Migrating Porcupine Quills: Sudden Death of a Yearling American Black Bear (Ursus americanus) at a Wildlife Rehabilitation Center

J Wildl Dis. 2024 Jan 1;60(1):216-218. doi: 10.7589/JWD-D-23-00029.

Abstract

A yearling, intact, apparently healthy male American black bear (Ursus americanus) died peracutely at a rehabilitation facility in Ontario, Canada while overwintering, after recovery from porcupine quilling a few months previously. The postmortem examination findings support that porcupine quill migration should be a differential for cause of sudden death in wildlife.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Animals, Wild
  • Death, Sudden / veterinary
  • Foreign-Body Migration* / veterinary
  • Male
  • Ontario / epidemiology
  • Porcupines*
  • Ursidae*