A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY OF PATHOLOGIC FINDINGS IN CAPTIVE ROCK HYRAX (PROCAVIA CAPENSIS) IN THE UNITED STATES.

A retrospective examination of gross and histologic reports was performed to find common lesions in young and adult captive rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) from multiple zoo populations. One hundred and thirty-seven reports were analyzed from specimens that were submitted to Northwest ZooPath from 1997 to 2013. Histologic findings from necropsy and biopsy reports and causes of mortality only from necropsy reports were compiled to determine the most common findings. Within the study population, 41 (30%) were male, 62 (45%) were female, and the remainder (34, 25%) were of undetermined sex. Of the 111 necropsies, 87 (78%) died naturally, and 24 (22%) were euthanatized. There were 26 (19%) biopsies with no known status of the animal. The most frequent causes of death or reason for euthanasia were bacterial septicemia (n = 29, 21%) and degenerative cardiomyopathy (n = 29, 21%). The other most prevalent lesions were hemosiderosis (n = 55, 40%), pancreatic islet and interstitial fibrosis (n = 36, 26%), pneumonia of undetermined cause (n = 26, 19%), enteritis/colitis (n = 24, 18%), and renal tubular necrosis (n = 20, 15%). In many animals of this study population (n = 115, 84%), multiple lesions affecting multiple organs were found.