Mortality Causes in Free-Ranging Eurasian Brown Bears (Ursus arctos arctos) in Spain 1998–2018

• Published in: Animals
• Main Authors: Balseiro, Ana, Royo, Luis J., Gayo, Elena, Balsera, Ramón, Alarcia, Olga, García Marín, Juan F.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI 2020
• Subjects: Article; Ursus arctos
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7552303/; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32878324; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10091538

SIMPLE SUMMARY: This work summarizes the mortality cases of twenty-five free-ranging Eurasian wild brown bears (Ursus arctos arctos) from the Cantabrian mountain range submitted for necropsy in Asturias and Castilla y León (northwestern Spain) from 1998 to 2018. Mortality cases were classified both caused by (i) “non-human intervention” or “human intervention” causes and based on (ii) “non-infectious” or “infectious” etiology. Based on “non-human intervention” or “human intervention”, fourteen of the 21 (66.7%) brown bears in which the cause of death could be determined died as a consequence of “non-human intervention” and seven (33.3%) by “human intervention”. Based on “non-infectious” or “infectious” etiology, twelve of the 21 (57.1%) brown bears died due to “non-infectious” etiology and the remaining nine (42.9%) animals due to “infectious” diseases. In a free-ranging population of Eurasian brown bear from the Cantabrian mountain range, main causes of death are attributed to non-human related traumatic lesions and infectious diseases (primary developed such as infectious canine hepatitis or secondary developed such as clostridiosis or septicemia). ABSTRACT: This work summarizes the mortality cases of twenty-five free-ranging Eurasian wild brown bears (Ursus arctos arctos) from the Cantabrian mountain range submitted for necropsy in Asturias and Castilla y León (northwestern Spain) from 1998 to 2018. Mortality cases were classified both caused by (i) “non-human intervention” or “human intervention” causes and based on (ii) “non-infectious” or “infectious” etiology. In four cases (16%) it was not possible to determine the cause of death due to the inadequate preservation of collected specimens or insufficient tissue availability. Based on “non-human intervention” or “human intervention” causes, fourteen of the 21 (66.7%) brown bears died as a consequence of “non-human intervention” due to traumatic lesions (fights, unknown traumas or infanticide), infectious canine hepatitis, neoplasia or mushroom poisoning. In ...