Effect of diet composition on body condition and faecal consistency in captive bush dogs (Speothos venaticus)

Citation

Hardingham L, Dierenfeld ES, Wright C, Haslam L, Whitehouse-Tedd K, and Yon L. 2019. Effect of diet composition on body condition and faecal consistency in captive bush dogs (Speothos venaticus). In Brooks M, Freel T, Koutsos E Eds. Proceedings of the Thirteenth Conference on Zoo and Wildlife Nutrition, Zoo and Wildlife Nutrition Foundation and AZA Nutrition Advisory Group, Saint Louis, MO.

Abstract

Nutrition is known to affect the health, growth, reproduction, behaviour and longevity of captive animals. However, knowledge of the wild bush dog (Speothos venaticus) diet is largely anecdotal and captive dietary studies are limited. A questionnaire was completed by 22 zoos, which provided information on the diet, body condition scores (BCS), and faecal scores for 92 individual bush dogs. Estimated caloric content of the diets was calculated.

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