Physico-Chemical Characteristics and Lipid Oxidative Stability of Zebra (Equus Burchelli) Droëwors Made Using Different Levels of Sheep Fat

The physico-chemical properties (proximate, salt content, water activity (aw), pH) and lipid oxidation of droëwors (dried salted/spiced meat sausages) produced with zebra meat and different sheep fat levels (10, 15, and 20% by weight) measured at day 0 (before drying), day 2 (after drying at 30 °C and 40% relative humidity), and over a 90 day storage (day 17, 32, 47, 62, 77, and 92) under vacuum at 25 °C were investigated. The use of lower fat levels (10 and 15%) in the formulation resulted in higher weight loss during drying and droëwors with higher protein, ash, and salt content and lower aw and pH compared to the droëwors made with 20% fat. The pH increased (p < 0.001) during storage for all the fat levels, while the moisture content and the aw were stable as expected. TBARS values were the highest in droëwors made with 20% of fat after drying (day 2), but droëwors made with 10% of fat reached similar maximal values on day 17. Formulations containing 15% sheep fat displayed the lowest TBARS values after drying and along storage, and thus had the best characteristics in relation to oxidative stability.

Post-Release Monitoring Diet Quality and Nutritional Status of Reintroduced Burchell’s Zebra and Blue Wildebeest in Maputo Special Reserve, Mozambique

The reintroduction of wild animal species into conservations areas is widely used to restore populations of species endangered with extinction. The assessment of the quality of the diet and the nutritional status of the animals is crucial to the success of herbivore reintroduction programs, given that adequate nutrition is essential to ensure the survival and fertility of ungulates. Given this, the present study investigated the quality of the diet and nutritional status of Burchell’s zebra ( Equus burchelli, Smuts 1832) and blue wildebeest ( Connochaetes taurinus, Burchell 1823) reintroduced into Maputo Special Reserve (MSR), in southern Mozambique. The study was conducted between July 2016 and June 2017, and the data were collected through direct observation, by driving a vehicle along the roads within the reserve that pass through the vegetation cover where zebra and wildebeest are known to occur most frequently. The composition of the diet and specific feature of the grass grazed by the two species, such as greenness (an indication of food quality) were assessed. Crude fecal protein and phosphorus were determined to evaluate the nutritional status of the two herbivore species. Both herbivores were pure grazers, consuming a diet composed entirely (100%) of grass. Aristida barbicollis was the principal component of the diets of both zebra and wildebeest and both species grazed almost entirely on green grass (91–100% of greenness). However, wildebeest consumed significantly more green grass (which has a better nutrient content) than zebra, which tolerated a considerably larger proportion of browner grass in both seasons. The levels of crude protein and phosphorus in the zebra and wildebeest fecal samples were not below threshold of nutritional stress recommended for large southern African herbivores, which indicates that neither the zebra nor the wildebeest populations in MSR are undernourished at the present time and that the quality of the forage found in the study area is not a factor limiting the persistence of the reintroduced populations of either species.

Ungulates rely less on visual cues, but more on adapting movement behaviour, when searching for forage

Finding suitable forage patches in a heterogeneous landscape, where patches change dynamically both spatially and temporally could be challenging to large herbivores, especially if they have noa prioriknowledge of the location of the patches. We tested whether three large grazing herbivores with a variety of different traits improve their efficiency when foraging at a heterogeneous habitat patch scale by using visual cues to gaina prioriknowledge about potential higher value foraging patches. For each species (zebra (Equus burchelli), red hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphussubspeciescamaa) and eland (Tragelaphus oryx)), we used step lengths and directionality of movement to infer whether they were using visual cues to find suitable forage patches at a habitat patch scale. Step lengths were significantly longer for all species when moving to non-visible patches than to visible patches, but all movements showed little directionality. Of the three species, zebra movements were the most directional. Red hartebeest had the shortest step lengths and zebra the longest. We conclude that these large grazing herbivores may not exclusively use visual cues when foraging at a habitat patch scale, but would rather adapt their movement behaviour, mainly step length, to the heterogeneity of the specific landscape.

Investigation on to the Illness and Death of Zebra at Dhaka Zoo along with Isolation and Identification of Causal Organism

Zebra is the member of the equide family available at Dhaka Zoo and gradually disappeared due to inadequate health management and varies maladies. The aim of this study was to investigate the cause of illness and death of zebras (Equus burchelli) at Dhaka Zoo. Two zebras died on 10 and 25 January, 2010, one become seriously ill on 15 February, 2010 and was considered as the study samples. The dead animals were necropsized, representative samples were collected in formalin for histopathological examination. Thoracic fluid, cardiacfluid, abdominal fluid and blood from these zebras were also used for isolation of causal bacteria. Blood sample was also collected from the sick zebra and subjected for bacteriological examination. Results of necropsy examination revealed hydrothorax, pneumonia and septicemia. Histopathological findings revealed pulmonary emphysema, interstitial pneumonia, bronchitis, pulmonary thrombosis, exudates in lung alveoli and granulomatous lesions in lungs. Other important findings were hemosiderosis and anthracosis. Based on the cultural, morphological and biochemical tests, Pasteurella sp. was identified. Bacteriological examination revealed that the organism bears similarities with P. multocia, P. hemolytica and P. aerogenes but definite bacterial species was not identified. The zebras were collected from Africa and the bacterial nature identified was Pasteurella but definite species could not be identified; could be a Pasteurella available in Africa. Therefore, it needs investigation at other biochemical and genetic level to confirm the bacterial species involved. There occurrence of similar disease at later on was also observed in zebra at DhakaZoo and responded well to treatment for pasteurellosis; the cause of illness was, therefore, confirmed as Pasteurellosis.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/pa.v21i1-2.16755 Progress. Agric. 21(1 & 2): 83 - 92, 2010