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Animal Welfare

Andy Butterworth
Editor

Marine Mammal
Welfare
Human Induced Change in the Marine
Environment and its Impacts on Marine
Mammal Welfare
Animal Welfare

Series Editor
Clive Phillips
School of Veterinary Science
University of Queensland
Gatton, Queensland
Australia
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/5675
Andy Butterworth
Editor

Marine Mammal Welfare

Human Induced Change in the Marine
Environment and its Impacts on Marine
Mammal Welfare
Editor
Andy Butterworth
Clinical Veterinary Science
University of Bristol
Langford
Bristol
United Kingdom

ISSN 1572-7408
Animal Welfare
ISBN 978-3-319-46993-5    ISBN 978-3-319-46994-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-46994-2

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017943546

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of
the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation,
broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information
storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the
editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors
or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims
in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Printed on acid-free paper

This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature

The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Animal Welfare Series Preface

Animal welfare is attracting increasing interest worldwide, especially in developed

countries where the knowledge and resources are available to, at least potentially,
provide better management systems for farm animals, as well as companion, zoo,
laboratory and performance animals. The key requirements for adequate food,
water, a suitable environment, companionship and health are important for animals
kept for all of these purposes.
There has been increased attention given to animal welfare in the West in recent
years. This derives largely from the fact that the relentless pursuit of financial reward
and efficiency, to satisfy market demands, has led to the development of intensive
animal management systems that challenge the conscience of many consumers in
this part of the world, particularly in the farm and laboratory animal sectors.
Livestock are the world’s biggest land users, and the farmed animal population is
increasing rapidly to meet the needs of an expanding human population. This results
in a tendency to allocate fewer resources to each animal and to value individual
animals less, for example in the case of farmed poultry where flocks of over twenty
thousand birds are not uncommon. In these circumstances, the importance of each
individual’s welfare is diminished.
In developing countries, human survival is still a daily uncertainty, so that provi-
sion for animal welfare has to be balanced against human welfare. Animal welfare
is usually a priority only if it supports the output of the animal, be it food, work,
clothing, sport or companionship. However, in many situations the welfare of ani-
mals is synonymous with the welfare of the humans that look after them, because
happy, healthy animals will be able to assist humans best in their struggle for sur-
vival. In principle the welfare needs of both humans and animals can be provided
for, in both developing and developed countries, if resources are properly hus-
banded. In reality, the inequitable division of the world’s riches creates physical and
psychological poverty for humans and animals alike in many parts of the world.
Increased attention to welfare issues is just as evident for zoo, companion, labo-
ratory, sport and wild animals. Of growing importance is the ethical management of
breeding programmes, since genetic manipulation is now technically advanced, but
there is less public tolerance of the breeding of extreme animals if it comes at the

v
vi Animal Welfare Series Preface

expense of animal welfare. The quest for producing novel genotypes has fascinated
breeders for centuries. Dog and cat breeders have produced a variety of deformities
that have adverse effects on their welfare, but nowadays the breeders are just as
active in the laboratory, where the mouse is genetically manipulated with equally
profound effects.
The intimate connection between animals and humans that was once so essential
for good animal welfare is rare nowadays, having been superseded by technologi-
cally efficient production systems where animals on farms and in laboratories are
tended by increasingly few humans in the drive to enhance labour efficiency. With
today’s busy lifestyles, companion animals too may suffer from reduced contact
with humans, although their value in providing companionship, particularly for cer-
tain groups such as the elderly, is beginning to be recognised. Animal consumers
also rarely have any contact with the animals that are kept for their benefit.
In this estranged, efficient world, people struggle to find the moral imperatives to
determine the level of welfare that they should afford to animals within their charge.
A few people, and in particular many companion animal owners, strive for what
they believe to be the highest levels of welfare provision, while others, deliberately
or through ignorance, keep animals in impoverished conditions in which their health
and well-being can be extremely poor. Today’s multiple moral codes for animal care
and use are derived from a broad range of cultural influences, including media
reports of animal abuse, guidelines on ethical consumption and campaigning and
lobbying groups.
This series has been designed to contribute towards a culture of respect for ani-
mals and their welfare by producing learned treatises about the provision for the
welfare of the animal species that are managed and cared for by humans. The early
species-focused books were not detailed management blueprints; rather they
described and considered the major welfare concerns, often with reference to the
behaviour of the wild progenitors of the managed animals. Welfare was specifically
focused on animals’ needs, concentrating on nutrition, behaviour, reproduction and
the physical and social environment. Economic effects of animal welfare provision
were also considered where relevant, as were key areas where further research is
required.
In this volume the book series again departs from a single species focus to
address the welfare of marine mammals. Editor Andy Butterworth has drawn from
his research in this field to gather a large group of authors that consider the topic
from a variety of angles. Given that this is an emerging science, which hitherto had
attracted little attention, it is evident from the contributed chapters that there are
serious welfare issues that should be a focus of immediate attention. Prominent
among these are the following concerns: impacts of climate change and associated
habitat destruction on the welfare of polar bears in particular, the growing volume
of marine debris that damages or kills mammals when they get wrapped in or eat it,
the harmful effects of ocean noise, causing cetaceans to become stranded, and the
killing of marine mammals, including seals and otters, for their fur. Much of the
science is so new that reliable methods of assessing welfare are only just being
developed, and some are outlined in this book for the first time. The role and hus-
Animal Welfare Series Preface vii

bandry of marine mammals in captivity in zoos and aquaria is considered, with

prominence given to the role of polar bears in raising awareness of the plight of this
species in coping with climate change. The book will undoubtedly become a stan-
dard reference work in this emerging area of animal welfare science, and it is hoped
that it will stimulate a new determination to address the risks to welfare that are the
focus of the book.

St. Lucia, QLD, Australia Clive Phillips

Contents

1 Introduction�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1
Andy Butterworth
2 Anthropogenic Ocean Change: The Consummate
Threat to Marine Mammal Welfare ���������������������������������������������������������� 9
Steven C. Amstrup and Flavio Lehner
3 Of Poisons and Plastics: An Overview of the Latest
Pollution Issues Affecting Marine Mammals������������������������������������������ 27
Mark Peter Simmonds

Part I Cetaceans 

4 Welfare Implications of Cetacean Bycatch and Entanglements������������ 41

Sarah J. Dolman and Michael J. Moore
5 From Hunting to Watching: Human Interactions with Cetaceans ������ 67
E.C.M. Parsons and Danielle Monaghan-Brown
6 Welfare Issues Associated with Small Toothed Whale Hunts:
An Example, the ‘Drive Hunt’ in Taiji, Japan���������������������������������������� 91
Andy Butterworth, Diana Reiss, Philippa Brakes, and Courtney Vail
7 Din of the Deep: Noise in the Ocean and Its Impacts
on Cetaceans �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 111
Lindy Weilgart
8 Evaluating the Welfare Implications of Climate Change
for Cetaceans�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 125
Mark Peter Simmonds
9 Managing the Welfare of Marine Mammals at Mass Strandings
in Golden Bay, New Zealand������������������������������������������������������������������ 137
Mike Ogle

ix
x Contents

10 Social Change in Cetacean Populations Resulting

from Human Influences�������������������������������������������������������������������������� 147
Philippa Brakes
11 Cetaceans in Captivity���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 161
Rob Lott and Cathy Williamson
12 Assessing the Welfare of Cetacea������������������������������������������������������������ 183
Isabella L.K. Clegg and Andy Butterworth

Part II Seals

13 The Welfare Impact on Pinnipeds of Marine Debris

and Fisheries�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 215
Andy Butterworth and Sue Sayer
14 Loss of Habitat: Impacts on Pinnipeds and Their Welfare������������������ 241
Sheryl Fink
15 Welfare Aspects of Commercial Hunting and Climate Change���������� 253
Rebecca Aldworth
16 Assessing the Welfare of Pinnipeds�������������������������������������������������������� 273
Isabella L.K. Clegg and Andy Butterworth

Part III Sirenians

17 Human Interactions with Sirenians (Manatees and Dugongs)������������ 299

Robert K. Bonde and Mark Flint
18 Impacts of Marine Debris and Fisheries on Sirenians������������������������� 315
Helen Owen, Jaylene Flint, and Mark Flint
19 Impact of Climate Change and Loss of Habitat on Sirenians ������������ 333
Helene Marsh, Eduardo Moraes Arraut, Lucy Keith Diagne,
Holly Edwards, and Miriam Marmontel
20 Sirenian Health and Well-Being in Managed Care������������������������������ 359
Michael T. Walsh and David J. Blyde
21 Assessing Welfare of Individual Sirenians in the
Wild and in Captivity������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 381
Mark Flint and Robert K. Bonde

Part IV Polar Bear

22 Human–Polar Bear Interactions in a Changing Arctic:

Existing and Emerging Concerns ���������������������������������������������������������� 397
Todd C. Atwood, Kristin Simac, Stewart W. Breck, Geoff York,
and James Wilder
Contents xi

23 Polar Bears and Sea Ice Habitat Change���������������������������������������������� 419

George M. Durner and Todd C. Atwood
24 Implications of Rapid Environmental Change for Polar
Bear Behavior and Sociality�������������������������������������������������������������������� 445
Todd C. Atwood
25 Uncertainties in Forecasting the Response of Polar
Bears to Global Climate Change������������������������������������������������������������ 463
David C. Douglas and Todd C. Atwood
26 The Harvest of Polar Bears Across the Circumpolar North���������������� 475
Elizabeth Peacock
27 Welfare of Captive Polar Bears and Their Value to In
Situ Conservation Efforts������������������������������������������������������������������������ 489
Randi Meyerson, Donald E. Moore, Sarah T. Long,
and Judy Che-Castaldo
28 Monitoring the Welfare of Polar Bear Populations
in a Rapidly Changing Arctic������������������������������������������������������������������ 503
Todd C. Atwood, Colleen Duncan, Kelly A. Patyk,
and Sarah A. Sonsthagen

Part V Otters

29 Effects on Otters of Pollution, Fisheries Equipment and

Water-Borne Debris �������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 531
Lesley Wright, Shawn Larson, Jan Reed-Smith, Nicole Duplaix,
and Thomas Serfass
30 Animal Welfare Issues Pertaining to the Trapping
of Otters for Research, Conservation, and Fur������������������������������������ 543
Thomas L. Serfass, Lesley Wright, Kelly Pearce, and Nicole Duplaix
31 Otters in Captivity ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 573
Jan Reed-Smith and Shawn Larson
32 Pathology of Marine Mammals: What It Can Tell Us
About Environment and Welfare������������������������������������������������������������ 585
Antonio Fernández, Yara Bernaldo de Quirós,
Simona Sacchini, and Eva Sierra
33 Epilogue���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 609
Andy Butterworth
Index������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 615
About the Authors

Rebecca Aldworth is the executive director of Humane Society International in

Canada. For 17 years, she has been a firsthand observer of Canada’s commercial
seal hunt, escorting more than 100 scientists, parliamentarians, and journalists to
the ice floes to witness the killing. She has testified extensively before international
government committees in support of prohibitions on seal product trade and has
published multiple articles and reports on the welfare, economic, and environmental
aspects of commercial sealing. She is a recipient of the 2004 Jean Taymans award
for animal welfare and in 2006 was named one of nine Eco Heroes by Alternet. In
2011, she was named Activist of the Year in the Canadian Empathy Awards.

