Estimating exposed pulp lengths of tusks in the African elephant (Loxodonta africana africana)

dc.contributor.authorSteenkamp, Gerhardus
dc.contributor.authorFerguson, Jan Willem Helenus
dc.contributor.authorBoy, Sonja Catharina
dc.contributor.authorFerreira, Sam M.
dc.contributor.authorBester, Marthan Nieuwoudt
dc.contributor.emailgerhard.steenkamp@up.ac.zaen
dc.date.accessioned2008-07-25T06:17:46Z
dc.date.available2008-07-25T06:17:46Z
dc.date.issued2008-03
dc.description.abstractCaptive and wild African elephants frequently suffer tusk fractures. Several institutions shorten the tusks of captive elephants to reduce fractures and injury as a result of behaviour within enclosures. Fracturing or coronal amputations that expose pulp lead to pain for the elephant. Estimating coronal pulp lengths may thus help to minimise the risk of pulp exposure during amputations. We aimed to determine the length of the pulp beyond the lip margin from an external tusk characteristic. Tusks collected from elephants in Namibia and the Kruger National Park had similar morphological relationships. This statistical property allowed us to correct for missing data in our data sets. Pulp volume and pulp length correlated with tusk circumference at the lip. Even so, the circumference at the lip could not predict the length of the pulp in the crown external to the lip. Our findings suggest that tusks, irrespective of sex or age, amputated further than 300 mm from the lip should not expose pulp.en
dc.format.extent337611 bytes
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.citationSteenkamp, G, Ferguson, WH, Boy, SC, Ferreira, SM & Bester, MN 2008, 'Estimating exposed pulp lengths of tusks in the African elephant (Loxodonta africana africana)', Journal of the South African Veterinary Association, vol. 79, no. 1, pp. 25-30. [http://www.journals.co.za/ej/ejour_savet.html]en
dc.identifier.issn0038-2809
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/6320
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherSouth African Veterinary Associationen
dc.rightsSouth African Veterinary Associationen
dc.subjectAfrican elephanten
dc.subjectCaptive populationsen
dc.subjectFree-ranging populationsen
dc.subjectTusk amputationen
dc.subjectTusk fracturesen
dc.subjectTusk pulpen
dc.subjectTusk pulp treatmenten
dc.subject.lcshElephants -- South Africa
dc.subject.lcshTusks -- South Africa
dc.titleEstimating exposed pulp lengths of tusks in the African elephant (Loxodonta africana africana)en
dc.typeArticleen

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