Abstract
A multiparous bottlenose dolphin rejected a normal calf immediately following an uneventful 1.5-hour partition. Two other mothers who were caring for their young initially showed interest in this calf, however approximately 12 hours later the calf had successfully bonded and was seen nursing from a mature female caring for a three-year-old calf. At no time did the newborn nurse from the natural mother, only with the surrogate female.
The calf passed through the first hurdle of developing immunologic competence by 5–6 weeks without illness and then began to gain weight similar to calves of comparable age but never achieved the size of other calves his age. The calf began to accept fish by three months of age, similar to the other calves, however his consumption was greater than the others, suggesting that the surrogate mother may not have been able to completely satisfy the caloric needs of the growing calf.
At the time this abstract was prepared the calf was five months of age, had not experienced any health issues, and appeared to be growing at a comparable rate to other calves of this age. What makes this calf's life different from others is the fact that the calf did not nurse from the natural mother and never required exogenously administered colostral antibodies (ether orally or by injection) in the first two days of life.1
Although blood samples were never taken at any time in his calf's life, due to the risk of endangering the lives of three other nursing calves and their mothers in the same pool, this raises the possibility that a mother at any phase of nursing might possess enough colostral antibodies to satisfy the needs of a newborn calf. There are at least two plausible explanations: either there are enough IgG antibodies in the non-colostral milk or the presence of a newborn stimulates the production of colostrum in the surrogate. In the authors' opinion, having a nursing mother present during risky births may help in the survival of newborns rejected by their natural mothers.
*Presenting author
Literature Cited
1. Dalton LM, Schwertner, HA, McBain JF. 1993. The Use of Immunoglobulin Concentrate in a Beluga Whale Calf. IAAAM 24th Annual Conference Proceeding, Chicago, Ill. Pp. 110.