Estimating the Postmortem Interval of Wild Boar Carcasses

Probst, Carolina; Gethmann, Jörn; Amendt, Jens; Lutz, Lena; Teifke, Jens Peter; Conraths, Franz J.

doi:10.3390/vetsci7010006

Open AccessArticle

Estimating the Postmortem Interval of Wild Boar Carcasses

by

Carolina Probst

^1,*

,

Jörn Gethmann

¹,

Jens Amendt

²,

Lena Lutz

²,

Jens Peter Teifke

³ and

Franz J. Conraths

¹

Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Institute of Epidemiology, 17493 Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany

²

Institute of Legal Medicine, Goethe-University, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

³

Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Department of Experimental Animal Facilities and Biorisk Management,17493 Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Vet. Sci. 2020, 7(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci7010006

Submission received: 29 November 2019 / Revised: 30 December 2019 / Accepted: 3 January 2020 / Published: 5 January 2020

(This article belongs to the Special Issue African Swine Fever (ASF))

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Abstract

Knowledge on the postmortem interval (PMI) of wild boar (Sus scrofa) carcasses is crucial in the event of an outbreak of African swine fever in a wild boar population. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the decomposition process of this species in different microhabitats is necessary. We describe the decomposition process of carcasses exposed in cages. Trial 1 compared a wild boar and a domestic pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) under similar conditions; Trial 2 was performed with three wild boar piglets in the sunlight, shade, or in a wallow, and Trial 3 with two adult wild boar in the sun or shade. The wild boar decomposed more slowly than the domestic pig, which shows that standards derived from forensic studies on domestic pigs are not directly applicable to wild boar. The carcasses exposed to the sun decomposed faster than those in the shade did, and the decomposition of the carcass in the wallow took longest. To assess the state of decomposition, we adapted an existing total body scoring system originally developed for humans. Based on our studies, we propose a checklist tailored to wild boar carcasses found in the field that includes the most important information for a reliable PMI estimation.

Keywords: wild boar carcass; decomposition; total body score; forensic entomology; postmortem interval; checklist

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MDPI and ACS Style

Probst, C.; Gethmann, J.; Amendt, J.; Lutz, L.; Teifke, J.P.; Conraths, F.J. Estimating the Postmortem Interval of Wild Boar Carcasses. Vet. Sci. 2020, 7, 6. https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci7010006

AMA Style

Probst C, Gethmann J, Amendt J, Lutz L, Teifke JP, Conraths FJ. Estimating the Postmortem Interval of Wild Boar Carcasses. Veterinary Sciences. 2020; 7(1):6. https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci7010006

Chicago/Turabian Style

Probst, Carolina, Jörn Gethmann, Jens Amendt, Lena Lutz, Jens Peter Teifke, and Franz J. Conraths. 2020. "Estimating the Postmortem Interval of Wild Boar Carcasses" Veterinary Sciences 7, no. 1: 6. https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci7010006

APA Style

Probst, C., Gethmann, J., Amendt, J., Lutz, L., Teifke, J. P., & Conraths, F. J. (2020). Estimating the Postmortem Interval of Wild Boar Carcasses. Veterinary Sciences, 7(1), 6. https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci7010006

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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Estimating the Postmortem Interval of Wild Boar Carcasses

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