Apple leaves and bark as browse items for herbivorous monogastrics under human care

Citation

Gourlie S, Atkinson J, Wensvoort J. 2015. Apple leaves and bark as browse items for herbivorous monogastrics under human care. In Bissell H, Brooks M Eds. Proceedings of the Eleventh Conference on Zoo and Wildlife Nutrition, AZA Nutrition Advisory Group, Portland, OR.

Abstract

Many zoological institutions are faced with challenges when developing and providing a diet for their non-ruminant browsing herbivores. The most prominent issue remains providing readily available, safe and sufficient quantities of plant material. Zoos are often forced, usually by climate, to utilize seasonally available, local, appropriate and or novel plant species in order to decrease the effort and expense required to cultivate or import plant foods naturally consumed by species in the wild. The main goals of this study were to (1) quantify the edible portions of an apple browse branch, (2) provide a framework for evaluating the suitability of apple browse as a safe edible item for non-ruminant herbivores.

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