Exploring fecal microbial activity in zoo felids of varying body mass on a similar diet

BMC Microbiology

Table 1 Individual information of the zoo felids in this study

	Name	Latin name	Age (d)	Sex	Average estimated body mass (kg)^‡ [23, 24]
Small felids^* (n = 9)	Cheetah1	Acinonyx jubatus	3117	M	47
	Puma1	Puma/Felis concolor	1285	F	68
	Puma2	Puma/Felis concolor	1037	M	68
	Puma3^†	Puma/Felis concolor	-	M	68
	Clouded leopard1	Neofelis nebulosa	2583	M	17
	Clouded leopard2	Neofelis nebulosa	5476	F	17
	Javan leopard1	Panthera pardus	2845	M	54
	Snow leopard1	Panthera uncia	1786	F	44
	Snow leopard2	Panthera uncia	3618	M	44
Large felids^* (n = 9)	Lion1	Panthera leo	5411	M	176
	Lion2	Panthera leo	5002	F	176
	White tiger1	Panthera tigris	3183	F	156
	White tiger2	Panthera tigris	3183	M	156
	Siberian tiger1	Panthera tigris	1760	M	176
	Siberian tiger2	Panthera tigris	1760	M	176
	Siberian tiger3	Panthera tigris	1750	M	176
	Siberian tiger4	Panthera tigris	1728	M	176
	Siberian tiger5	Panthera tigris	1728	M	176

- Data are not available
^* The animals clustered into two body mass groups: those below 100 kg (“small”) and those above 100 kg (“large”)
^† This puma died of kidney failure (glomerulopathy) while in captivity. The sampling time was before death
^‡ Since the exact body mass of the study animals was unavailable from zoo management, we estimated their body mass using values reported in the literature from wild individuals

ISSN: 1471-2180