Incidence and Nature of Tumors in Captive Wild Mammals and Birds

Observations on naturally occurring neoplasms in birds in the state of Victoria, Australia

“…Metastatic granulosa cell and Sertoli cell tumours on the other hand tended to affect only the serosa of the adjacent organs, particularly the gizzard and proventriculus. Ratcliffe (1933) reported a very low incidence of neoplasia (less than 1%) in Passeriformes which were necropsied at-the Philadelphia Zoological Gardens, but histological examination of tissue from small birds may reveal a higher incidence than anticipated (Middleton & Julian, 1983). In this series there were many neoplasms in Passeriformes, particularly canaries.…”

“…There were 157 budgerigar cases in this series, and others have noted that this species has a relatively high incidence of tumours (Ratcliffe, 1933;Loupal & Reifinger, 1986). Many of the neoplasms reported in budgerigars are similar to the manifestations of avian leukosis virus (ALV) infection of domestic fowl.…”

An adenoma of the large intestine in a black casqued hornbill (ceratogyma atrata)

“…Adenomas of the intestinal tract of captive wild birds have been recorded in a Redfronted Parrot (Chalcopsitta scintillata) (Hamerton, 1942), a Golden Pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus) (Ratcliffe, 1933) and an Indian Blue Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) (Effron et al, 1977), but detailed descriptions were not given. In the domestic fowl, benign epithelial tumours of the lower alimentary tract are also rare (Campbell and Appleby, 1966;Campbell, 1969).…”

“…In captive wild birds, a few authors have reported briefly the occurrence of both intestinal adenomas and adenocarcinomas (Ratcliffe, 1933;Hamerton, 1942;Lombard and Witte, 1959;Effron etal, 1977). In this paper we describe an adenoma of the colo-rectum in a female Black Casqued Hornbill (Ceratogyma atrata) which had been maintained in captivity for 16 years.…”

Fibrosarcoma with Metastasis in a Rhesus Monkey

“…Several authors have listed neoplasms in monkeys [4,6,9,141. Chemicals and viruses have been used to induce fibrosarcomas in nonhuman primates other than the Rhesus monkey, but only a few spontaneous fibromas or fibrosarcomas in these species have been reported [2,3,[6][7][8][11][12][13][14][15]. Naturally occurring fibromas or fibrosarcomas in the Rhesus monkey are rare.…”