Sponsored Studies

Texas A&M University?
Analyses of Wild and Companion Avian Diets to Improve Companion Avian Nutrition
Despite the large number of macaws, Amazon parrots, cockatoos and other large psittacine birds kept as pets, little is known about their nutritional requirements. Nutritional problems are the most common health problems facing captive parrots today. In particular, hand-reared chicks suffer from nutritional deficiencies, aspiration due to the finely ground texture of the feed and slow digestion, which causes dehydration and malnutrition. Researchers will analyze the nutrient content of diets of wild chicks living in Peru, Mexico, Brazil and Costa Rica and use these measurements to formulate new hand-rearing diets for captive parrot chicks. Researchers anticipate that these new formulas will improve nutrition, reduce acute and chronic health problems and revolutionize hand feeding of companion parrots.

 

University of Tennessee
Pain Management in Hispaniolan Amazon Parrots
Pain management in birds is still in its early stages. This study will evaluate the use of tramadol in Hispaniolan Amazon parrots and will allow the researchers to determine the most effective dose. This drug holds the promise of being the first orally administered, long-acting analgesic for birds. Improved analgesia will allow parrots to return to normal function more quickly following surgery or trauma and will help control chronic pain.

 

Smithsonian Institution and the National Zoo
Reproduction in Endangered Pygmy Rabbits
The Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit population is critically endangered and believed to be extinct in the wild. Although an intense breeding program is under way to facilitate reintroduction, attempts to establish a self-sustaining captive population have been hindered by poor reproduction and high mortality. This project will analyze whether stress and housing conditions affect reproduction and adrenal endocrinology in the endangered pygmy rabbit. Findings can be used to improve captive environments and help in the species' reintroduction to the wild.

 

Smithsonian Institution and the National Zoo
Stress and Recovery of Asiatic Black Bears Rescued From China's Bile Production Farms
Bile farming is a major, and despicable, welfare issue for black bears in China, where their bile is used in traditional Chinese medicine. The bears' bile is "milked" through catheters in their abdominal walls. This practice is legal for captive-born bears, but wild populations are often poached and captured. Poor conditions on these farms raise welfare concerns for the more than 7,000 bears thought to live on bile farms in China. Researchers will analyze corticoid metabolites, an indicator of stress, in fecal and hair samples from black bears rescued from bile farms and compare them to those of wild bears and to those of rehabilitated bears. This study should provide insight into how bile farming and human encroachment influence wild and captive bear welfare and support higher animal care standards and habitat protection for these animals.