Fatal mass ingestion of gastric foreign bodies in juvenile hooded seals (Cystophora cristata) stranded in north-western iberian peninsula

Abstract

The hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) is a subarctic and arctic pinniped species with its limit of distribution in southern Europe established west of the British Isles. Nevertheless, since 1970, strandings of juvenile individuals have been reported much further south than this limit. The special clinical and management considerations to take into account with these arctic seals have become a new challenge to veterinary clinicians of southern North-Atlantic stranding networks. We present here three clinical cases involving mass ingestion of foreign bodies, which seems to be a generalized finding in this species. Although the presence of gastroliths are considered to be normal in pinnipeds, the fast and ultimately lethal cases presented here highlights how an excessive presence of gastric foreign bodies could result in a gastrointestinal stasis syndrome, which has to be quickly resolved, medically or surgically. Portable ultrasound and X-ray equipments have demonstrated their value as gastric foreign bodies diagnostic procedures with nervous wildlife patients, such as the juvenile hooded seals. Finally, we conclude that it is extremely important to avoid the use of loose stones or sand over resting areas and to take extreme precautions with small items near the rehabilitation pools when dealing with this seal species.