Clinic for Zoo Animals, Exotic Pets and Wildlife, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 260, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
Proc Biol Sci. 2011 Jul 7;278(1714):2076-80. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2010.2275. Epub 2010 Dec 8.
Zoo animal husbandry aims at constantly improving husbandry, reproductive success and ultimately animal welfare. Nevertheless, analyses to determine factors influencing husbandry of different species are rare. The relative life expectancy (rLE; life expectancy (LE) as proportion of longevity) describes husbandry success of captive populations. Correlating rLE with biological characteristics of different species, reasons for variation in rLE can be detected. We analysed data of 166 901 animals representing 78 ruminant species kept in 850 facilities. The rLE of females correlated with the percentage of grass in a species' natural diet, suggesting that needs of species adapted to grass can be more easily accommodated than the needs of those adapted to browse. Males of monogamous species demonstrate higher rLE than polygamous males, which matches observed differences of sexual bias in LE in free-living populations and thus supports the ecological theory that the mating system influences LE. The third interesting finding was that rLE was higher in species managed by international studbooks when compared with species not managed in this way. Our method facilitates the identification of biological characteristics of species that are relevant for their husbandry success, and they also support ecological theory. Translating these findings into feeding recommendations, our approach can help to improve animal husbandry.
动物园动物养殖的目的是不断提高养殖水平、繁殖成功率，最终提高动物福利。然而，分析影响不同物种养殖的因素的研究却很少。相对预期寿命（rLE；预期寿命（LE）作为寿命的比例）描述了圈养种群的养殖成功。将 rLE 与不同物种的生物学特征相关联，可以发现 rLE 变化的原因。我们分析了代表 78 种反刍动物的数据，这些动物来自 850 个设施中的 166901 只动物。雌性的 rLE 与物种自然饮食中草的百分比相关，这表明适应草的物种的需求更容易满足，而适应灌木的物种的需求则更难满足。一夫一妻制物种的雄性比一妻多夫制物种的雄性具有更高的 rLE，这与在自由生活种群中观察到的 LE 中性别偏向的差异相吻合，因此支持了交配系统影响 LE 的生态理论。第三个有趣的发现是，与未采用这种方式管理的物种相比，采用国际种畜登记管理的物种的 rLE 更高。我们的方法有助于确定与物种养殖成功相关的生物学特征，并且还支持生态理论。将这些发现转化为饲养建议，可以帮助我们改进动物养殖。
