Siri : the monumental challenges of pachyderm medicine

Abstract

Captivity predisposes elephants to a variety of medical problems, some of which can be found to a lesser degree in wild elephants. Example of these conditions include specific foot problems, skin diseases, and dental abnormalities. Two of the most common dental disorders of elephants in captivity are impacted or mal-positioned molar teeth and abraded, split, fractured, and infected tusks. The former is most commonly seen inAsian elephants. These two types of dental disorders occur most commonly because of the elephant's unique dentition and may be exacerabated by inappropriate husbandry techniques. Siri, a 35 year old female Asian elephant at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park, has developed malaligned right and left upper molars which are medially rotated. It is currently believed that this disorder is, in part, due to having less browse to help wear down her molars. However, the alignment of the molars could also be affected by an osteoma that is developing within her left nasal passage.