Radiographic findings in several joints of nine bears

Retrospective and prospective cases
For the retrospective cases, the medical records of the participating zoos were used and
persons (veterinarians, keepers) involved in the care of the concerned animals were
interviewed to precisely define the symptoms, which the animals had shown before their
euthanasia or natural death. The symptoms, which were taken into consideration, were
defined as the predominating symptoms during the last year of life. In addition, the necropsy
report was analyzed for each case.
For the prospective cases, a similar procedure was performed in six bears (U. arctos,
U. maritimus), one giraffe (G. camelopardalis tippelskirchi), one okapi (O. johnstoni) and one
camel (C. bactrianus) (Table 3); symptoms were monitored, and, after euthanasia or death of
the animal, necropsy was performed either on site or at the Institute for Animal Pathology,
University of Berne. Each prospective case was examined radiographically, five of them in
general anesthesia including four adult brown bears (U. arctos) and one polar bear (U.
maritimus).
Prior to necropsies, postmortem radiographic examination (Siemens Polydoros 100
system, with a performance of 80 kW at 100 kV) was performed in four animals: one giraffe
(G. camelopardalis tippelskirchi), one okapi (O. johnstoni), one Bactrian camel (C.
bactrianus) and one brown bear (U. arctos).
Table 3 Symptoms of the prospective cases (n = 10) of this study
Animal Age Sex Symptom
Brown bear 29 Female mild to moderate weakness, mild lameness, mild
(U. arctos)
reluctance to move, mild dysorexia
Brown bear
(U. arctos)
Brown bear
(U. arctos)
Brown bear
(U. arctos)
Polar bear
(U. maritimus)
Sun bear
(H. malayanus)
Brown bear
(U. arctos)
Giraffe
(G. camelopardalis)
Okapi
(O. johnstoni)
Bactrian camel
(C. bactrianus)
23 Female severe lameness, severe reluctance to move, pain when
standing up, mild dysorexia, cachexia
33 Female mild lameness, stiff neck, mild dysorexia
33 Female gait abnormality, mild dysorexia
27 Male dysorexia, paraparesis
21 Male No clinical symptoms
28 Female severe lameness, severe reluctance to move
18 Female Moderate lameness, moderate reluctance to move
13 Female colic, dysorexia, reluctance to move, anorexia during
eight days
19 Female severe lameness, severe reluctance to move,severe pain
when standing up, moderate cachexia, moderate to
severe muscle atrophy
Pathologies
Pathological findings were classified per system or per organ including pancreas,
hepatobiliary system, musculoskeletal system, respiratory system, genital system, lymphatic
system, cardiovascular system, kidney and adrenal gland, gastrointestinal tract, skin, oral
diseases including teeth, and trauma. Pathologies were classified into three groups: neoplasia,
dysfunction of the musculoskeletal system and other pathologies (Table 4). Further, we
subdivided neoplasia into two groups: “neoplasia of visceral organs” and “neoplasia of non
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