Influence of hand rearing and bird age on the fecal microbiota of the critically endangered kakapo.

ABSTRACT: The critically endangered New Zealand parrot, the kakapo, is subject to an intensive management regime aiming to maintain bird health and boost population size. Newly hatched kakapo chicks are subjected to human intervention and are frequently placed in captivity throughout their formative months. Hand rearing greatly reduces mortality among juveniles, but the potential long-term impact on the kakapo gut microbiota is uncertain. To track development of the kakapo gut microbiota, fecal samples from healthy, prefledged juvenile kakapos, as well as from unrelated adults, were analyzed by using 16S rRNA gene amplicon pyrosequencing. Following the original sampling, juvenile kakapos underwent a period of captivity, so further sampling during and after captivity aimed to elucidate the impact of

SUBMITTER: Waite DW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4148800 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature