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SOS Rhino : Research,
Projects and Grants : Grants
2000 : Black Rhino Condition Assessment
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“Black Rhino Condition Assessment Protocol for Use in Captive
Breeding Institutes.”
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LOCATIONS:
Wild Solutions
Kwa\Zulu Natal
SOUTH AFRICA
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PROJECT SUMMARY:
Black rhino continue to suffer from poor health and high mortality
under intensive management. Nutrition and stress have been identified
as likely major factors in these disorders. Body condition scores,
typically developed for broad assessment of domestic animal health,
have recently been refined for field evaluation of the black rhinoceros
(Reuter and Adcock 1998, Reuter and Horspool 1996).
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Field-based
nutritional, physiological, and health data are currently being used
to provide standard normal evaluation criteria for intensively-managed
rhinoceros populations. Hence, adaptation and/or standardization of
field body condition scores may provide a valuable tool for comparative
assessment of zoo rhino populations and individuals, which could be
routinely incorporated into their husbandry and management protocols. |
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