Steven C. Amstrup is chief scientist for Polar Bears International. He also is an

adjunct professor at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. Prior to joining PBI, he
led polar bear ecology research in Alaska for 30 years, at the U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS). He is a past chairman of the IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group and has
been an active member of the group for 35 years. Dr. Amstrup has authored or coau-
thored more than 150 peer-reviewed articles on animal movements, distribution,
and population dynamics and is the senior editor of a text on population estimation
methods. In 2007, he led a USGS research team in production of nine reports that
convinced the U.S. Secretary of Interior that polar bears should be declared a threat-
ened species. In the December 2010 issue of Nature, he and his coauthors showed
there is a linear and inverse relationship between global mean temperature and sea
ice extent, and that preserving polar bears requires a halt to anthropogenic tempera-
ture increase. In 2012, Amstrup was selected as recipient of the Indianapolis Prize,
and a Bambi Award for his efforts in animal conservation.

Eduardo Moraes Arraut is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Remote Sensing

Division, National Institute for Space Research, Brazil. During the preparation of
this book, he was an overseas researcher of the Wildlife Conservation Research
Unit, Zoology Department, Oxford University. Eduardo has been, or is, researching
the ecology or conservation of humpback whales and Amazonian manatees in
Brazil, common buzzards in the UK, and African lions in Zimbabwe. His research

xiii
xiv About the Authors

involves both extensive fieldwork, often in remote places, and the development of
animal space use analytical techniques using statistics and agent-based modeling.
He is Joint-Coordinator for South America of the Thematic Group for Sustainable
Use and Management of Ecosystems (SUME), Commission on Ecosystem
Management (CEM), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and
member of the European Sustainable Use Specialist Group (ESUSG). He is also
involved in interdisciplinary collaborations with researchers in the field of educa-
tion and has worked as the Executive Secretary of the two major climate change
research programs in Brazil, where he managed finances, contributed to public out-
reach activities, and led the preparation of multidisciplinary scientific reports.

Todd Atwood is a Research Wildlife Biologist and leader of the U.S. Geological
Survey’s Polar Bear Research Program. His research is focused on understanding
the impacts of a changing Arctic marine ecosystem on polar bear population ecol-
ogy, health, and resilience. Todd is a member of the IUCN—Polar Bear Specialist
Group and is co-chair of the Science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge Working
Group of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Polar Bear Recovery Team.

Yara Bernaldo de Quirós is a postdoctoral research associate at the Institute of

Animal Health and Food Safety, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary
Islands, Spain. Yara has also worked as a postdoctoral investigator in Texas A&M
and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA. Her research focuses on com-
parative physiopathology, especially diving physiology. She has participated several
times as a guest participant in the scientific committee of the International Whaling
Commission. She is a reviewer of several journals in the field and has over 20 pub-
lications to date.

David Blyde is the veterinarian at Sea World, Gold Coast, Australia. David gradu-
ated from the University of Sydney in 1982 with a B.V.Sc. (second class honors).
He was admitted to the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists
by examination in the Medicine of Zoo Animals in 1992 and is president of the zoo
and wildlife chapter. He is a member of various bodies, including the Australian
Veterinary Association, the Wildlife Disease Association, the American Association
of Zoo Veterinarians, and the Australian Institute of Management. His current inter-
ests include artificial reproduction, reintroduction biology, and diseases of marine
mammals. He has delivered many lectures on various veterinary topics around the
world and publishes in veterinary books and journals. He is an adjunct associate
professor at the University of Queensland.

Robert Bonde is a Research Biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and holds
an adjunct faculty position with the graduate school of the University of Florida,
College of Veterinary Medicine. Bob has been studying manatees for 38 years and
specializes in their natural history, biology, genetics, and conservation. He has
served on graduate committees for 29 students focusing on topics related to genet-
ics, endocrinology, osteology, virology, behavior, physiology, contaminants, health
About the Authors xv

monitoring, and blood chemistry. In his position he has over 90 academic publica-
tions and has written a book along with Dr. Roger Reep entitled The Florida
Manatee: Biology and Conservation.

Philippa Brakes is a researcher on social learning and culture in whales and other
nonhumans and is a wildlife advocate working for the NGO Whale and Dolphin
Conservation (WDC). Through her research at the University of Exeter, she explores
the implications of culture and other forms of social complexity for the conservation
management of marine mammals. Her interest is the evolution from traditional
genetic and geographic boundaries towards conservation policy, which also incor-
porates behavioral ecology and recognizes the importance of sociality and consis-
tent individual difference (or personality). Philippa currently serves as a Senior
Biologist with WDC.

Stewart Breck is a carnivore ecologist for the USDA-Wildlife Services-National

Wildlife Research Center and focuses on studying carnivore ecology and develop-
ing methods for minimizing human-carnivore conflict. Stewart attained degrees in
ecology and wildlife biology from Colorado State University (B.S. and Ph.D.) and
the University of Nevada Reno (M.S.). His current interests include studying the
ecology of coyotes, wolves, black bears, and polar bears in urban, agricultural, and
natural systems, with a primary focus on developing nonlethal techniques for preda-
tor management. He works extensively with graduate students and is an adjunct
professor at Colorado State University.

Danielle M. Brown is currently a Ph.D. student working in Dr. Chris Parsons’ lab
in the Environmental Science and Policy department at George Mason University.
Her research focuses on the ecology of humpback whales in the New York metro-
politan area and their interactions with human activities. In addition to being a grad-
uate student, Danielle works with Gotham Whale as an Associate Researcher and
has previously worked as a Field Stranding Technician with the Marine Mammal
Stranding Center.

Andy Butterworth is Reader in Animal Science and Policy in the Clinical

Veterinary School, University of Bristol, UK. Andy is a Vet and teaches and carries
out research in the areas of animal disease and production, animal welfare and leg-
islation, behavioral biology, and animal welfare assessment in both farm and wild
animals. He is a member of the European Food Standards Agency Scientific Panel
on Animal Health and Welfare, and chairs the Ethics, Economics, Education and
Regulation Committee of the Farm Animal Welfare committee in the UK. He lec-
tures widely and publishes in books, and the academic and trade press.

Judy Che-Castaldo is a research scientist at the Alexander Center for Applied

Population Biology at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She is an ecolo-
gist broadly interested in applying theories and tools from population biology to
conserve threatened species. She has conducted a systematic evaluation of recovery
xvi About the Authors

plans for species listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and developed meth-
ods for analyzing population viability for data-poor species. Her other research
projects include modeling population dynamics and conducting cross-species com-
parative analyses to improve the management of captive animal populations.

Isabella Clegg is completing a Ph.D. in dolphin behaviour and welfare, as part of

a collaboration between Université Paris 13 and Parc Astérix. Her master’s degree
in marine mammal science (University of Miami) and bachelor’s degree in animal
behaviour and welfare (University of Bristol) allowed her to combine these areas of
expertise for this unique Ph.D. project, partially supported by the Universities’
Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW). She is on the student committee for the
European Association for Aquatic Mammals (EAAM) and the Parc Astérix Animal
Welfare Committee. She has participated in numerous wild and captive marine
mammal research projects and is dedicated to enhancing captive dolphin welfare
and developing associated methods for use in the wild.

Lucy Keith Diagne is the founder and director of the African Aquatic Conservation
Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to research and conservation of African
manatees and turtles. Lucy leads the African Manatee Project, which encompasses
a collaborative network for manatee fieldwork and conservation with members in 19
African countries. To date she has trained over 90 African biologists in manatee
field techniques and conservation planning. Her own research focuses on African
manatee population genetics, feeding ecology, and threat assessment. She was
awarded the Manatee Conservation Award by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in
2003, and she is a member of International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s
Sirenian Specialist Group, a co-Chair of the African Manatee Regional Subgroup,
and a member of the Convention of Migratory Species Scientific Council—Aquatic
Mammals Working Group. She is based in Senegal, West Africa.

Sarah Dolman has a fisheries science master’s degree from Aberdeen University
and a bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronic engineering from Bath University.
Sarah has worked at Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) since 1993, where
she leads their international program to reduce cetacean bycatch. She is a member
of the European Cetacean Society Scientific Advisory Committee, UK Wild Animal
Welfare Committee (WAWC), and the Marine Animal Rescue Coalition (MARC).
Her field research focuses on behavioral studies in wild cetaceans, particularly
Risso’s dolphins. Her policy work focuses on marine noise pollution, European
environmental legislation, and more recently on the conservation and welfare issues
associated with cetacean bycatch.

David Douglas is a research wildlife biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey
Alaska Science Center. He studies how year-to-year variations in the timing of sea
ice and snow melt affect the availability and quality of habitats for marine animals
like polar bears and pinnipeds, and for terrestrial animals like caribou and geese.
Arctic animals are well adapted to variable weather conditions, but global warming
About the Authors xvii

is rapidly changing the Arctic and challenging their resiliency. David has partici-
pated in numerous multidisciplinary studies where he brings expertise in remote
sensing and spatial modeling aimed at quantifying relationships between landscape
dynamics and patterns of habitat use and population dynamics.

Colleen Duncan is a faculty veterinarian at Colorado State University in the

department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology. She is a Diplomate of
both the American College of Veterinary Pathology (anatomic) and the American
College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine. In her role as a diagnostic pathologist
and epidemiologist, she collaborates with many agencies to investigate a variety of
animal health and disease issues. Her current work is largely focused on fur seals
and polar bears in Alaska.

Nicole Duplaix is a French-American zoologist, ecologist, teacher, and photogra-

pher who specializes in studying giant otters. She discovered her passion for otters
while volunteering at the Bronx Zoo, where the zoo’s curator introduced her to these
endangered sea and river mammals. She earned her master’s degree at the University
of Paris in 1965 and 1966. She later studied giant otters in South America. In one
year of this study, she managed to identify 249 different animals. She also helped
Suriname officials learn how to preserve river otters, though they still face endan-
germent today. She returned to the University of Paris to complete her Ph.D., and
her 1980 dissertation concerned a colony of river otters on Suriname’s Kapoeri
Creek. She also worked as a fund-raiser and speaker for the World Wildlife Fund.
Most recently, she has settled in Oregon and is a senior lecturer at Oregon State
University.

George M. Durner is a research zoologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska
Science Center in Anchorage, Alaska, USA. George’s research focuses on polar
bear sea ice and maternal denning habitat relationships, and the behavioral response
of polar bears to habitat change in a warming Arctic. He is a member of the Wildlife
Society, the Arctic Institute of North America, and the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Polar Bear Specialist Group (PBSG). He has been
an author on over 30 peer-reviewed publications on polar bears, presented at numer-
ous professional conferences, and regularly serves as a reviewer for journals on
polar bear-related research articles.

Holly Edwards is an Assistant Research Scientist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission’s marine mammal section where she leads the manatee
aerial survey program. Holly has developed and conducted research projects on
cetacean and sirenian species, in both the USA and Latin America, focusing on
population assessment, distribution and movements, habitat use, survival, health
assessment, risk, and climate change. These projects have involved conducting aer-
ial, boat, and land based surveys of both manatees and dolphins (Sotalia fluviatilis);
photo identification; and satellite/GPS telemetry tracking of manatees. Her more
recent research involves using manatee telemetry and manatee diving data to
xviii About the Authors

estimate the risk of boat-manatee collisions, assessing the impacts of climate change
on Florida manatees, and estimating manatee abundance from aerial surveys.

Antonio Fernández is Professor of veterinary histology and pathology at the vet-

erinary school and Institute of Animal Health and Food Safety of the University of
Las Palmas Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. He is a European Veterinary
Pathology diplomat (ECVP) and a European Zoological Medicine (Wild Life
Population) diplomat (ECZM) and a postdoctoral researcher in the Alexander von
Humboldt Institute of Veterinary Pathology, Hannover, Germany, and a visiting
Professor in the Veterinary Pathology Department, Cornell University, USA. He is
director of M.Sc. and Ph.D. Programs in Animal Health and Food Safety and won
the Canary Islands Award in Science and Innovation 2008 and the Academic
Excellence Award, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 2008.

Sheryl Fink is IFAW’s Director of Wildlife Campaigns in Canada. She has been
active in campaigns to educate the public on the threats facing Canada’s polar bears,
the live capture of marine mammals for captivity, the exotic pet trade, and commer-
cial exploitation of animals and ecological sustainability. Sheryl is a frequent
speaker on marine mammal issues at conferences, drawing upon her experience
with IFAW and her background as a biologist having worked in the field with harp,
hooded, and grey seals. Sheryl has authored many of IFAW’s submissions to the
Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, commenting on proposed changes
to the Marine Mammal Regulations which negatively affect the seals and has also
authored documents submitted by IFAW to inform the European Commission in
their assessment of the potential impact on the EU of a ban on products derived
from seals and in support of the EU ban before the World Trade Organization.
Sheryl holds a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc., Hons) in wildlife biology from the
University of Guelph, Canada.

Jaylene Flint is the Sea Turtle Research Biologist at the Florida Aquarium and a
research scholar in the School of Veterinary Science at the University of Queensland.
Jaylene has worked in several government, educational, and not-for-profit facilities,
in both the United States and Australia, examining the effects of natural and human
impacts on the survivorship of key sentinel species. She uses this data to create
predictive models that assist in the management of species of concern and habitats.
Jaylene is well published in these areas, with over a dozen technical reports, public
outreach documents, journal articles, and a book chapter.

Mark Flint is in the Research Faculty of the School of Forest Resources and
Conservation at the University of Florida, as well as serving as the Director of
Research at the Florida Aquarium’s Center for Conservation in the United States;
Director of the Veterinary-Marine Animal Research, Teaching and Investigation
unit; and an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the School of Veterinary Science at the
University of Queensland in Australia. Mark’s research focuses on identifying prev-
alent and emerging stressors in marine and freshwater animal species as they relate
About the Authors xix

to natural and anthropogenic pressures, health, welfare, environmental manage-

ment, and sustainable resource use. He is widely published on these topics, with
over 70 publications in continuing education, journals, and as book chapters.

Flavio Lehner is a postdoctoral researcher at the National Center for Atmospheric

Research in Boulder, USA. Flavio is researching global and regional climate vari-
ability and change on centennial to decadal time scales with a focus on quantifying
uncertainties in our understanding of past, current, and future climate change.
Combining climate model simulations with observational evidence, he has pub-
lished scientific papers on atmospheric circulation, ocean-sea ice-atmosphere inter-
actions, carbon cycle response to climate change, and human exposure to changes
in record-breaking summer temperatures.

Sarah Long is the Director of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA’s)
Population Management Center (PMC) at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, Illinois,
USA. Sarah has been with the PMC since its establishment in 2000, conducting
genetic and demographic analyses and developing breeding and transfer plans for
cooperatively managed zoo populations. In addition, she teaches zoo professionals
and contributes to the development of population management software (e.g.,
PMCTrack, PopLink, ZooRisk) and research on small population management
methodology. Sarah is also a member of AZA’s Small Population Management
Advisory Group (SPMAG), the World Zoo & Aquarium Association’s Committee
for Population Management, and serves as an advisor to AZA’s Wildlife Conservation
and Management Committee (WCMC), which oversees AZA cooperatively man-
aged animal programs and the policies and issues relevant to these programs. Sarah
received a B.S. in biology from DePaul University and an M.S. in biology from
Northern Arizona University, where she conducted field research on communica-
tion of Gunnison’s prairie dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni).

Rob Lott is policy manager and Orca program lead for Whale and Dolphin
Conservation (WDC), an international charity which campaigns to see a world
where every whale and dolphin is safe and free. Based in the UK, Rob works on
WDC’s anti-captivity program, addressing the issue of the ongoing live capture of
cetaceans in Russia and Japan, as well as improving the welfare of captive whales
and dolphins through the exploration of retirement sanctuary options. He is a keen
writer and photographer and has published internationally in magazines and
newspapers.

Miriam Marmontel is an oceanographer who has been working with freshwater

aquatic mammals since she got her Ph.D. in wildlife conservation from the
University of Florida in Gainesville. She is a researcher with the Mamirauá Institute
for Sustainable Development, where she leads a research group on Amazonian
aquatic mammals. Working in two large sustainable development reserves in the
western Brazilian Amazon as well as in coastal Amazon, she conducts research on
manatees, dolphins, and otters, focusing on anatomy, movements and habitat use,
xx About the Authors

population estimation and demography. Miriam is the editor-in-chief of the Latin

American Journal of Aquatic Mammals. She is a member of the IUCN Specialist
Group and co-chair of the South American Manatee Regional Subgroup.

Helene Marsh is Distinguished Professor of Environmental Science and Dean of

Graduate Research at James Cook University, Australia. Helene is a conservation
biologist with some 30 years’ experience in research into species conservation, man-
agement, and policy with particular reference to coastal tropical marine megafauna
of conservation concern. The policy outcomes of her research include significant
contributions to the science base of dugong conservation in Australia and interna-
tionally. Helene has received international awards for her research and conservation
from the Pew Charitable Trust, the Society of Conservation Biology, and the
American Society of Mammalogists. She is Chair of the Australian Threatened
Species Scientific Committee, Co-chair of the IUCN Sirenia Specialist Group, and a
former President of the Society of Marine Mammalogy. She is on the editorial boards
of Conservation Biology, Endangered Species Research, and Oecologia. Her publi-
cations include two books and some 200 papers. Helene has supervised 75 research
higher degree candidates to completion and numerous postdoctoral fellows.

Randi Meyerson is the Assistant Director of Animal Programs at the Toledo Zoo.
She holds a D.V.M., and M.S. in zoology. She has over 20 years’ experience in ani-
mal husbandry and vet care of zoo and native wildlife and has special interest in
carnivores, elephants, and Tasmanian devils. She has been the Chair of the
Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) Polar Bear Species Survival Program
(SSP) since its inception in 2003, as well as the program studbook keeper. Currently
she is the Vice Chair of the AZA Bear Taxon Advisory Group (TAG) and a member
of the Sloth Bear SSP management committee. Prior responsibilities have included
being the veterinary advisor for the Mexican Wolf SSP and Bear TAG Chair. She
also is an advisor for the NGO Polar Bears International.

Michael Moore has a veterinary degree from the University of Cambridge in the
UK, and a Ph.D. from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the USA. He has been based at WHOI in
Woods Hole, Massachusetts, since 1986. He is Director of the WHOI Marine
Mammal Center and provides veterinary support to the Marine Mammal Rescue
and Research Division of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, supporting
their work with stranded marine mammals on Cape Cod. His research encompasses
the forensic analysis of marine mammal mortalities, especially in regard to the
accurate diagnosis of perceived human impacts and the prevalence of zoonotic
agents, the interaction of natural and man-made impacts on fish and marine mam-
mal stocks, development of systems to enhance medical intervention with large
whales, and the pathophysiology of marine mammal diving.

Don Moore is a zoo-based endangered species conservation specialist and animal

behaviorist, who has been leading and training the next generation of animal care
About the Authors xxi

professionals and conservation biologists, studying animal behavior in zoos and

nature, and creating conservation management plans for wild animals in zoos and in
nature for over 30 years. He has a special interest in the conservation and well-being
of large mammals including bears, wolves, deer, and Asian elephants. Dr. Moore
currently works as Director of the Oregon Zoo and as a Smithsonian senior science
advisor on strategic initiatives, species sustainability, and public education. He pre-
viously led Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s Animal Care Sciences’ team of veterinar-
ians, curators, keepers, nutritionists, and animal behavior professionals, providing
excellence in animal care and well-being for the zoo’s priceless living collection.
Prior to working at Smithsonian, Dr. Moore worked as a curator, animal behavior
programs leader, and director in Wildlife Conservation Society’s constellation of
zoos and global conservation programs.

