North American Crane Working Group
Date of this Version
2022
Document Type
Article
Citation
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN CRANE WORKSHOP 15:146-149
Abstract
We reviewed mortalities of captive cranes at the International Crane Foundation (ICF) between 2000 and 2020 to provide broad insights into contemporary factors affecting the collection’s health and survival. Sixty-three deaths were documented in 13 of 15 crane species held in the ICF collection. The mean annual mortality during the study was 2.6% and the mean age (±SD) at death was 28.4 (±12.7) years. The overall total number of deaths of males and females was similar, but there was an association between sex and death of adult versus geriatric (>25 years) cranes (P < 0.01); males were more likely to die at geriatric age than females. Deaths were commonly associated with chronic health and management problems (n = 44, 79%) versus problems with an acute onset (n = 12, 21%). Common causes of death in captive cranes were due to musculoskeletal problems (44%), trauma (9%), and neoplastic disease (8%). Infectious pathogens were associated with respiratory (6%), reproductive (4%), and gastrointestinal (2%) deaths. Our findings add to previous reviews of mortality among captive cranes by detailing problems associated with progressive aging of individuals in the ICF collection.
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Comments
Used by permission.