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1 June 2008 Health Assessment of The Ex Situ Population of St Vincent Parrots (Amazona Guildingii) in St Vincent and The Grenadines
Sharon L. Deem, Emily Ladwig, Carolyn Cray, William B. Karesh, George Amato
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Abstract

The St Vincent Amazon parrot (Amazona guildingii), listed as a CITES appendix I animal, is endemic only to the mainland of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), Lesser Antilles. A health assessment that included physical examination, hematology, blood parasite evaluation, plasma biochemical analysis, plasma protein electrophoresis, level of exposure to selected infectious agents, and fecal parasites was performed in July 2002 on 37 (51%) of the parrots in the captive population in SVG. Clinical abnormalities noted in the 37 parrots included poor feathers, lipomas, abnormal choanal papillae, obesity, leg ulcers, respiratory abnormalities, cardiac abnormalities, seizure activity, old fractures, missing digits, skin disease associated with mites (Knemidokoptes species), oral granuloma, and a thin, friable beak. Only 7 of the birds were clinically normal on physical examination. Results of hematologic testing, plasma biochemical analysis, and plasma electrophoresis were not statistically different between female and male parrots. No blood parasites were found in any of the 32 samples examined. None of the 36 parrots evaluated had antibodies to the 12 infectious agents tested. Of the 21 fecal samples available, Capillaria species was detected in 1 bird. Findings from this study, in addition to nutritional, genetic, and husbandry evaluations, have been used to make recommendations to the Forestry Department of SVG for improvements in husbandry and veterinary care of this ex situ population.

Sharon L. Deem, Emily Ladwig, Carolyn Cray, William B. Karesh, and George Amato "Health Assessment of The Ex Situ Population of St Vincent Parrots (Amazona Guildingii) in St Vincent and The Grenadines," Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery 22(2), 114-122, (1 June 2008). https://doi.org/10.1647/2007-022R.1
Published: 1 June 2008
KEYWORDS
Amazona guildingii
Avian
ex situ population
health assessment
hematology
plasma biochemical analysis
plasma protein electrophoresis
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