Mike Ogle has been a ranger with New Zealand Department of Conservation
(DOC) for 20 years. For the past 13 years he has been based in Golden Bay monitor-
ing and managing the varied fauna of this area. In the Golden Bay area over this
period there have been dozens of marine mammal strandings, totalling over 1000
individuals. Mike attended many of these strandings, and in more recent years he
has undertaken the role of operations manager at mass strandings. He is the current
national lead contact within DOC for marine mammal mass strandings and scien-
tific sampling. Other marine mammal work has seen him surveying and remote
biopsying of hector’s dolphins and blue whales around the top of New Zealand’s
South Island.

Helen Owen is a Senior Lecturer in Veterinary Pathology at the School of

Veterinary Science, University of Queensland. Helen’s diagnostic and research
interests include pathology of marine wildlife and pathology associated with para-
sitic infections.

Chris Parsons has been involved in whale and dolphin research for 25 years and
has conducted projects in every continent. He is currently involved in interdisciplin-
ary research projects on coastal dolphin populations in the Caribbean and the effec-
tiveness of marine conservation policy. Dr. Parsons started teaching at George
Mason University in 2003 and is currently the coordinator for the university’s envi-
ronmental science undergraduate program. Dr. Parsons has been a member of the
scientific committee of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) since 1999
and is currently the co-convenor of the IWC subcommittee on Environmental
Concerns. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal Society of
Biology, and Marine Biological Association. He has been involved in organizing
four of the International Marine Conservation Congresses (the largest conference
for marine conservation scientists) and two of the International Congresses for
Conservation Biology. He served two terms as the Marine Section President and
three terms as a Governor of the Society for Conservation Biology, and is currently
on the Board of Directors of the Society for Marine Mammalogy and the American
Cetacean Society. In addition, Dr. Parsons has published over 150 scientific journal
xxii About the Authors

articles and book chapters and has written a textbook on marine mammal biology
and conservation.

Kelly Patyk is a Veterinary Epidemiologist with the U.S. Department of

Agriculture’s Center for Epidemiology and Animal Health, located in Fort Collins,
Colorado. Kelly serves as an analyst engaged in studying animal health and related
agricultural issues to support decision making and preparedness activities. Her
research interests include population health, disease transmission at the wildlife-­
livestock interface, survey research, and veterinary public health. She is a U.S. rep-
resentative on the Quadrilateral EpiTeam and holds an affiliate faculty position in
the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology at Colorado State
University.

Lily Peacock is a student of the Alaska School of Medical Education and the
University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. She earned her under-
graduate degree in biology from the University of California, Berkeley, with a minor
in Russian, before she embarked on her human medical doctoral studies. For her
doctoral dissertation, Lily spent 6 years in Southeast Alaska studying black bear
population ecology on Kuiu Island and polar bears in the Inuit village of Igloolik
(Place of Igloos), a small island off the northern tip of Baffin Island in the Canadian
territory of Nunavut. She led the U.S. Geological Survey Alaska Science Center
polar bear research program, which conducts long-term research on polar bears to
inform local, state, national, and international policy makers regarding conservation
of the species and its habitat.

Kelly J. Pearce is a Ph.D. candidate in the Marine-Estuarine-Environmental

Sciences Program at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.
Kelly’s primary research interests include the integration of social and ecological
sciences, including the field of human dimensions of wildlife. She is particularly
interested in exploring the relationships of people to the natural world and develop-
ing innovative ways to engage people in conservation actions. Kelly is dedicated to
promoting carnivore conservation and has helped develop field education programs
for students of all ages. She is a member of the International Union for Conservation
of Nature (IUCN) Otter Specialist Group and IUCN Nearctic Otter Education
Group.

Jan Reed-Smith served on the Board of Directors of the American Association of

Zoo Keepers, has 17 years of experience working in zoos, and 23 years working on
otter husbandry issues in zoos and aquariums. She served as the Chair of the
International Union for Conservation of Nature/Species Survival Commission Otter
Specialist Group’s OZ (Otters in Zoos, Aquariums, Rehabilitation, and Wildlife
Sanctuaries) Task Force for 15 years and has published several husbandry manuals
and articles on otter care and welfare. She also has conducted field research on
spotted-necked otters in Africa. Currently she is working on otter conservation and
welfare issues in Africa.
About the Authors xxiii

Diana Reiss is a cognitive psychologist, a marine mammal scientist, and a professor

in the Department of Psychology at Hunter College and in the Animal Behavior and
Comparative Psychology Doctoral program at the Graduate Center, City University
of New York. Her research focuses on dolphin cognition and communication, com-
parative animal cognition, and the evolution of intelligence. Dr. Reiss and her col-
leagues demonstrated the capacity for mirror self-awareness in bottlenose dolphins
and in Asian elephants. Her professional activities also include the rescue and reha-
bilitation of stranded marine mammals; from 2002 to 2007, she served on the Animal
Welfare Committee of the Association for Zoos and Aquariums. Dr. Reiss’s work has
been featured in hundreds of articles in international and national journals, science
magazines, television segments and features, and newspaper articles.

Simona Sacchini is a postdoctoral associate researcher at the Institute of Animal

Health and Food Safety, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands,
Spain. Her research area is on neuroanatomy and neuropathology, in cetaceans and
other species. She has a European Ph.D. (University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria,
2015) and a veterinary degree (University of Milan, Italy, 2007). She is a member
of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) and spent 8 months at the University of
Bologna (Italy) studying neuroanatomical investigations on the cetacean brain
(2011–2012). She is the first author of three scientific communications from three
International Scientific Congresses. She was a Resident Veterinarian at the Clinical
Hospital for Small Animals at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
(2007–2008).

Sue Sayer began photo identifying grey seals in 2000, giving her an unparalleled
insight into their ecology, having spent thousands of hours recording them from
land and sea. In 2004, Sue set up the UK Cornwall Seal Group Research Trust
(CSGRT), a well-respected, independent, evidence-based conservation charity with
an active network of highly motivated citizen scientists. She is self-employed and
her first book Seal Secrets was published in 2012 (republished 2013). She routinely
writes on seals, lectures all over Cornwall and Devon, and has presented at confer-
ences in Europe and the USA.

Tom Serfass is a Professor of wildlife ecology in the Department of Biology and

Natural Resources at Frostburg State University. He has worked with river otter
conservation for over 25 years, having conceived and supervised the Pennsylvania
river otter reintroduction project. Tom also coordinated research for the New York
Otter Project and served as a consultant for the reintroduction of river otters in New
Mexico. Most recently Tom has been conducting research on spotted-necked otters
at Rubondo Island National Park, Tanzania, and river otters in Yellowstone National
Park. Tom is the North American Coordinator for the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Otter Specialist Group.

Eva Sierra is an associated researcher at the Institute for Animal Health and Food
Safety at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Her areas of expertise include
xxiv About the Authors

veterinary pathology (particularly whales and dolphins) and pathogenesis of animal

infectious diseases. She currently leads the molecular laboratory at her institute. Her
research interests also include cetaceans’ muscular pathology. She is a reviewer and
author in academic press, with over 45 publications in the cetacean field.

Kristin Simac is a biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey with particular inter-
ests in polar bear research, who provides logistical support for Polar Bear Research
Group and coordinates sample collections for the Alaska Marine Mammal Tissue
and Archival Program. Kristin has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Willamette
University, Oregon, a master’s degree from Alaska Pacific University in environ-
mental science, and has been involved in over 25 publications in the area of polar
bear science.

Mark Peter Simmonds is a Visiting Fellow at the Veterinary School, University of

Bristol, UK, and the Senior Marine Scientist of the Humane Society International.
He has authored over 200 scientific papers, reports, articles and reviews, and a num-
ber of books. His scientific work has focused on the environmental threats facing
marine mammals in the twenty-first century. He has chaired the UK’s Marine
Animal Rescue Coalition since 1994 and has been a member of the Scientific
Committee of the International Whaling Commission for more than 20 years. In the
2013 Queen’s Birthday Honours, he was awarded an OBE in recognition of his
work on marine mammal conservation and environmental sciences.

Sarah A. Sonsthagen is a Research Geneticist. She has a Ph.D. in biological sci-

ences from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks. Sarah’s interests are in
the evolutionary and population genetics of vertebrates, with over 40 publications in
this area, and she has been a Research Geneticist with the U.S. Geological Survey
Alaska Science Center since 2013.

Courtney S. Vail holds an undergraduate degree in wildlife biology/natural

resources management and a master’s degree in psychology. With a background in
biology, law, and environmental policy, Courtney has served as the director of pro-
grams for several conservation and animal welfare organizations, including Whale
and Dolphin Conservation, where she served as Campaigns and Programs Manager,
providing leadership on a variety of domestic and international policy initiatives
relating to whale and dolphin protection and marine affairs. Courtney currently pro-
vides consulting services focused on balanced, progressive and incremental solu-
tions in the animal welfare, environmental, and humanitarian sectors. She has also
held positions within several government agencies, including the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service and the Environmental Protection Agency, and has worked from
within and outside of the regulatory frameworks that guide national and interna-
tional conservation policy.

Michael Walsh is a graduate of the University of Missouri College of Veterinary

Medicine and completed an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the
About the Authors xxv

University of Pennsylvania with a strong interest in wildlife medicine and conserva-

tion. After completing a residency in wildlife and zoo medicine at the University of
Florida, he has worked with marine species medicine and conservation over 30
years with the last 9 at the University of Florida Aquatic Animal Health Program as
a clinical associate professor. In addition to therapeutic developments for marine
species, he is interested in One Health for wild and managed species, conservation
and ecosystem health, the academic education of veterinary students in marine spe-
cies, and public education in the areas of health, conservation, and welfare of marine
species. He received the Manatee Conservation Award in 2007 and the Southeast
Regional Manatee Conservation award in 2008 for work in rehabilitation medicine.
He has authored, and co-authored, a number of book chapters and articles on mana-
tee health and medicine.

