Eco-epidemiological and pathological features of wildlife mortality events related to cyanobacterial biointoxication in the Kruger National Park, South Africa

dc.contributor.authorBengis, Roy
dc.contributor.authorGovender, Dhanashree (Danny)
dc.contributor.authorLane, Emily
dc.contributor.authorMyburgh, Jan G.
dc.contributor.authorOberholster, Paul Johan
dc.contributor.authorBuss, Peter Erik
dc.contributor.authorProzesky, Leon
dc.contributor.authorDewald, Keet
dc.date.accessioned2016-11-25T08:45:28Z
dc.date.available2016-11-25T08:45:28Z
dc.date.issued2016-10-31
dc.description.abstractOver the past decade, several clustered, multispecies, wildlife mortality events occurred in the vicinity of two man-made earthen dams in the southern and south central regions of the Kruger National Park, South Africa. On field investigation, heavy cyanobacterial blooms were visible in these impoundments and analysis of water samples showed the dominance of Microcystis spp. (probably Microcystis aeruginosa). Macroscopic lesions seen at necropsy and histopathological lesions were compatible with a diagnosis of cyanobacterial intoxication. Laboratory toxicity tests and assays also confirmed the presence of significant levels of microcystins in water from the two dams. These outbreaks occurred during the dry autumn and early winter seasons when water levels in these dams were dropping, and a common feature was that all the affected dams were supporting a large number of hippopotamuses (Hippopotamus amphibius). It is hypothesised that hippopotamus’ urine and faeces, together with agitation of the sediments, significantly contributed to internal loading of phosphates and nitrogen – leading to eutrophication of the water in these impoundments and subsequent cyanobacterial blooms. A major cause for concern was that a number of white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) were amongst the victims of these bio-intoxication events. This publication discusses the eco-epidemiology and pathology of these clustered mortalities, as well as the management options considered and eventually used to address the problem.en_ZA
dc.description.departmentParaclinical Sciencesen_ZA
dc.description.librarianam2016en_ZA
dc.description.urihttp://www.jsava.co.zaen_ZA
dc.identifier.citationBengis, R., Govender, D., Lane, E., Myburgh, J., Oberholster, P., Buss, P. et al., 2016, ‘Eco-epidemiological and pathological features of wildlife mortality events related to cyanobacterial bio-intoxication in the Kruger National Park, South Africa’, Journal of the South African Veterinary Association 87(1), a1391. http://dx.DOI.org/ 10.4102/jsava.v87i1.1391.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn1019-9128 (print)
dc.identifier.issn2224-9435 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.4102/jsava.v87i1.1391
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/58289
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherAOSIS OpenJournalsen_ZA
dc.rights© 2016. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.en_ZA
dc.subjectWildlife mortalityen_ZA
dc.subjectDamsen_ZA
dc.subjectKruger National Park (KNP)en_ZA
dc.subjectCyanobacterial intoxicationen_ZA
dc.subject.otherVeterinary science articles SDG-06en_ZA
dc.subject.otherSDG-06: Clean water and sanitation
dc.titleEco-epidemiological and pathological features of wildlife mortality events related to cyanobacterial biointoxication in the Kruger National Park, South Africaen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA

Files

Original bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Bengis_EcoEpidemiological_2016.pdf
Size:
9 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Article

License bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.75 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description: