Causes of adult mortality in two populations of New Zealand sea lions (Phocarctos hookeri)

Lenting, Baukje; Gartrell, Brett D.; Kokosinska, Anna; Duignan, Pádraig J.; Michael, S.; Hunter, Stuart; Roe, Wendi D.

doi:10.1016/j.vas.2019.100057

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Hypermucoviscous K . pneumoniae disease has only ever been recorded in the pup age class (< approximately 3 months) of NZ sea lions, despite routine necropsies of adults and juveniles that die at Enderby Island during the field season and on mainland NZ throughout the year [24]. One brief reference to an adult male NZ sea lion found dead at the Catlins, mainland NZ, in 2003 with a pharyngeal abscess described a culture of K .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pup mortality in New Zealand sea lions (Phocarctos hookeri) at Enderby Island, Auckland Islands, 2013-18

Michael¹,

Hayman²,

Gray³

et al. 2019

PLoS ONE

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New Zealand sea lions (Phocarctos hookeri) are an endemic and endangered species. Pup mortality at Enderby Island (50.5°S, 166.28°E) in the New Zealand sub-Antarctic has been well studied, with subsequent investigations yielding more intricate detail of the causes of mortality, as new diagnostic methods become available. Klebsiella pneumoniae was first reported in 2001–02 at this site, causing a pup mortality epizootic and is now known to be present at several colonies. This bacterium is a common mucosal commensal of humans and animals, however the agent found in pups at necropsy is a hypervirulent strain, readily recognised in microbial culture as being hypermucoviscous. Infection causes septicaemia with a common syndrome of subsequent meningitis and polyarthritis. This investigation uses histopathology and microbiology, with new modalities such as matrix assisted laser desorption/ionisation—time of flight mass spectrometry to show that Klebsiella septicaemia could have historically been, and continues to be, the most important cause of pup mortality, but has been previously underrepresented due to the often cryptic presentation and sometimes peracute course of disease. Hypermucoviscous K. pneumoniae should be considered a serious threat to pup survival in the species, causing on average 60.2% of pup deaths annually at Enderby Island between 2013 and 2018, with likely more continuing mortality following pup dispersal and the cessation of the summer monitoring season. Less common causes of death included starvation (14.8%), trauma/asphyxiation (9.9%) and other infections (7%). This study forms the basis for further evaluation of risk factors for pup mortality in the species, with a view to developing active mitigation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pup mortality in New Zealand sea lions (Phocarctos hookeri) at Enderby Island, Auckland Islands, 2013-18

Michael¹,

Hayman²,

Gray³

et al. 2019

PLoS ONE

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“…Without access to the resources and infrastructure that modern life affords for many people, these threats often lead to pain and death. For example, in a study of 136 New Zealand sea lions, 18% of them were found to die from tuberculosis and 24% died as a result of violence from other sea lions (Lenting et al, 2019). Similarly, approximately half of American black bears die as cubs due to causes such as disease, infanticide, and drowning in their winter dens as a result of flash flooding (Alt, 1984;Elowe & Dodge, 1989;LeCount, 1987).…”

Section: Measuring Attitudes Towards Wild Animal Welfare: the Wild An...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring attitudes towards wild animal welfare: The Wild Animal Welfare Scale

Sleegers,

Moss,

McAuliffe

et al. 2023

Preprint

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In this paper we introduce the Wild Animal Welfare (WAW) scale. The WAW scale consists of four important factors to assess attitudes towards the welfare of wild animals: caring about WAW, support for intervening in nature, idyllic views of nature, and intervention ineffectiveness beliefs. Items were devised to assess these constructs, pilot tested, and verified across four preregistered studies (N = 2866). The factors demonstrated good reliability and strongly correlated with other measures of animal welfare attitudes, including animal attitudes, speciesism, and support for specific WAW interventions. Caring and interventionist attitudes towards WAW also predicted a bonus payment being given to a wild animal charity. Our aim is that the scale will facilitate further research on attitudes towards wild animal suffering and, in turn, inform interventions and policies aimed at improving the welfare of wild animals.

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Aquatic Mammals

Duignan¹

2023

Pathology and Epidemiology of Aquatic Animal Diseases for Practitioners

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Causes of adult mortality in two populations of New Zealand sea lions (Phocarctos hookeri)

Abstract: Highlights Infectious disease, including tuberculosis, was the most common cause of death. Anthropogenic trauma caused 26% of deaths in mainland sea lions. Trauma inflicted by adult male conspecifics caused 24% of deaths.

Cited by 7 publications

References 24 publications

Pup mortality in New Zealand sea lions (Phocarctos hookeri) at Enderby Island, Auckland Islands, 2013-18

Pup mortality in New Zealand sea lions (Phocarctos hookeri) at Enderby Island, Auckland Islands, 2013-18

Measuring attitudes towards wild animal welfare: The Wild Animal Welfare Scale

Aquatic Mammals

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