Cases of Avian Wildlife Electrocution: Pathological Findings and Diagnosis

Abstract

This Final Degree Project shows the main gross and histopathologic lesions seen in avian species that died due to electrocution, which is one of the factors that endanger wildlife conservation. Four Corvus corax canariensis, one Neophron percnopterus majorensis and two Ciconia ciconia were subjected to forensic necropsies, tissue sampling and histopathologic evaluation. The aims of these studies were to diagnose the death because of electrocution in avian wildlife species in the Canary Islands and to describe and characterize the macroscopic and histopathologic lesions caused by electrocution in them. The lesions described included burns and thermal related changes such as nuclear elongation of the dermis and coagulative necrosis of the epidermis and/or dermis, signs of acute circulatory failure in many organs and acute degenerative changes in skeletal and muscle tissue.