Identifying the Stressors Impacting Rescued Avian Wildlife
Urbanisation exposes avian wildlife to an array of environmental stressors that result in clinical admission and hospitalisation. The aim of this pilot study was to conduct a retrospective analysis of clinical data and characterise this based on categories of stress experienced by avian wildlife pat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-08-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/9/1500 |
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| author | Kimberley Janssen Crystal Marsland Michelle Orietta Barreto Renae Charalambous Edward Narayan |
| author_facet | Kimberley Janssen Crystal Marsland Michelle Orietta Barreto Renae Charalambous Edward Narayan |
| author_sort | Kimberley Janssen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Urbanisation exposes avian wildlife to an array of environmental stressors that result in clinical admission and hospitalisation. The aim of this pilot study was to conduct a retrospective analysis of clinical data and characterise this based on categories of stress experienced by avian wildlife patients. The results from this study indicated that impact injuries (<i>n</i> = 33, 25%) and vehicle-related injuries (<i>n</i> = 33, 25%) were the most common occurring preliminary stressors that resulted in the hospitalisation of avian wildlife. The most common outcome of avian patients that suffered from vehicle-related injuries was euthanasia (<i>n</i> = 15, 45%), as was avian patients that suffered from impact injuries (<i>n</i> = 16, 48%). Immobility (<i>n</i> = 105, 61%) and abnormal behaviour (<i>n</i> = 24, 14%) were the most commonly occurring primary stressors of avian patients. Finally, trauma (<i>n</i> = 51, 32%) and fractures (<i>n</i> = 44, 27%) were the most common occurring secondary stressors in avian patients. The most common outcome of all these stressors was euthanasia. This study provided further evidence towards the notion that human- and urbanisation-related stressors are the main causes of hospitalisation of avian wildlife, but also indicated that birds admitted as a result of human-related stressors are more likely to be euthanised than released. This study also provided a categorisation system for the stressors identified in avian wildlife patients (preliminary, primary and secondary) that may be used to monitor the stress categories of wildlife patients and gain a deeper understanding of the complex notion of stress. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:52:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e59cb7a6972440788b3a5963815b5352 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:52:27Z |
| publishDate | 2020-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-e59cb7a6972440788b3a5963815b53522023-11-20T11:17:23ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152020-08-01109150010.3390/ani10091500Identifying the Stressors Impacting Rescued Avian WildlifeKimberley Janssen0Crystal Marsland1Michelle Orietta Barreto2Renae Charalambous3Edward Narayan4School of Science and Health, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, AustraliaSchool of Science and Health, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, AustraliaSchool of Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, AustraliaSchool of Science and Health, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, AustraliaSchool of Science and Health, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, AustraliaUrbanisation exposes avian wildlife to an array of environmental stressors that result in clinical admission and hospitalisation. The aim of this pilot study was to conduct a retrospective analysis of clinical data and characterise this based on categories of stress experienced by avian wildlife patients. The results from this study indicated that impact injuries (<i>n</i> = 33, 25%) and vehicle-related injuries (<i>n</i> = 33, 25%) were the most common occurring preliminary stressors that resulted in the hospitalisation of avian wildlife. The most common outcome of avian patients that suffered from vehicle-related injuries was euthanasia (<i>n</i> = 15, 45%), as was avian patients that suffered from impact injuries (<i>n</i> = 16, 48%). Immobility (<i>n</i> = 105, 61%) and abnormal behaviour (<i>n</i> = 24, 14%) were the most commonly occurring primary stressors of avian patients. Finally, trauma (<i>n</i> = 51, 32%) and fractures (<i>n</i> = 44, 27%) were the most common occurring secondary stressors in avian patients. The most common outcome of all these stressors was euthanasia. This study provided further evidence towards the notion that human- and urbanisation-related stressors are the main causes of hospitalisation of avian wildlife, but also indicated that birds admitted as a result of human-related stressors are more likely to be euthanised than released. This study also provided a categorisation system for the stressors identified in avian wildlife patients (preliminary, primary and secondary) that may be used to monitor the stress categories of wildlife patients and gain a deeper understanding of the complex notion of stress.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/9/1500wildlifeenvironmental stressurbanisationbirds |
| spellingShingle | Kimberley Janssen Crystal Marsland Michelle Orietta Barreto Renae Charalambous Edward Narayan Identifying the Stressors Impacting Rescued Avian Wildlife Animals wildlife environmental stress urbanisation birds |
| title | Identifying the Stressors Impacting Rescued Avian Wildlife |
| title_full | Identifying the Stressors Impacting Rescued Avian Wildlife |
| title_fullStr | Identifying the Stressors Impacting Rescued Avian Wildlife |
| title_full_unstemmed | Identifying the Stressors Impacting Rescued Avian Wildlife |
| title_short | Identifying the Stressors Impacting Rescued Avian Wildlife |
| title_sort | identifying the stressors impacting rescued avian wildlife |
| topic | wildlife environmental stress urbanisation birds |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/9/1500 |
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