Lindy Weilgart has specialized in underwater noise pollution and its effects on
cetaceans since 1994. She has studied whales since 1982, primarily sperm whales,
and her M.Sc. (Memorial Univ. of Newfoundland), Ph.D. (Dalhousie), and postdoc-
toral studies (Cornell) were all in the field of whale acoustic communication in the
wild. Lindy has served as invited expert on several panels, workshops, and commit-
tees concerned with underwater noise impacts (e.g., Department of Fisheries and
Oceans Canada, U.S. Marine Mammal Commission, International Whaling
Commission). She has met with members of NATO, the European Parliament, the
European Commission DG Fisheries, the Convention on Biodiversity, and the
United Nations to discuss ocean noise issues, given many lectures on this topic and
others, and published numerous peer-reviewed papers. She is currently an Adjunct
in the Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Canada, and was previously
employed as Scientific Advisor by the private Okeanos Foundation. She also serves
as Scientific Advisor for the International Ocean Noise Coalition and was a Scientific
Expert on the German government’s Antarctic Commission.

James M. Wilder worked for 17 years in Alaska and has worked with bears since
1999. He received his M.Sc. from the University of Idaho after leading the first
black and brown bear research conducted in Alaska’s Wrangell—St. Elias National
Park. Subsequently, he worked for the National Park Service throughout Alaska
researching and managing brown and black bears. He has worked on polar bear
management and research since 2003, chaired the international Range States’
Human-Polar Bear Conflict Working Group from 2009 to 2015, is a member of the
International Union for Conservation of Nature Polar Bear Specialist Group, and
currently works on the Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming. He remains active on
the international Human-Polar Bear Conflict Working Group.

Cathy Williamson leads the End Captivity program of work at WDC, Whale and
Dolphin Conservation. WDC is the leading global charity dedicated to the conserva-
tion and protection of whales and dolphins, including those captured and confined
by the global zoo and aquaria industries, with offices in the UK, Germany, USA,
Argentina, and Australia. Cathy represents WDC’s End Captivity program in fora
xxvi About the Authors

such as Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna

and Flora (CITES) and the Convention on Migratory Species, producing compre-
hensive information resources, aimed at a wide range of stakeholders, including
detailed reports, meeting briefings, scientific papers, articles, press releases, and
internet-based materials. Cathy works with a range of stakeholders from members
of the public, grassroots activists around the world, civil servants, scientists, and
representatives of the tourism industry to bring about an end to captures, trade, and
confinement of whales and dolphins in captivity. Through a project managed by
Cathy, WDC is working in partnership with the global attractions company, Merlin
Entertainments, to explore and develop sanctuaries for captive bottlenose dolphins
and belugas.

Lesley Wright is the Co-Deputy Chair of the International Union for Conservation
of Nature International Union for Conservation of Nature (Species Survival
Commission Otter Specialist Group (OSG)). Lesley was formerly OSG species
coordinator for Asian Small-Clawed Otters (Aonyx cinereus), she is a member of
OSG’s Otters in Zoos taskforce, and liaison with the International Otter Survival
Fund on welfare issues. She is chair of the Otter Welfare Advisory Group, and trap/
release coordinator for the UK Wild Otter Trust’s Otter Predation Advisory
Committee.

Geoff York is Senior Director of Conservation at Polar Bears International. Geoff

has 20 years of arctic field experience, most recently as the Arctic Species and Polar
Bear Lead for the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Global Arctic Program. While at
WWF, Geoff immersed himself in international policy issues and was fortunate to
work on field projects in Canada, Norway, Russia, and Alaska. Prior to that, he
worked as a biologist and program manager for the U.S. Geological Survey’s Polar
Bear Project, the leading polar bear research team in the U.S., headquartered in
Anchorage, Alaska. Since joining Polar Bears International, Geoff has continued
his interest in field-based work across the Arctic. He is a member of the Polar Bear
Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the
U.S. Polar Bear Recovery Team, chairs the Polar Bear Range States Conflict
Working Group, and sits on the advisory board for the International Polar Bear
Conservation Center in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He has a M.S. in biology from the
University of Alaska Fairbanks and a B.A. in English from the University of Notre
Dame, the perfect combination for communicating science. Following 14 consecu-
tive seasons of capture based work on the sea ice north of Alaska, Geoff has dedi-
cated his career to the conservation of polar bears and their arctic home.
Chapter 1
Introduction

Andy Butterworth

Abstract Do humans really have any responsibility to wild marine mammals?

Marine mammals in zoos certainly come under the heading of being under human
control, but, do humans really have any responsibility to the welfare of wild marine
mammals? The answer to this is, I suspect, ‘it depends’. The marine mammals
reflect mammalian adaptations to a fully aquatic (cetaceans, sirenia), mostly aquatic
(seals, sea lions) or semiaquatic (otters, polar bear) life. This is a spectrum of depen-
dency on water - a stranded whale will be in deep distress and likely to die after half
a day on a beach and out of water; a polar bear may not touch deep water for weeks
or months, but, on the contrary, it can swim in deep oceanic seas for up to 12 days
without touching solid ground. The chapters in this book reflect the variation in
marine mammal adaptation and their responses to human pressures. The chapters
also reflect the difficulties in discussing wild animal protection, the links between
conservation and animal welfare, hunting, pollution, by-catch and captivity all
within the same book cover. There is a profound illogicality to some marine mam-
mal issues - for example - in one part of the world, hundreds or even thousands of
whales and dolphins are being killed for meat or for use in the entertainment indus-
try in marine parks. In another part of the world, or even in the same country, and
even on the same coastline, stranded whales or dolphins are attracting crowds of
people with the good intention to rescue, refloat and rehabilitate these animals.
Somewhere in this confusing mix of exploitation and protection, conservation and
consumption, there remains the capacity for humans to identify animal suffering
and, where it seems expedient or politically or socially appropriate, to act.

A. Butterworth
Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol Veterinary School, Langford,
N Somerset, Bristol, UK
e-mail: andy.butterworth@bris.ac.uk

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 1

A. Butterworth (ed.), Marine Mammal Welfare, Animal Welfare 17,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-46994-2_1
2 A. Butterworth

1.1 Wildly Irresponsible or Responsible for the Wild?

Do humans really have any responsibility to wild marine mammals? Or is ‘wild

irresponsibility’ a feature of how mankind views wild animals, ‘not in our direct
control’, therefore not really our responsibility? Marine mammals in zoos certainly
come under the heading, ‘under man’s control’, but, do humans really have any
responsibility to the welfare of wild marine mammals? The answer to this is it
depends. It depends on how direct the linkage is between human impacts and the
welfare of marine mammals.
Hunting of seals, or whaling, or trapping of otters or boat propeller injuries to
manatees - these are very direct impacts on these animals - and how the hunting,
trapping, netting and culling are done, and the methods used, are impacts which can
be seen to directly affect the welfare of marine mammals when they come into close
contact with humans.
Less directly, and perhaps less clearly, the effects of human generated noise in
the ocean, boat traffic, coastal development and interactions with fisheries and the
effects of warm water outflows from power stations or algal blooms linked with a
nutrient run off from agriculture are very much human impacts, but they are prob-
ably not ‘intentional’. To catch fish, to travel, to produce electrical power and to
farm; the impacts on the marine mammals are secondary, not really intended and to
a degree unanticipated.
The least direct, or, at least, less immediately obvious, links between human
activity and marine mammal welfare are through effects including climate change,
pollution in the oceans, marine debris, military sonar, mining and oil exploration,
and also through the pressure of human populations on food and fish resources and
human impacts on coastal land, on river drainage to the sea and on coastal plant and
animal communities on which some marine mammals depend.
So, in answer to the question: can, or should, or do, humans have a responsibility
for the welfare of marine mammals? ‘It depends on’:
(a) The clarity of the association between man, marine mammals and welfare impacts
(b) The actions and reactions that mankind may be able to take; immediate, local,
short-term or longer-term, wide ranging and potentially global in implications
The chapters in this book reflect this variation in the types and ‘directness’ of
the linkages between people’s actions and marine mammal welfare. As well as
discussing the ‘issues’, the chapters also reflect the enormous differences in
approachs that are, or will, or could, be required to tackle marine mammal welfare
issues including ‘marine debris (Chaps. 3, 13)’, ‘marine noise (Chap. 7)’, ‘climate
change (Chaps. 2, 8, 15, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25)’, ‘pollution (Chaps. 3, 18)’, ‘the welfare
impacts of captivity (Chaps. 11, 16, 20, 27, 31)’, ‘boat strike (Chaps. 4, 17)’, ‘envi-
ronmental change (Chaps. 10, 14, 19, 24)’, ‘hunting (Chaps. 5, 6, 15, 26, 30)’ and
‘by-catch (Chap. 4)’.
1 Introduction 3

1.2 The Marine Mammals

The marine mammals reflect mammalian adaptations to a fully aquatic (cetaceans,

sirenia), mostly aquatic (seals, sea lions) or semiaquatic (otters, polar bear) life. This
is a spectrum of dependency on water - a stranded whale will be in deep distress and
likely to die after half a day stranded on a beach and out of water; a polar bear may
not touch deep water for weeks or months, or it can swim continuously in deep oce-
anic seas for up to 12 days without touching solid ground. Some marine mammals
will be wholly and entirely influenced by the sea (or rivers, estuaries, marshland),
and so the welfare impacts which most strongly affect these animals will mostly
reflect human impacts on the marine world: fishing, marine debris, by-­catch and
water pollution. The animals which have a partial dependency on the rivers and
oceans will be affected by these same human-linked conditions, pollution, debris,
coastal development and boat strikes, and may also be affected by coastal develop-
ment and loss of coastal habitat. The terrestrially capable marine mammals (seals,
otters, polar bear) will be influenced by human influences both on the water, and on
land and ice. The chapters in this book reflect this diversity, and also reflect the fact
that it is not only water but ice, vegetation and coastal land changes which influence
marine mammal welfare.
Marine mammals can be divided into:
Cetacea (whales and dolphins, approximately in diminishing order of
body size)
Rorquals—Balaenopteridae—9 species
Grey whale—Eschrichtiidae—1 species
Right and bowhead whales—Balaenidae—4 species
Pygmy right whale—Cetotheriidae—1 species
Sperm whale—Physeteridae—1 species
Pygmy and dwarf sperm whales—Kogiidae—2 species
Narwhal and beluga—Monodontidae—2 species
Beaked whales—Ziphiidae—21 species
Oceanic dolphins—Delphinidae—38 species
Porpoises—Phocoenidae—7 species
Sirenia (sea cows)
Manatee—Trichechidae—3 species
Dugong—Dugongidae—1 species
Otters—Mustelidae—The 13 extant species are divided into semiaquatic (11
species) and marine (2 species)
Polar bear—Ursidae—1 species
Pinnipedia (sea lions, walruses, seals)
Eared seals and sea lions—Otariidae—15 species
Walrus—Odobenidae—1 species
True seals—Phocidae—18 species
4 A. Butterworth

