Grading fecal consistency in an omnivorous carnivore, the brown bear : abandoning the concept of uniform feces
Grading the fecal consistency of carnivores is a frequently used tool for monitoring gut health and overall digestion. Several fecal consistency grading systems are available for mainly felids and canids. No such system exists for the brown bear (Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758). We aim at extending cur...
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ftunivgent:oai:archive.ugent.be:8703884 2023-06-11T04:17:28+02:00 Grading fecal consistency in an omnivorous carnivore, the brown bear : abandoning the concept of uniform feces De Cuyper, Annelies Clauss, Marcus Lens, Luc Strubbe, Diederik Zedrosser, Andreas Steyaert, Sam Saravia, Arturo Munoz Janssens, Geert 2021 application/pdf https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8703884 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8703884 https://doi.org/10.1002/zoo.21593 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8703884/file/8710888 eng eng https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8703884 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8703884 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/zoo.21593 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8703884/file/8710888 No license (in copyright) info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess ZOO BIOLOGY ISSN: 0733-3188 ISSN: 1098-2361 Biology and Life Sciences dual fecal consistency gastrointestinal health ursidae journalArticle info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2021 ftunivgent https://doi.org/10.1002/zoo.21593 2023-05-10T22:50:52Z Grading the fecal consistency of carnivores is a frequently used tool for monitoring gut health and overall digestion. Several fecal consistency grading systems are available for mainly felids and canids. No such system exists for the brown bear (Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758). We aim at extending current fecal consistency grading systems with a scoring system for brown bears. The system was set up during a diet study with nine individuals fed a variety of diets including beef meat, rabbit, fruit, and grass-fruit-pellet mix in an incomplete crossover design. One additional individual was included opportunistically and was fed the typical zoo diet (vegetable-fruit-meat-pellet diet). All feces from the collection period were photographed, graded by "handling the feces" and visually inspected for dietary components. Based on a total of 446 feces, a six-point scale for uniform fecal consistencies was established. In 11% of all feces, two distinct consistencies could be distinguished, a feature that appears in other carnivore species as well. Hence, an additional grading system for dual consistencies was developed. The fecal consistency of brown bears is heavily dependent on the diet items processed before defecation with the general observation that the more vegetation or whole prey, the firmer the feces, and at certain proportions of the latter, the higher the chance for dual fecal consistencies to occur. The results indicate that in bears, diet may have a strong effect on fecal consistency, hampering animal health assessments without prior knowledge of the diet. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ursus arctos Ghent University Academic Bibliography Zoo Biology 40 3 182 191 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Ghent University Academic Bibliography |
op_collection_id |
ftunivgent |
language |
English |
topic |
Biology and Life Sciences dual fecal consistency gastrointestinal health ursidae |
spellingShingle |
Biology and Life Sciences dual fecal consistency gastrointestinal health ursidae De Cuyper, Annelies Clauss, Marcus Lens, Luc Strubbe, Diederik Zedrosser, Andreas Steyaert, Sam Saravia, Arturo Munoz Janssens, Geert Grading fecal consistency in an omnivorous carnivore, the brown bear : abandoning the concept of uniform feces |
topic_facet |
Biology and Life Sciences dual fecal consistency gastrointestinal health ursidae |
description |
Grading the fecal consistency of carnivores is a frequently used tool for monitoring gut health and overall digestion. Several fecal consistency grading systems are available for mainly felids and canids. No such system exists for the brown bear (Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758). We aim at extending current fecal consistency grading systems with a scoring system for brown bears. The system was set up during a diet study with nine individuals fed a variety of diets including beef meat, rabbit, fruit, and grass-fruit-pellet mix in an incomplete crossover design. One additional individual was included opportunistically and was fed the typical zoo diet (vegetable-fruit-meat-pellet diet). All feces from the collection period were photographed, graded by "handling the feces" and visually inspected for dietary components. Based on a total of 446 feces, a six-point scale for uniform fecal consistencies was established. In 11% of all feces, two distinct consistencies could be distinguished, a feature that appears in other carnivore species as well. Hence, an additional grading system for dual consistencies was developed. The fecal consistency of brown bears is heavily dependent on the diet items processed before defecation with the general observation that the more vegetation or whole prey, the firmer the feces, and at certain proportions of the latter, the higher the chance for dual fecal consistencies to occur. The results indicate that in bears, diet may have a strong effect on fecal consistency, hampering animal health assessments without prior knowledge of the diet. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
De Cuyper, Annelies Clauss, Marcus Lens, Luc Strubbe, Diederik Zedrosser, Andreas Steyaert, Sam Saravia, Arturo Munoz Janssens, Geert |
author_facet |
De Cuyper, Annelies Clauss, Marcus Lens, Luc Strubbe, Diederik Zedrosser, Andreas Steyaert, Sam Saravia, Arturo Munoz Janssens, Geert |
author_sort |
De Cuyper, Annelies |
title |
Grading fecal consistency in an omnivorous carnivore, the brown bear : abandoning the concept of uniform feces |
title_short |
Grading fecal consistency in an omnivorous carnivore, the brown bear : abandoning the concept of uniform feces |
title_full |
Grading fecal consistency in an omnivorous carnivore, the brown bear : abandoning the concept of uniform feces |
title_fullStr |
Grading fecal consistency in an omnivorous carnivore, the brown bear : abandoning the concept of uniform feces |
title_full_unstemmed |
Grading fecal consistency in an omnivorous carnivore, the brown bear : abandoning the concept of uniform feces |
title_sort |
grading fecal consistency in an omnivorous carnivore, the brown bear : abandoning the concept of uniform feces |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8703884 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8703884 https://doi.org/10.1002/zoo.21593 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8703884/file/8710888 |
genre |
Ursus arctos |
genre_facet |
Ursus arctos |
op_source |
ZOO BIOLOGY ISSN: 0733-3188 ISSN: 1098-2361 |
op_relation |
https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8703884 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8703884 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/zoo.21593 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8703884/file/8710888 |
op_rights |
No license (in copyright) info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/zoo.21593 |
container_title |
Zoo Biology |
container_volume |
40 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
182 |
op_container_end_page |
191 |
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1768376688415080448 |