FAUNAL SUCCESSION ON RABBIT CARRIONS KILLED BY DIFFERENT METHODS

Abstract

During 1990 and 1991, field studies on exposed rabbit carrion, killed by different causes, were carried out in the botanical garden, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt. The aim of these studies was to determine the effects the manner of death might have on the arthropod species visiting the carcasses and to study their trophic interrelation at the carcass habitat. For these purposes, a number of experiments were conducted in which 16 domestic rabbits were killed using 5 different ways, namely, asphyxiation by butane gas, burning, slaug- htering, arsenious oxide poisoning and asphyxiation by hanging. The latter, which was repeated four times, was executed at the time each of the four former methods was undertaken, using it as a means of comparison with the carrions killed by the other methods, hence, serving as control. The results of these experiments can be summa- rized as follows: 1. The decompositiona1 stages: six recognizable decompositional stages were noticed at the rabbit carcasses killed by asphyxiation by hanging, burning, slaughtering and asphyxiation by butane gas. These stages are the fresh, the bloat, the bloat-decay, the decay, the decay-dry and the dry stages. No decomposi- tional stages were noticed at the rabbit carrions killed by arsenious oxide poisoning.