ANSC 3180 Lecture 2: Fundamentals of Wildlife Nutrition
ANSC 3180 Wildlife Nutrition Jan. 11-30
Fundamentals of Wildlife Nutrition
Table of Contents
Fundamentals of Wildlife Nutrition ........................................................................................ 1
Nutrition and Feeding ....................................................................................................................2
Nutrient Groups .............................................................................................................................3
Water ................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Carbohydrates ...................................................................................................................................................... 3
Proteins ................................................................................................................................................................ 4
Fats ....................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Fats ā Fatty Acids ................................................................................................................................................. 5
Energy Storage ...............................................................................................................................6
Essential Nutrients: ........................................................................................................................6
Essential Amino Acids *NEED TO KNOW ............................................................................................................. 6
Non-Essential Amino Acids .................................................................................................................................. 7
Vitamins ........................................................................................................................................7
Vitamins ā fat soluble ........................................................................................................................................... 8
B Vitamins ā water soluble ................................................................................................................................... 9
Other Vitamins ā water soluble ......................................................................................................................... 10
Minerals ...................................................................................................................................... 10
Maco Minerals ................................................................................................................................................... 10
Micro/trace minerals ......................................................................................................................................... 11
Digestive strategies ...................................................................................................................... 12
Carnivores .......................................................................................................................................................... 12
Omnivores .......................................................................................................................................................... 13
Herbivores .......................................................................................................................................................... 14
Herbivores ā Pregastric ................................................................................................................ 15
Herbivores ā Postgastric ............................................................................................................... 16
Summary: Nutrient Digestion and Absorption ............................................................................... 17
Special Nutrient Requirements ā Rabbit ....................................................................................... 18
Summary of Essential Nutrients .................................................................................................... 18
Abbreviations ā heat and cold ...................................................................................................... 19
Abbreviations ā in energy ............................................................................................................. 20
Conversions ................................................................................................................................. 20
Crude protein ā N ............................................................................................................................................... 20
Calories ļ> joules ............................................................................................................................................ 21
Energy ................................................................................................................................................................ 21
Animal water content ........................................................................................................................................ 21
Daily energy requirements ................................................................................................................................. 22
ANSC 3180 Wildlife Nutrition Jan. 11-30
Quiz question: which nutrient are essential? ................................................................................ 22
Vertebrate Classification ..................................................................................................... 23
Mammal Classification ................................................................................................................. 23
Feed Analysis....................................................................................................................... 25
Abbreviations used in nutrition .................................................................................................... 25
Methods of feed (& faecal) analysis: ............................................................................................. 26
1. Proximate Analysis ................................................................................................................................... 26
2. Van Soest Fibre Analysis: NDF, ADF............................................................................................................... 27
Food Energy Terms (E): ................................................................................................................. 28
Wild animal: an undomesticated animal not living under human control; untame animal
ā¢ for this course: also, zoo animals and captive study animals
Domesticated animal:
ā¢ progenitors / ancestors / forebears have undergone a domestication process AND
is kept under direct human control
Domestication process:
an evolutionary process during which the living spaces, animal care, selection of mating
partners and reproduction of a species have all been supervised or controlled by humans.
ā¢ as the process continues, the species is genetically altered from its wild ancestral form
Tame animal: an animal that has been familiarized with humans so as to be tractable (can apply
to āwildā or ādomesticatedā) e.g elephant in a zoo
Feral animal: any animal that lives in the wild state, but whose ancestors had undergone a
domestication process e.g feral goat
This course: mammals, birds; monotremes have mammary gland lay eggs); marsupials
(kangaroo, opossum), eutherian mammals (amphibians and reptiles
Nutrition and Feeding
Nutrition: process whereby an animal gets and processes portions of its external environment
(food) for the continued functioning of its internal metabolism
āthe study of the nutrients in food, that each animal must obtain from its environment, and
how these nutrients are used to support maintenance, growth, and reproduction
--prehension, ingestion, digestion, absorption, & elimination
āprehension ā grasping / seizing food items
āingestion - intake of food into the body
ādigestion - break down of large complex (often water insoluble) food compounds into smaller,
simpler (usually water soluble) compounds
-mechanical - by chewing, muscular contractions of the gut (gizzard in birds)
ANSC 3180 Wildlife Nutrition Jan. 11-30
-chemical - in the stomach (proventriculus & gizzard in birds), the small intestine
-microbial - in herbivores, in the forestomach, caecum, or colon, by bacteria
āabsorption - of simple nutrient molecules from the gut into the blood or lymph
āelimination - removal from the body of undigested and unabsorbed food, and waste products,
as faeces and urine
Food: material taken in by the animal, and which contains one or more nutrients: eating- solid
food; drinking ā liquid food, water; breathing ā oxygen
Nutrients: organic & inorganic chemical compounds in food, required by the animal to support
maintenance, growth and reproduction
Nutrient Groups
1. Oxygen
2. Water ā free, in food, metabolic
3. Carbohydrates ā sugars
4. Proteins ā amino acids
5. Fats/lipids ā fatty acids
6. Vitamins
7. Minerals
Foods: some contain up to 6 nutrient groups (milk), some only one group (salt)
Organic nutrients (C as C-C or C-H bond): Carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins
Inorganic nutrients: Oxygen, water, minerals
Energy-yielding nutrients: carbohydrates, fats proteins (energy is NOT A NUTRIENT but is
derived from nutrients
Water
ā¢ free water
o lakes, rivers
ā¢ water in food
o fresh grass (~77% water), non-fat animal tissue (muscle) (~70% water), oats
(~11% water), air-dried desert seeds (2-3% water)
ā¢ metabolic water
o produced when nutrients (carbohydrates, fats, proteins) are broken down by
oxidation to produce energy, carbon dioxide & water
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates (polysaccharides) are made up of sugars (monosaccharides)
āŖMonosaccharides (water soluble sugars):
āpentoses (5C): ribose
āhexoses (6C): glucose, fructose, galactose
āŖDisaccharides (water soluble sugars):