1.3  elfare, Conservation and the Messy Logic of Human

W
Effects on the Welfare of Marine Mammals

Some readers will probably ask ‘what is the difference between conservation and
animal welfare?’ with the understandable thinking that if animals are conserved,
then their welfare is probably a secondary concern, but that if they are not con-
served, then welfare becomes irrelevant. Conservation concerns itself with species,
and the potential for extinction if a species does not survive.
The word ‘welfare’ is variably understood in different parts of the world—many
languages have their own word for ‘welfare’ as used in the context of animal wel-
fare or well-being: in Spanish, benestar, state of health, prosperity; German, wohl-
befinden, well-being, wellness, physical comfort; and French, bien-être, well-being,
a sense of well-being. Animal welfare focuses on the individual animal. Marine
mammals are sentient animals, which have a complex experiential world and mental
needs and natures; are aware of their own surroundings; have an emotional dimen-
sion; are aware of what is happening to them; have the ability to learn from experi-
ence; are aware of bodily sensations—pain, hunger, heat, cold etc.; are aware of
their relationships with other animals; have the ability to choose between different
animals, objects and situations; and have the capacity to suffer.
Historically there has been an understandable focus on negative welfare. However,
positive experiences and states are now recognised to be (at least) as important as
negative states in their contribution to overall well-being. Animal welfare concerns
itself, and tries in some situations, to measure (welfare science) the ‘quality’ of an
animal’s life. Welfare science and ethical debate can, and does, address animal
death, as well as animal life, as the ‘quality’ of ‘animal death’ affects the ‘quantity’
of animal life and the overall quality of an animal’s life. The animals welfare during
a marine mammal’s life and at the time of its death and the impacts on the quality of
life, for example, being entangled for the remainder of your life in a long buoy rope,
being injured by a boat impact, or your reproductive fitness and health being affected
by PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), are discussed in the chapters of this book.
The welfare of marine mammals is starting to enter the political arena at a high
level. At its 65th meeting in 2014, the International Whaling Commission (IWC)
agreed to direct a programme of work to address human activities which can adversely
affect cetacean welfare, including the welfare concerns that arise when large whales
become entangled in fishing gear or marine debris, and to work on the methods used
to euthanise stranded whales and the effectiveness of those methods. Along with some
of the other authors in this book, I attended the first IWC workshop (May 2016),
which had a sole focus of considering non-whaling welfare issues (See Chaps. 4, 5, 9).
In 2014, Canada and Norway appealed to the World Trade Organisation (WTO)
to overturn a European Union (EU) decision to ban trade in seal products. The trade
in seal products was banned by the EU to protect ‘public morals’, and the science
they cited indicated that some shot seals took a considerable period of time to die,
and some injured animals were ‘unchecked’ for periods of several minutes before
being finally killed by clubbing. The appeal to the WTO from Canada and Norway
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 GENERAL CATARRHAL STOMATITIS.
BUCCAL INFLAMMATION.
Mature animals most subject: Causes in horse, mechanical, chemical, microbian
irritants—alkalies, acids, caustics, hot mashes, ferments, fungi, rank grasses,
excess of chlorophyll, clover, alfalfa, acrid vegetables, bacterial infection secondary,
acrid insects in food; symptomatic of gastritis, pharyngitis, diseased teeth, specific
fevers. Symptoms: Congestion and tumefaction of buccal mucosa, lips and salivary
glands; Epithelial desquamation; fœtor; salivation; froth; papules; vesicles.
Prognosis. Treatment: Cool soft food; antiseptics; wet applications to skin;
derivatives.
This is much more common in the adult than in suckling domestic
animals. None of the domestic mammals or birds can be considered
immune from it, but as its causes and manifestations differ
somewhat it seems well to consider it separately in the different
genera.
 GENERAL CATARRHAL STOMATITIS IN
SOLIPEDS.

