What happens to wild animals with broken bones?

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Orthopaedics
• Paleontology
• Wildlife Biology

Background:

• Orthopaedic teaching posits that long bone fractures in wild animals heal naturally.
• Museum collections of animal skeletons may perpetuate this idea due to specimen selection bias.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the prevalence and healing of long bone fractures in adult wild animals.
• To evaluate the accuracy of traditional orthopaedic teaching regarding wild animal fracture healing.

Main Methods:

• Review of original skeletal specimens in two museum collections.
• Analysis of contemporary field observations of wild primates over extended periods.

Main Results:

• Skeletal review did not support the notion of effective healing for major long bone fractures in adult wild animals.
• Field observations indicated that long bone fractures in adult wild primates are rare and typically fatal.
• Falls, more common in juveniles, may account for healed fractures found in museum collections.

Conclusions:

• The common belief in widespread, naturally healing long bone fractures in adult wild animals is not supported by evidence.
• Museum collections may misrepresent the natural history of fractures in wild adult animals.
• Fracture healing in adult wild animals is likely uncommon and often not survivable.