PNEUMONIA AS A CAUSE OF MORTALITY IN JUVENILE AND ADULT RED PANDAS (AILURUS FULGENS STYANI) IN CHENGDU, CHINA

The red panda (Ailurus fulgens) is an endangered herbivorous mammal, with wild populations distributed in the Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains. Published scientific work indicates that pneumonia is still an important cause of death in ex situ populations of red pandas, particularly in neonates. This retrospective study used historical necropsy records, systematic necropsies, and pathogen detection methods to identify histopathologic patterns and pathogens in red pandas that had died with fatal respiratory disease at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, China, from 2014 to 2020. Of a total of 62 deceased red pandas, 25 were diagnosed with pneumonia, with an incidence rate of 40.3%. Pneumonia was the cause of death for the six juveniles and eight adults in the study of the 25 that had the diagnosis of pneumonia on record. Microbiologic cultures with sequencing identified Acinetobacter johnsonii, Bacillus ciccensis, Streptococcus gallinaceus, and Staphylococcus saprophyticus from individuals with pneumonia. Two other cases involved nematode parasite infections; PCR sequencing identified one nematode as Strongyloides sp.; the other nematode could not be identified. Additional systematic in-depth studies on the epidemiology of disease patterns in managed red pandas are needed to clarify the susceptibility to pathogens, trends in disease occurrence, and identification of other risk factors, such as novel infectious agents, which may affect the stability and welfare of both ex situ and in situ populations.