Pulmonary Contussion in a Free Ranging Sloth Bear (Melursusursinus)- A Case Report

The sloth bear (melursus ursinus) belongs to family Ursidae and it is endemic to Indian subcontinent. Sloth bear is completely protected under schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and listed as vulnerable species in the World Conservation Union’s Red List of Threatened Animals and also listed under Appendix I of CITES (Garshelis et al., 1999). 

Severe blow on chest by blunt object and leakage of blood from capillaries caused accumulation of blood in lung parenchyma , resulted into a condition known as Pulmonary contusion. The accumulation in the lung tissue interferes with efficiency of alveoli and bronchioles for gas exchange, potentially leading to inadequate oxygen levels (hypoxia) and death. A rare case of a pulmonary contussion has been noticed during routine post-mortem examination at School of Wildlife Forensic and Health, Jabalpur, (M.P.)