PubMed · 3823886
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R Lewin. 1987-03-13. Bottlenecked cheetahs.. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.3823886
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Reverse line blot (RLB) is a hybridization assay that can be used to detect various blood parasites and differentiate between them. Results, using the RLB, showed that Babesia felis and Babesia leo occurred as single or mixed infections in various felid species, but most frequently in domestic cats and lions, respectively. Prevalence of infection in free-ranging cheetahs in Namibia was low (7, 5%), whereas 50% of free-ranging lions in South Africa and Swaziland were infected. A large number (52, 9%) of samples tested positive only for Babesia, neither B. felis nor B. leo. This could be an indication of at least one further, as yet undescribed, Babesia species in felids.
Numerous cases of acute-onset progressive ataxia, hindlimb paresis and paralysis of unknown aetiology occurred during 1993 to 2003 in cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) within the European Endangered Species Programme (eep). This study describes the immunohistochemical investigation of a possible viral aetiology of the "cheetah myelopathy". Antibodies to feline herpesvirus type 1, canine distemper virus, canine parvovirus and Borna disease virus were applied to formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded brain and spinal cord sections from 25 affected cheetahs aged between three-and-a-half months and 13 years. Using the avidin-biotin complex technique, none of the antibodies gave positive immunosignals in either the brain or the spinal cord tissue.
Milk was obtained from two captive bred cheetahs. The nutrient content was 99.6 g protein; 64.8 g fat; and 40.21 g lactose per kg milk. Small amounts of oligosaccharides, glucose, galactose and fucose were noted. The protein fraction respectively consisted of 34.2 g caseins per kg milk and of 65.3 g whey proteins per kg milk. Very little variation in milk composition among the individual cheetahs was noted. Electrophoresis and identification of protein bands showed a similar migrating sequence of proteins as seen in lion's and cat's milk, with small differences in the beta-caseins. The lipid fraction contains 290.4 g saturated and 337.3 g mono-unsaturated fatty acids per kg milk fat respectively. The high content of 279.5 g kg(-1) milk fat of polyunsaturated fatty acids is due to a high content in alpha-linolenic acid. No short chain fatty acids, but substantial levels of uneven carbon chain fatty acids were observed.