The writer is an animal behaviourist with a specialisation in Endangered Species Management and currently works as Director Biodiversity, WWF-Pakistan
She treated me as one of her kind. I felt like a member of her pride, where the playful cubs pounce on adult lions and gently bite them with their tiny canines. She was naughty and her eyes beamed with a mischievous glint. The zoo’s veterinarians, Dr Babar Saleem and Dr Samuel Shahzad, told me that she also had a twin brother and both these cubs once had rickets — a bone disease. She recovered from the treatment while the brother could not make it through alive. It is both impressive and encouraging that one of the cubs regained health and shows that we do have good, dedicated veterinarians in Pakistan.
Working with animals is not possible without passion. Rickets has been a recurring problem at the zoo and it is critical to address the underlying problems to avoid suffering of animals and losses to the progeny. This is critical to the sustainability of captive animal stocks. Rickets develops because of lack of vitamin D, which is harnessed through freely available sunlight. A lack of vitamin D impairs the absorption of calcium and phosphorus and thus causes deformity of bones and weakening of muscles. Rickets is also seen in human babies. Believe me, human and animal needs are physiologically and psychologically the same! I checked with Dr Arshad Toosy, who is currently Manager Veterinary Operations at Al Ain Zoo in the UAE and also a former director at the Lahore Zoo for his expert opinion and he said, “Rickets should be considered to be a disease caused by dietary and husbandry mismanagement. Lack of full-spectrum lighting, especially unfiltered sunlight, aggravates the problem in young animals. Correcting the diet and husbandry practices are essential to prevent this disease from occurring in future.”
As a practice, pregnant female animals are separated from others at the last stages of pregnancy at zoos. This is generally done to ensure safety and any agonistic behaviour from cage mates. In the wild, cubs are hidden in dense bushes and occasionally join the pride. Lionesses are also known to nurse one another’s cubs. The only danger is from a male who could be planning to take over a pride. We tend to be so cautious at our zoos that we separate the female and the cubs completely.
Separation dens at the zoos get absolutely no sunlight and when the cubs are born they remain in the den under close observation. This could be the foremost reason for rickets in zoo-bred cats. The solution is simple: expose the pregnant female and cubs to the sun. I was thinking of the African savanna, the vast landscape with sun and scattered trees to get some cool shade and tall grass to hide. This is also true for us humans, we don’t get enough sun, we are confined to indoor lifestyles, which is unhealthy. The Lahore Zoo, despite its own set of problems, is undoubtedly the best zoo in Pakistan and anyone who visits it would always have a memorable experience.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 17th, 2015.
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@John B: Yes John other Lahore zoo animals have shown tickets too. I have seen it in tigers and puma cubs. I guess you agree with the thesis now. Very few survived.
Thanks for the comments. Vitamin D and sunlight relationship can't be overlooked and the dens at Lahore zoo don't even get diffused sunlight. There are increasing concerns in human children too, please see the link below:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/hampshire/hi/peopleandplaces/history/newsid_9363000/9363679.stm
@John A: @Motiwala: Missing the big picture- " native habitat provides adequate sunlight exposure for vitamin D synthesis whereas such is not case in captive environment, and hence rickets in zoo animals" -that is incorrect. Other Lahore zoo animal of similar kind should also manifest rickets if one where to subscribe to this thesis.
As far as big cats in the wild, yes, some hunt during the day, but they do most of the hunt at night, with the exception of few, drag their prey to their den (not necessarily a dark place but a shady place covered for most part) and spend less time roaming during day and certainly their lack of vita D deficiency is not due to sunlight exposure.
Direct sunlight exposure to the skin is not necessary for Vit D synthesis. Diffused sunlight is good enough since it is the UV that does the business.
Diseases of fat soluble vitamins are extremely rare since the Vitamins are stored in the body over a period of time. There could be other physiological reasons for rickets in the cub, but certainly I do not buy the sunlight discussion as the cause.
@john b-- not quite. The big cats spend a lot of time in the sun. They hunt mostly during the day in fact.
wish there was a picture too. Lovely description.
@John B: With all due respect, please let me clarify,...None of the big cats are nocturnal. Lions, cheetahs, tigers and leopards do majority of the their hunting during the day. Since it requires a chase, 95% of the time. Lions on the African veldt DO NOT LIVE IN DENS. There are hardly dens there. Plain, open grasslands. Grasslands and Savannas. Lions prefer plains, you do not find them in thick forests. Slight exception are the Indian lions of the Gir Forest, in Rajasthan, Which is a desert environ.to begin with. African lions have cubs on the plains in bushes. That is why such a high mortality rate, because the hyenas or other predators get them. Even other lions from a different pride will kill the cubs. The lion food source :- Zebras, antelopes, Wildebeest, [Gnus] Impalas, Thompson gazelles, Hartebeests, Cape Buffaloes, Warthogs, Elands etc. etc. all live on the grasslands. Think Masai Mara, Ngorongoro. Leopards prefer an arboreal habitat. Trees. No caves. Cheetahs, same as lions, out on the veldt. Tigers live in forests but not in caves. All these big cats are territorial and scent mark their territories. And diligently patrol. Which means not being confine to a den or cave. Q.E.D.
Rickets in new born is due to dietary deficiency of Vitamin D in the mother. Being a fat soluble vitamin it should be stored in sufficient level in the mother as earl as first trimester of pregnancy when the mesoderm differentiate and should be at adequate level throughout pregnancy.
Deficiency of vitamin D in the mother is primarily due to dietary conditions rather than lack of sunlight. Sunlight exposure (uv) synthesize vitamin D physiologically but not enough for physiological needs.
Inuites never had vitamin D and A deficiency since their diet (seal, salmon etc) had adequate supply of them and same goes for Polar bear.
Diseases of Vitamin deficiency manifest only when the diet is severely deficient in them, and it is rarely manifested clinically in modern times. Sources of Vitamin D in new born is milk and if the mother's milk or the bottle fed milk is deficient in fat soluble vitamins, the disease is exasperated in young ones.
Clinical manifestation of Vitamin deficiency is extremely rare since it indicates chronic dietry deficiency. Direct exposure to sunlight is also not necessary and cannot correct the deficiency. It should be remembered that In the wild, the big cats are nocturnal and they spend the day in their den, mostly.
Stellar article as usual, by a very knowledgeable author. Hope the author had a chance to see the Singapore Zoo. They even have a night tour there !