in Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) Rearing Seawater

Blood analytes of hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) from Florida waters: reference intervals and size-relevant correlations

Disease risk analysis in sea turtles: A baseline study to inform conservation efforts

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