Causes. These may be classed as mechanical, chemical, microbian

and other irritants. In the horse it is often due to the reckless
administration of irritant liquids as remedies. Owing to the length of
the soft palate the horse can refuse to swallow any liquid as long as
he chooses, and some of the worst cases of stomatitis I have seen
resulted from the retention in the mouth of caustic alkaline liquids
given under the name of “weak lye.” Strong acids and caustic salts
dissolved in too little water or other excipient, or suspended in
liquids in which they cannot dissolve, or made into boluses which are
crushed between the teeth are not infrequent conditions. Too hot
mashes given to a hungry horse is another cause of this trouble.
Fermented or decomposed food is often most irritating. Coachmen
will sometimes induce it by attaching to the bit bags of spicy or
irritant agents, to cause frothing and make the animal appear
spirited.
Fungi in fodders are among the common causes. The rust of wheat
(puccinia graminis), the caries of wheat (tilletia caries), the blight
(erysiphe communis), ergot (claviceps purpurea), the fungus of rape
(polydesmus excitiosus) and the moulds (penicillium and puccinia)
have all been noticed to coincide with stomatitis, and charged with
producing it. On the other hand, at given times, one or other of these
cryptogams has been present extensively in the fodder without any
visible resultant stomatitis. The apparent paradox may be explained
by the fact that these fungi vary greatly in the irritant or harmless
nature of their products according to the conditions under which
they have grown, and the stage of their development at which they
were secured and preserved. Ergot notoriously differs in strength in
different years, on different soils, under various degrees of sunshine,
shade, cloud, fog, etc. In different States in the Mississippi valley it is
not uncommon to find stomatitis in horses in winter, fed on ergoted
hay, while cattle devouring the same fodder have dry gangrene of
feet, tail and ears. Yet in other seasons the ergot fails to produce
these lesions. Rank grown, watery vegetation, especially if it contains
an excess of chlorophyll is liable to cause stomatitis. Red and white
clover, trefoil, hybrid and purple clover, and alfalfa have all acted
more or less in this way, though in many cases, the food has become
musty or attacked by bacterial ferments. Some of the strongly
aromatic plants, and those containing acrid principles (cicuta virosa,
œnanthe crocata, mustard, etc.) cause buccal inflammation and
salivation.
The irritation in many such cases is not due to one agent only, the
vegetable or other irritant may be the starting point, acting but as a
temporary irritant, the action of which is supplemented and
aggravated by the subsequent attacks of bacterial ferments on the
inflamed, weakened or abraded tissues. The bacteria present in the
mouth, food or water would have had no effect whatever upon the
healthy mucosa, while they make serious inroads on the diseased. On
the other hand the vegetable, mechanical or chemical irritant would
have had but a transient effect, but for the supplementary action of
the bacteria.
In horses that have the bad habit of retaining masses of half
masticated food in the cheeks the growth of cryptogams is greatly
enhanced and such food often becomes violently irritating.
Among other mechanical causes may be named pointed or barbed
hairs or spines (barley awns, spikes, thorns, etc.) which, lodging in a
gland orifice, or in a wound of the gum or mucosa, form a source of
irritation or a centre for bacterial growth and abscess.
Again, irritants of animal origin must be named. These are not
taken by choice, but when lodged in fodder, or in the pastures they
are taken in inadvertently with the food. In this way poisonous
insects, and especially hairy caterpillars, cantharides, potato bugs,
etc., gain access to the mouth.
It must not be overlooked that stomatitis occurs as an extension,
sympathetic affection or sequel of diseases of other organs. Gastritis
is usually attended by redness and congestive tenderness of the
tongue, especially of the tip and margins, and other parts of the
buccal mucosa, notably the palate just back of the incisors, are often
involved. In other cases it appears as a complication of pharyngitis,
laryngitis, of affections of the lower air passages, of the teeth and
periodontal membrane or of the salivary glands.
It appears also in a specific form in certain fevers, as in horsepox,
pustulous stomatitis, aphthous fever and even in strangles. Mercurial
stomatitis, rarely seen at the present time, is one of the worst forms
of the disease, and like the infectious forms will be treated
separately.
Lesions and Symptoms. At the outset and in the slighter forms of
congestion there is merely heat and dryness of the buccal mucosa.
Redness may show on the thinner and more delicate portions of the
membrane, as under the tongue, on the frænum, and on the
sublingual crest. But elsewhere it is hidden by the thickness of the
epithelium, and the manifestations are merely those of suppressed
secretion with local hyperthermia.
As the congestion is increased there is seen, even at this early
stage, a slight thickening or tumefaction of the mucosa, especially on
the gums, lips, the sublingual area, the orifices of the salivary glands,
and the palate back of the upper incisors. On the dorsum of the
tongue, the cheeks and lips, generally the lack of loose connective
tissue tends to prevent the swelling.
With the advance of the inflammation the redness of the mucosa
extends, at first in points and circumscribed patches, and later over
the entire surface. The epithelium drying and degenerating in its
surface layers forms with the mucus a sticky gummy film on the
surface, which, mingling with decomposing alimentary matters gives
out a heavy, offensive or even fœtid odor.
The different parts of the mouth are now tender to the touch, and
this, with the fœtor and even bitterness of the bacterial products
combine with the general systemic disturbance in impairing or
abolishing appetite. In any case mastication becomes slow and
infrequent, and morsels of food are the more likely to be retained, to
aggravate the local condition by their decomposition.
The dry stage is followed by the period of hypersecretion, and in
this the salivary glands take a prominent part, so that ptyalism
(slobbering) becomes the most marked feature of the disease. The
saliva mixed with the increasing secretion of mucus and the
abundance of proliferating and shedding epithelium, escapes from
the lips and falls in stringy masses in the manger and front of the
stall. When there is much motion of the jaws and tongue it
accumulates as a froth around the lips.
A careful examination of the mucosa will sometimes detect slight
conical elevations with red areolæ, representing the tumefied orifices
of the obstructed mucous follicles, and later these may show as
minute erosions. Even vesicles have been noticed (Weber,
Dieckerhoff, Kosters), but when these are present one should
carefully exclude the specific stomatites such as horsepox, contagious
pustular stomatitis, aphthous fever, etc.
Erosions of the mucosa and desquamation of the epithelium have
been noticed in horses fed on purple (hybrid) clover, buckwheat or
ergot, and in some of these cases the inflammation has extended (in
white faces especially) to the skin of the face, the mucosa of the nose,
and the adjacent glands, and as complications icterus, constipation,
colics, polyuria, albuminuria and paresis of the hind limbs have been
observed. These latter are common symptoms of cryptogamic
poisoning.
Prognosis. In uncomplicated cases the disease is not a grave one,
lasting only during the continued application of the local irritant, and
recovering more or less speedily when that has been removed.
Complications are dangerous only when due to some specific disease
poison (glanders, actinomycosis, strangles, etc.), and even poisoning
by the usual cryptogams of leafy or musty plants is rarely persistent
in its effects.
Treatment. This resolves itself into the removal of the irritant
cause and the soothing of the irritation. When the cause has been
definitely ascertained the first step is easy.
In the direction of soothing treatment, a careful selection of diet
stands first. Fibrous hay and even hard oats, barley or corn may have
to be withheld, and green food, or better still, bran mashes, gruels,
pulped roots or fruits allowed. Scalded hay or oats, ensilage, sliced
roots, or ground feed may often be taken readily when the same
aliments in their natural condition would be rejected or eaten
sparingly.
 Medicinal treatment may often be given in the drinking water
which should always be allowed in abundance, pure and clean. In the
way of medication chlorate of potash, not to exceed one-half to one
ounce per day according to the size of the animal, may be added,
together with an antiseptic (carbolic acid, borax, permanganate of
potash, common salt, naphthol, creolin, hyposulphite of soda). In
case of severe swelling, a cap made to fit the head with strips wet in
alum and vinegar or other astringent solution maintained against the
intermaxillary space may be desirable. Support for the tongue may
be necessary as mentioned under glossitis.
In case of complications on the side of the bowels, liver or kidneys,
laxatives, diuretics and antiseptic agents may be called for.
 GENERAL CATARRHAL STOMATITIS IN
CATTLE.
Dense resistant mucosa protective: Affection usually circumscribed. Action of
violent irritants, and toxins of specific fevers. Mechanical irritants. Symptoms:
Salivation; congestion; eruptions; erosions; ergot; acrid vegetables; caustics.
Treatment: Astringents; antiseptics; refrigerants; derivatives; tonics. Removal of
foreign bodies. Lesions and symptoms in sheep.
The mouth of the ox as Cadeae well says has a cuticular epithelium
too thick and resistant to be easily attacked by microbes. It follows
that infected inflammations are far more frequently circumscribed
than in the thinner and softer buccal mucosa of the horse. The more
general buccal inflammations come more particularly from the use of
food that is too hot or that contains strongly irritant agents. The
thickness of the buccal epithelium however, is no barrier to the local
action of poisons operating from within as in rinderpest, or aphthous
fever, or in malignant catarrh, nor is it an insuperable barrier to the
local planting of the germs of cow pox, anthrax, actinomycosis, or
cryptogamic aphtha (muguet). The wounds inflicted by fibrous food
make infection atria for such germs, hence the great liability to such
local inflammations, in winter when the animals are on dry feeding.
For the same reason, perhaps, the prominent portions of the buccal
mucosa,—the papillæ—are sometimes irritated themselves while
serving as protectors for the general mucous surface, and hence they
become specially involved in inflammation, which constituted the
“barbs” of the old farriers. Utz records a buccal inflammation
occurring in herds fed on green trefoil, first cutting, showing that
even in cattle this agent may determine a general stomatitis.
Symptoms. These do not differ from those of the horse, and
resemble, though often in a milder form, the buccal manifestations of
aphthous fever. There is the difficulty of mastication and
indisposition to take in fibrous aliment, the drivelling of saliva from
the mouth, or its accumulation in froth around the lips, the frequent
movement of the tongue and jaws, and the congestive redness,
papular eruption, vesication, or even erosion of the affected mucous
membrane. It is always necessary to guard against confounding the
simple stomatitis, and the slighter infected inflammations, from the
more violent infections above referred to. The special diagnostic
symptoms must be found under the respective headings. The
aphthous fever is not to be expected in American herds, but the
stomatitis which is associated with ergot in the food is met more
particularly in winter and spring, and must not be confounded with
the specific disease, on the one hand nor with the simpler forms of
buccal inflammation on the other. In the case of ergoted fodder the
signs of ergotism in other situations will be found, in the affected
animals, such for example as necrotic sloughs and sores around the
top of the hoof, sloughing of the hoof or of one or more digits, or of
the metatarsus, of the tip of the tail or ear; abortions, convulsions,
delirium, lethargy or paralysis. If not seen in the same animals some
of these forms may be observed in other members of the herd. Then
the buccal lesions are in themselves characteristic: soft, whitish,
raised patches of the epithelium (rarely blisters) are followed by
desquamation and exposure of the red, vascular surface beneath, and
this tends to persist if the ergoted fodder is persisted in.
Treatment. Simple stomatitis of the ox generally tends to
spontaneous and early recovery. The simplest astringent and
antiseptic treatment is usually sufficient to bring about a healthy
action. Borax given in the drinking water, not to exceed four ounces
per day, or the same amount mixed with syrup or honey and
smeared occasionally on the tongue, or hyposulphite or sulphite of
soda, or weak solutions of carbolic acid will usually suffice, after the
irritant cause has been removed. Vinegar, or highly diluted mineral
acids may be used but are somewhat hurtful to the teeth. Decoctions
of blackberry bark or solutions of other vegetable astringents may be
used as alternatives. When there is evidence of irritant matters in the
stomach or bowels, a saline laxative will be advisable to be followed
by vegetable bitters or other tonics. Thorns and other foreign bodies
imbedded in the tongue or other part of the mouth must be
discovered and removed.
 CATARRHAL STOMATITIS IN SHEEP.
The more delicate buccal mucosa in these animals would render
them more subject to inflammations, but this is more than
counterbalanced by the mode of prehension of aliments, not by the
tongue, but by the delicately sensitive lips, and further by the
daintiness and care with which these animals select their food. The
treatment would not differ materially from that prescribed for the
ox.
 GENERAL CATARRHAL STOMATITIS IN
DOGS.
Causes: burns; spiced food; bones; sepsis; ferments; pin caterpillar; dental and
gastric troubles. Symptoms: careful prehension and mastication; congestion;
swelling; eruption; erosion; furred tongue; stringy salivation; fœtor; swelling of
lips, cheeks, intermaxillary space, and pharynx. Treatment: demulcent foods;
antiseptics; derivatives; tonics; care of teeth and gums.
Causes. Hot food is a common cause in hungry dogs. Spiced food
in house dogs fed scraps from the table tend to congestion of mouth
and stomach alike. Irritation through wounds with bones, especially
in old dogs with failing teeth, and in exceptional cases the impaction
of a bone between the right and left upper molars are additional
causes. Putrid meat must also be recognized as a factor, the septic
microbes seizing upon the wounds and spreading from this as an
infecting centre. Lactic acid and other irritant products developed
through fermentation of particles of food retained about the gums
and cheeks soften the epithelium and irritate the sub-epithelial
tissue, causing congestion. Megnin draws attention to the fact that
the pin caterpillar (bombyx pinivora) found on the stalks of couch
grass (Triticum repeus) produces buccal irritation when chewed and
swallowed to induce vomiting. As in other animals more or less
buccal congestion attends on gastric congestion and inflammation.
Dental troubles are often sufficient causes.
Symptoms. The animal becomes dainty with regard to his food,
picking up the smaller or softer pieces and rejecting the larger or
harder. Mastication is painful and selection is made of moist or soft
articles which can be swallowed without chewing or insalivation. The
mouth is red and hot, and at times the mucous membrane eroded, or
blistered, the lesions concentrating especially on the gums and
around the borders of the tongue. The dorsum of the tongue is
furred, whitish, yellowish or brownish. Saliva collects in the mouth
and escapes in filmy strings from its commissures, and the odor of
the mouth becomes increasingly foul. Swelling of the lips, cheeks or
intermaxillary space marks the worst cases.
 Treatment. Withdraw all irritant and offensive aliments. Give
soups, mushes, scraped or pounded lean meat in small quantities,
washing out the mouth after each meal with a 20 per cent. solution of
permanganate of potash or borax or a two per cent. solution of
carbolic acid. Cadeac advises against chlorate of potash on account of
its known tendency to bring about hæmoglobinæmia in dogs. A
laxative and bitters may be called for in case of gastritis or
indigestion, and any morbid condition of the teeth must be attended
to. Decayed teeth may be removed. Tartar especially must be cleaned
off by the aid of a small wooden or even a steel spud and a hard
brush with chalk will be useful. A weak solution of hydrochloric acid
is usually employed to loosen the tartar, but this is injurious to the
structure of the teeth and had best be avoided if possible. Tincture of
myrrh is especially valuable both as a gum-tonic and as a deodorant
and antiseptic. This may be rubbed on the irritated gums as often as
the mouth is washed.
 GENERAL CATARRHAL STOMATITIS IN
SWINE.

Causes: Irritants; ferments; noose on jaw; specific poisons. Symptoms: Careful

feeding; thirst; frothy lips; champ jaws; redness; swelling; fœtor. Treatment:
Cooling, astringent, antiseptic lotions; mushy food; derivative; tonics.

Causes. Swine suffer from simple stomatitis when exposed to

thermal, mechanical or chemical irritants. Food that is too hot, or
that which is hard and fibrous, or that which contains spikes and
awns, capable of entering and irritating gland ducts or sores, or food
which is fermented or putrid, food or medicine of an irritant
character. The habit of catching and holding swine with a running
noose over the upper jaw, and the forcing of the jaws apart with a
piece of wood in search of the cysticercus cellulosa are further
causes. In several specific infectious diseases inflammation of the
mucous membrane with eruption or erosion is not uncommon. Thus
aphthous fever is marked by vesicular eruption, muguet by epithelial
proliferation and desquamation, hog cholera and swine plague by
circumscribed spots of necrosis and erosion. Patches of false
membrane are not unknown, and local anthrax, tubercle and
actinomycosis are to be met with. Inflammation may start from
decaying teeth.
Symptoms are like as in other animals, refusal of food, or a
disposition to eat sparingly, to select soft or liquid aliments, to
swallow hard materials half chewed or to drop them, to champ the
jaws, and to seek cold water. Accumulation of froth around the lips is
often seen, and the mouth is red, angry, dry, and hot, and exhales a
bad odor.
Treatment does not differ materially from that adopted in other
animals. Cooling, astringent, antiseptic lotions, honey and vinegar,
and in case of spongy or eroded mucosa, tincture of myrrh daily or
oftener. Soft feeding, gruels, pulped roots, or well kept ensilage may
be used, and clean, cool water should be constantly within reach. In
case of overloaded stomach or indigestion a laxative followed by
bitter tonics will be in order.
 CATARRHAL STOMATITIS OF BIRDS. PIP.

