Veterinary session

Introduction: Ostrich (Struthio camelus) has become more and more common in Europe over the past decade as a livestock. The bird's meat, eggs, feathers are widely used, and their hide is also a valuable resource. While there is a lot of literature focusing on the anatomy of the ostrich, the quantity and quality of visual and digital material are far from being sufficient, and there is also nothing to be found in Hungarian. The aim of this work is to create a topographical atlas of the ostrich that is equally useful for the average breeder, the Hungarian veterinary students and the field veterinarians.

Material and methods: During the course of our work, we have processed the fresh carcass of an adult and a half year old male animal. Both animals were euthanized because of clinical reasons. The adult bird has been dissected without preservation, mainly focusing on the regions important for the meat-industry. The process was photographed, filmed, and archived. After that the main organs (hyoid bone, larynx, trachea, syrinx, lung, heart, liver, and aorta) were preserved in a formalin free alcoholic fixative. The humeruses of both animals were appropriately processed for micro-CT structural examination.

Result: The photos were labelled focusing on the aspects that are unique in the ostrich. Those, together with videos were collected into a digital database and were made available through the Internet. The skeleton of the adult animal were pieced together, while the bones of the younger will be used for educational purposes individually. The main organs were conserved.

Conclusion: In our globalized world, new and more exotic animals and plans are trending to be consumed and thus their economic importance is growing. The anatomical institutes need to be prepared to carry out the extensive educational tasks related to this, not only at the theoretical level, but also by providing students and professionals with demonstrational materials. The completed atlas with the digital appendixes and fixated organs will hopefully help the students to understand the topography and anatomy of this unique and important animal.