Lead toxicosis in a captive bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) consequent to ingestion of air gun pellets

Alan Shlosberg; Michel Bellaiche; Sharon Regev; Rivka Gal; Maika Brizzi; Vera Hanji; Liliana Zaidel; Abraham Nyska

doi:10.7589/0090-3558-33.1.135

Lead toxicosis in a captive bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) consequent to ingestion of air gun pellets

Alan Shlosberg^*, Michel Bellaiche, Sharon Regev, Rivka Gal, Maika Brizzi, Vera Hanji, Liliana Zaidel, Abraham Nyska

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

A captive bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in a dolphinarium in Tel Aviv, Israel, had signs of anorexia, weight loss and a reluctance to train over a 4-week period in June 1995 and died shortly thereafter. On necropsy, it had an enlarged, yellow discolored liver, and about 55 air gun pellets in the second stomach. The pellets were composed of 40% lead. Samples of liver and kidney cortex contained 3.6 and 4.2 μ/g lead, respectively. There was hemosiderosis in the liver and kidneys, status spongiosus in the brain, and vacuolization in the optic nerve; acid-fast intranuclear inclusion bodies were seen in the kidneys. We propose that chronic lead toxicosis had been induced after the gradual dissolution of the lead-based pellets in the acid environment of the stomach.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	135-139
Number of pages	5
Journal	Journal of Wildlife Diseases
Volume	33
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.7589/0090-3558-33.1.135
State	Published - Jan 1997
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Air gun pellets
Bottlenose dolphin
Dolphinarium
Lead
Toxicosis
Tursiops truncatus

Access to Document

10.7589/0090-3558-33.1.135

Cite this

@article{5afc4aa73d394d22900eaf790b5bb501,

title = "Lead toxicosis in a captive bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) consequent to ingestion of air gun pellets",

abstract = "A captive bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in a dolphinarium in Tel Aviv, Israel, had signs of anorexia, weight loss and a reluctance to train over a 4-week period in June 1995 and died shortly thereafter. On necropsy, it had an enlarged, yellow discolored liver, and about 55 air gun pellets in the second stomach. The pellets were composed of 40% lead. Samples of liver and kidney cortex contained 3.6 and 4.2 μ/g lead, respectively. There was hemosiderosis in the liver and kidneys, status spongiosus in the brain, and vacuolization in the optic nerve; acid-fast intranuclear inclusion bodies were seen in the kidneys. We propose that chronic lead toxicosis had been induced after the gradual dissolution of the lead-based pellets in the acid environment of the stomach.",

keywords = "Air gun pellets, Bottlenose dolphin, Dolphinarium, Lead, Toxicosis, Tursiops truncatus",

author = "Alan Shlosberg and Michel Bellaiche and Sharon Regev and Rivka Gal and Maika Brizzi and Vera Hanji and Liliana Zaidel and Abraham Nyska",

year = "1997",

month = jan,

doi = "10.7589/0090-3558-33.1.135",

language = "אנגלית",

volume = "33",

pages = "135--139",

journal = "Journal of Wildlife Diseases",

issn = "0090-3558",

publisher = "Wildlife Disease Association, Inc.",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Lead toxicosis in a captive bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) consequent to ingestion of air gun pellets

AU - Shlosberg, Alan

AU - Bellaiche, Michel

AU - Regev, Sharon

AU - Gal, Rivka

AU - Brizzi, Maika

AU - Hanji, Vera

AU - Zaidel, Liliana

AU - Nyska, Abraham

PY - 1997/1

Y1 - 1997/1

N2 - A captive bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in a dolphinarium in Tel Aviv, Israel, had signs of anorexia, weight loss and a reluctance to train over a 4-week period in June 1995 and died shortly thereafter. On necropsy, it had an enlarged, yellow discolored liver, and about 55 air gun pellets in the second stomach. The pellets were composed of 40% lead. Samples of liver and kidney cortex contained 3.6 and 4.2 μ/g lead, respectively. There was hemosiderosis in the liver and kidneys, status spongiosus in the brain, and vacuolization in the optic nerve; acid-fast intranuclear inclusion bodies were seen in the kidneys. We propose that chronic lead toxicosis had been induced after the gradual dissolution of the lead-based pellets in the acid environment of the stomach.

AB - A captive bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in a dolphinarium in Tel Aviv, Israel, had signs of anorexia, weight loss and a reluctance to train over a 4-week period in June 1995 and died shortly thereafter. On necropsy, it had an enlarged, yellow discolored liver, and about 55 air gun pellets in the second stomach. The pellets were composed of 40% lead. Samples of liver and kidney cortex contained 3.6 and 4.2 μ/g lead, respectively. There was hemosiderosis in the liver and kidneys, status spongiosus in the brain, and vacuolization in the optic nerve; acid-fast intranuclear inclusion bodies were seen in the kidneys. We propose that chronic lead toxicosis had been induced after the gradual dissolution of the lead-based pellets in the acid environment of the stomach.

KW - Air gun pellets

KW - Bottlenose dolphin

KW - Dolphinarium

KW - Lead

KW - Toxicosis

KW - Tursiops truncatus

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0030635489&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.7589/0090-3558-33.1.135

DO - 10.7589/0090-3558-33.1.135

M3 - ???researchoutput.researchoutputtypes.contributiontojournal.article???

AN - SCOPUS:0030635489

SN - 0090-3558

VL - 33

SP - 135

EP - 139

JO - Journal of Wildlife Diseases

JF - Journal of Wildlife Diseases

IS - 1

ER -

Lead toxicosis in a captive bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) consequent to ingestion of air gun pellets

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this