Second-Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticide Toxicosis in a Wild Carnaby's Cockatoo (Zanda latirostris)

Abstract

A wild male Carnaby's cockatoo (Zanda latirostris) was presented to a veterinary hospital after falling from a tree. The bird showed few clinical signs during the first days of hospitalization. On Day 4, the cockatoo showed excessive hemorrhage at a venipuncture site, epistaxis, and significant anemia (packed cell volume, 15%). The cockatoo was euthanized due to ongoing blood loss, weakness, and inappetence. Liver concentrations of brodifacoum (0.439 mg/kg wet weight) and difenacoum (0.033 mg/kg wet weight) had a total anticoagulant rodenticide concentration of 0.472 mg/kg wet weight and were above the threshold for toxicity for many avian species. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first time that anticoagulant rodenticide intoxication has been identified in a wild Australian psittacine species.