Investigation of causes of death in wildlife using veterinary molecular and wound analysis methods

Investigating the cause of animal death is helpful to understand the reasons behind the interactions and conflicts between humans and animals. To further develop the cause of death investigation, we report a case of a Chinese spot-billed duck (Anas zonorhyncha) which hatched from a rescued duck and died 10 days after release. We inspected the duck’s cause of death using an interview of concerned people, external body examination, necropsy, and genetic examinations. Based on the fractures, the main cause of death was determined to be a traffic accident. Furthermore, molecular tests helped to detect raccoon DNA in the visible bite wounds. This case shows that molecular biological method is one of the methods of clarify the animals’ cause of death.