25. Elephant shrews are voracious insectivores that prey upon a wide variety of

Question

25. Elephant shrews are voracious insectivores that prey upon a wide variety of arthropods as well as worms. An AZA accredited zoo received two male-female pairs of elephant shrews as part of a captive breeding program. In captivity the shrews were fed crickets, cockroaches, Tenebrio larvae (meal worms), annelid worms (earthworms) and cat food. The adult shrews flourished gaining weight and produced young. Baby elephant shrews however had high mortality and suffered bone deformities. Answer the following questions: A. Provide a nutritional explanation for the mortality and bone abnormalities observed in young elephant shrews. (5 pts) B. How would you go about diagnosing what the nutritional problem might be? (10 pts) C. What specific steps would you take to address correct the problem? (5 pts)

Explanation / Answer

25A) The nutritional imbalance which has caused bone deformities and mortality in young elephant shrews include less concentration of calcium in their diet which is present in the shells of snails larvae and other insects larvae.

B)The experimental group of shrews was divided into various groups with one group given a diet containing large amounts of snails and other insect larvae containing abundant concentrations of calcium in their body whereas the other group included less diet for shrews with less availability of snails and insect larvae and feeding them with beetle larvae or meal worms containing less concentration of calcium leading to bone deformities in shrews. Various experiments were conducted like maze track experiments, path experiments to analyze their running speed which confirmed that the male and female shrews who were given a diet with less calcium ran at a slower speed as compared to the shrews who were given a diet rich in calcium. The mass of these shrews was also recorded after the stimulated diet along with additional concentration of calcium salt in the diet in the experimental group of shrew animals.

C) The diet of shrews should contain proper concentration of calcium and they should be breeded in a proper environment with proper health and hygiene facilities. These animals should not suffer from bacterial infections causing pneumonia or cyotococcus infections which can lead to their death before experimentation. They should be put in specific chambers with sterility and cleanliness to prevent their death,

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