Causes: hurried breathing; local irritants; exposure; filthy roost. Symptoms:

gaping; roupy cry; epithelial pellicle on tongue, larnyx. or angle of the bill.
Treatment: pick off pellicle; smear it often with glycerized antiseptic. Remove
accessory and exciting causes.

This form of inflammation of the tongue of birds is characterized

by the increased production and desiccation of the epithelium so that
it takes on a horny appearance. According to Cadeac it may
accompany various inflammatory affections of the air passages,
which cause hurried breathing with persistently open bill, and thus
entail evaporation of the moisture. More commonly it has its primary
cause in local inflammation of the surface in connection with damp,
cold, draughty hen-roosts, and above all, the accumulation of
decomposing manure and the exhalation of impure gas. Even in such
cases the abnormal breathing with the bill open is an accessory cause
of the affection.
Symptoms. The breathing with open bill should lead to
examination of the tongue, but above all if at intervals the bird with a
sudden jerk of the head emits a loud shrill, raucous sound, which
reminds one of the cough of croup. The tip and sides of the tongue
are found to be the seat of a hard, dry, and closely adherent epithelial
pellicle, which suggests a false membrane.
Treatment. The common recourse is to pick or scrape off the
indurated epithelial mass, leaving a raw, bleeding surface exposed.
This is then treated with a solution of borax, or chlorate of potash.
Cadeac deprecates this treatment as useless and dangerous, and
advises the disintegration of the dry epithelial mass with a needle
taking care not to prick nor scratch the subjacent sensitive tissue,
and to wash with a 5 per cent. solution of chlorate of potash. A still
more humane and effective method is to make a solution of
hyposulphite of soda in glycerine and brush over the affected surface
at frequent intervals. This may be conveniently applied through the
drinking water.
In case of implication of the lower air passages or lungs, the
treatment must be directed to them, and soft, warm, sloppy food and
the inhalation of water vapor will prove of great advantage. Secure
clean, sweet, dry pens, pure air, and sunshine. (See pseudo
membranous enteritis.)
 LOCAL STOMATITIS.

Division of circumscribed buccal inflammations: palatitis; gnathitis gingivitis;

glossitis. Causes: injuries; acrid; venomous or caustic agents; diseased teeth;
foreign bodies in gland ducts; malformed jaws; infections, etc. Symptoms:
salivation; difficult prehension and mastication; dropping half masticated morsels;
distinctive indications of different caustics; abrasion; abscess; slough; infective
disease lesions. Treatment: for palatitis, massage by hard corn ears, scarification,
laxatives; for gnathitis, care for teeth and ducts, astringent washes, eliminate
mercury; for glossitis, remove cause, use antidote to venom, or to chemical irritant,
astringent, antiseptic lotions or electuaries, evacuate abscess, soft, cool diet,
elevate the head, suspend the tongue.

Localized inflammations in the buccal cavity are named according

to the portion of the lining membrane attacked;—palatitis if seated
in the roof of the mouth; gnathitis if restricted to the cheeks;
gingivitis if to the gums; and glossitis if to the tongue.
Palatitis. Lampas. Congestion of the hard palate behind
the upper front teeth. This is usually seen in young horses during
the period of shedding the teeth and is caused by the irritation and
vascularity consequent on teething. The red and tender membrane
projects beyond the level of the wearing surfaces of the upper
incisors, and may materially interfere with the taking in of food. A
common practice in such cases is to feed unshelled Indian corn, the
nibbling of which seems to improve the circulation in the periodontal
membrane and by sympathy in the adjacent palate. Superficial
incisions with the lancet or knife will usually relieve, and may be
followed by mild astringent lotions if necessary. If apparently
associated with costiveness or gastric or intestinal irritation a dose of
physic will be demanded. Nothing can excuse the inhuman and
useless practice of burning the parts with a hot iron.
 Gnathitis. Inflammation of the Cheeks. Usually resulting as
a distinct affection from irregular or overgrown teeth, or the entrance
of vegetable spikes into the gland ducts, these cause local swelling
and tenderness, slow imperfect mastication, dropping of food half
chewed, accumulation of food between the cheeks and teeth,
thickening, induration and sloughing of the mucous membrane with
excessive fœtor.
Treatment. Consists in correcting the state of the teeth and ducts
and using one of the washes recommended for glossitis.
Gingivitis. Inflammation of the gums. This is either
connected with the eruption of the teeth in young animals and to be
corrected by lancing the swollen gums and giving attention to the
diet and bowels; or it is due to scissor-teeth or to the wear of the
teeth down to the gums in old horses; or it is dependent on diseased
teeth, or mercurial poisoning, under which subjects it will be more
conveniently considered. Barley awns or other irritants must be
extracted.
Glossitis, Inflammation of the Tongue. Causes. Mostly the
result of violence with bits, ropes, etc., with the teeth, or with the
hand in giving medicine; of scalding food, of acrid plants in the food:
of irritant drugs (ammonia, turpentine, croton, lye, etc.), or of sharp,
pointed bodies (needles, pins, thorns, barley and other barbs, etc.)
which perforate the organ. In exceptional cases leech and snake bites
are met with especially in cattle, owing to the tongue being exposed
when taking in food. Local infections and those of the specific forms,
determine and maintain glossitis.
Symptoms: Free flow of saliva, difficulty in taking in food or
drinking, and red, swollen, tender state of the tongue, which in bad
cases hangs from between the lips. The mucous membrane may be
white, (from muriatic acid, alkalies, etc.), black, (from oil of vitriol,
lunar caustic, etc.), yellow, (from nitric acid, etc.), or of other colors
according to the nature of the irritant. It may be raised in blisters,
may present red, angry sores where the epithelium has dropped off;
may become firm and indurated from excessive exudation; may swell
and fluctuate at a given point from the formation of an abscess; or
may become gangrenous in part and drop off. Breathing is difficult
and noisy from pressure on the soft palate. There is usually little
fever and death is rare unless there is general septic infection.
 Treatment will depend on the cause of injury. In all cases seek for
foreign bodies imbedded in the organ and remove them. If snake
bites are observed use ammonia or potassium permanganate locally
and generally, or cholesterin as a local application. If the irritation
has resulted from mineral acids, wash out with calcined magnesia
lime water, or bicarbonate of soda or potash. If from alkalies (lye)
use weak vinegar. If from caustic salts employ white of egg,
vegetable-gluten, boiled linseed, slippery elm, or other compound of
albumen or sheathing agent. In ordinary cases use cold astringent
lotions, such as vinegar and water; vinegar and honey; borax, boric
or carbolic acid, chlorate of potash, alum or tannin and honey.
Poultices applied around the throat and beneath the lower jaw are
often of great value. The bowels may be relieved if necessary by
injections, as it is usually difficult to give anything by the mouth. If
ulcers form touch them daily with a stick of lunar caustic or with a
fine brush dipped in a solution of ten grains of that agent in an ounce
of distilled water. For sloughs use a lotion of permanganate of
potash, one drachm to one pint of water, or one of carbolic acid, one
part to fifty of water. If an abscess forms give a free exit to the pus
with the lancet, and afterward support the system by soft nourishing
diet, and use disinfectants locally. As in all cases of stomatitis, the
food must be cold gruels or mashes, or finely sliced roots will often
be relished.
The mechanical expedient of supporting the tongue in a bag is
essential in all bad cases, as if allowed to hang pendulous from the
mouth inflammation and swelling are dangerously aggravated.
 APHTHOUS STOMATITIS. FOLLICULAR
STOMATITIS.
Causes: in horse, ox, dog; rough, fibrous food, blistering ointments, bacteria.
Symptoms: general stomatitis, and special; papules with grayish centres and red
areolæ, vesiculation, ulceration. Treatment: Astringent, antiseptic, derivative,
tonic, stimulant.
This is a rare affection in ruminants where the thickness of the
epithelial covering appears to be a barrier to infection or injury,
while it is common in the more delicate and sensitive buccal mucosa
of the horse and dog. In the horse the ingestion of irritant plants with
the food and the penetration of vegetable barbs into the mucous
follicles may be charged with causing the disease, while in both horse
and dog the licking of blistering ointments and the local action of
fungi and bacteria are factors in different cases.
Symptoms. With the ordinary symptoms of stomatitis, there
appear minute firm, whitish, circular elevations representing the
openings of the inflamed mucous or salivary follicles, having a
reddish areola, and grayish white vesicular centre. They may amount
to a line or more in diameter, and on bursting leave red cores or
ulcers. The whole mouth may be affected or the disease may be
confined to the lips, gums or tongue.
Treatment. Beside the general astringent washes, this affection is
greatly benefited by the local use of antiseptics, as sulphite or
hyposulphite of soda, 2 drachms in a quart of water. Borax,
permanganate of potash, carbolic acid or other antiseptic in suitable
solution may be substituted. Saline laxatives are often useful to
remove sources of irritation in stomach and intestines, and iron salts
(chloride or nitrate) in full and frequently repeated doses may be
given internally. Ulcers may be cauterized and soft food and pure
water given from an elevated manger.
 ULCERATIVE STOMATITIS. GANGRENOUS
STOMATITIS.
Causes: specific disease poisons; debility; rachitis; cancer; chronic suppuration;
irritation—mechanical, chemical, thermic, venomous, etc. Symptoms: difficult,
imperfect prehension and mastication, salivation, bleeding, swollen, puffy
epithelium, blisters, extending erosions, deep or spreading. Duration. Treatment:
correct constitutional fault, tonics, soft, digestible food, antiseptics, mild caustics.
This is characterized by the formation of necrotic spots and
patches of the buccal epithelium, with desquamation, and the
formation of more or less rodent ulcers of the sub-epithelial mucosa.
Like other ulcerative processes it is usually due to microbic invasion,
and in this way it may supervene on other and simpler forms of
stomatitis. It also varies in its manifestations and nature according to
the genus of animal, and the specific microbe present.