Intraocular pressure and tear production in five herbivorous wildlife species

Abstract

The intraocular pressure and rate of tear production were measured in 18 addax antelopes (Addax nasomaculatus), four impalas (Aepyceros melampus), 11 wide-lipped rhinoceroses (Ceratotherium simum), 10 white-tailed wildebeests (Connochaetes gnou) and seven scimitar-horned oryxes (Oryx dammah). The animals were anaesthetised with an intramuscular injection of etorphine hydrochloride and acepromazine maleate, and the Schirmer tear test I was used to evaluate tear production, and applanation tonometry was used to evaluate the intraocular pressure. The mean (sd) rate of tear production ranged from 17.6 (3.1) mm/minute in the rhinoceros to 28.8 (8.3) mm/minute in the addax. The intraocular pressure ranged from 8.0 (1.2) mmHg in the impala to 32.1 (10.4) mmHg in the rhinoceros. The rate of tear production in the addax and the intraocular pressure in the rhinoceros appear to be the highest values of these variables to have been reported in any species.