A 14-yr-old male puma (Puma concolor) was presented to the veterinary staff of the National Zoo in Malaysia for an auricular mass. Squamous cell carcinoma was diagnosed by histologic examination of a biopsy. Systemic administration of chemotherapy using vincristine (0.5 mg/m2 i.v. q. 7 days for six treatments) and prednisolone (2 mg/kg i.m. q. 72 hr x 7 days) caused side effects of vomiting, weight loss, and alopecia and did not improve the size or appearance of the tumor. Intralesional vincristine injections (0.2 mg q. 7 days for two treatments) and prednisolone (2 mg/kg i.m. q. 72 hr x 15 days) were administered, resulting in complete tumor regression after 14 days of treatment.
It is important to provide a baseline of fungal composition in the captive wildlife environment to better understand their role in overall wildlife health. The objectives were to identify species of fungi existing within wildlife animal enclosures and their environment at the National Wildlife Rescue Centre (NWRC) and the National Zoo, Malaysia and to describe their medical and veterinary importance. Samples of air, wall or floor swab, enrichment swab and soil were taken from the animal enclosures, exercise yard and enrichments at NWRC and National Zoo respectively. All samples including those pre-treated samples were plated onto Sabouraud's Dextrose Agar (SDA). Numerous fungi were grown on all sampling SDA plates regardless by either single or multiple growth. Samples of air in both NWRC and National Zoo had the highest growth of Penicillium spp. with a prevalence of 31.2% and 83.7% respectively. Samples of swab from the wall, floor and enrichments were predominantly by Candida spp. (42.6%) in NWRC and Penicillium spp. (41.6%) in the National Zoo. Prevalence of multiple fungi isolated from the soil samples in NWRC were 57.9% and yeast species was the most common in National Zoo with a prevalence of 88.9%. Overall, 29 and 8 isolates were found in both samples from the NWRC and National Zoo with a predominant species of potential zoonotic fungi have been identified in both premises. The expected fungus Aspergillus spp. was not isolated in all samples in NWRC. Prevalent fungal species found in this study are known to cause disease in animals and humans as primary pathogen and also as opportunistic pathogens that may also cause infection. Thus, health safety precautions should be considered particularly in dealing with conservation of endangered wildlife species, along with personnel and public involvements.
In this data article we present the determinations of the diet preference and growth of a pair of the giant panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca (David, 1869) from Zoo Negara Malaysia. Once considered as endangered, the captive giant pandas were given with nine species of local bamboo in separate indoor enclosures. We recorded data between May 25, 2014 and December 31, 2016 and analysed it based on food preference, the pattern toward food consumption and body weights using SPSS v25.0 (IBM, USA). Data on the bamboo preference, daily average bamboo provided and consumed, and factors predicting of body weight per individual are reported in this article. The data highlight correlation between panda growth (kg) to the part of bamboo consumed (kg) and exhibit the pattern of preferred part of food (i.e.: either the leaf, culm or shoots of bamboo variety) for panda consumptions. The food consumption toward the body weight was modelled using logistic regression analysis to help determine the pattern of food consumption and body weight of giant panda in the future and based on regression model 1, only consumed variable is significance to the model.