Thermal Imaging to Assess the Health Status in Wildlife Animals under Human Care: Limitations and Perspectives

Promoting animal welfare in wildlife species under human care requires the implementation of techniques for continuously monitoring their health. Infrared thermography is a non-invasive tool that uses the radiation emitted from the skin of animals to assess their thermal state. However, there are no...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Animals (Basel) 2022-12, Vol.12 (24), p.3558
Main Authors: Mota-Rojas, Daniel, Pereira, Alfredo M F, Martínez-Burnes, Julio, Domínguez-Oliva, Adriana, Mora-Medina, Patricia, Casas-Alvarado, Alejandro, Rios-Sandoval, Jennifer, de Mira Geraldo, Ana, Wang, Dehua
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abdomen
Anastomosis
Animal species
Animal welfare
Animals
Blood vessels
Body temperature
Capillaries
Catecholamines
Evaluation
Heat transfer
Humidity
Hyperthermia
Infrared imaging
Infrared radiation
infrared thermography
Morphology
pain
Physical restraints
Physiology
Radiation measurement
Review
Skin
Thermal imaging
Thermal response
thermal status
thermal window
Thermography
Thorax
Wildlife
Wildlife habitats
Zoo animals
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Promoting animal welfare in wildlife species under human care requires the implementation of techniques for continuously monitoring their health. Infrared thermography is a non-invasive tool that uses the radiation emitted from the skin of animals to assess their thermal state. However, there are no established thermal windows in wildlife species because factors such as the thickness or color of the skin, type/length of coat, or presence of fur can influence the readings taken to obtain objective, sensitive values. Therefore, this review aims to discuss the usefulness and application of the ocular, nasal, thoracic, abdominal, and podal anatomical regions as thermal windows for evaluating zoo animals' thermal response and health status. A literature search of the Web of Science, Science Direct, and PubMed databases was performed to identify relevant studies that used IRT with wild species as a complementary diagnostic tool. Implementing IRT in zoos or conservation centers could also serve as a method for determining and monitoring optimal habitat designs to meet the needs of specific animals. In addition, we analyze the limitations of using IRT with various wildlife species under human care to understand better the differences among animals and the factors that must be considered when using infrared thermography.
ISSN:2076-2615
2076-2615
DOI:10.3390/ani12243558