Press Release
Unusual Kidney Lesions Discovered in Calgary’s Urban Jackrabbits Reveal New Insights into City Wildlife Health
Calgary, Alberta – A veterinary researcher, Jamie Rothenburger, studying urban wildlife in Calgary has uncovered a surprising health anomaly in local jackrabbits (Lepus townsendii). In a recent study examining 130 jackrabbits found deceased near city roadways, Rothenburger and colleagues identified renal hamartomas, benign, tumor-like kidney growths in 6% of the animals.
Renal hamartomas are rare lesions composed of normal tissue elements arranged abnormally. While typically harmless, their occurrence in this frequency and concentration has not been documented in any previous large-scale studies of wild hares or rabbits worldwide.
“This represents a unique temporal and geographical cluster,” said Dr. Jamie Rothenburger, a wildlife veterinary pathologist and assistant professor in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary and wildlife pathologist with the Alberta Region of the CWHC. “We don’t yet know what’s contributing to these findings, but they raise important questions about how urban environments influence wildlife health.”
The study’s results, which were published in the scientific journal Veterinary Pathology, are part of a larger project exploring health and disease in Calgary’s wild hares. Further research will explore causes of death among jackrabbits, their parasites and bacteria.
The work underscores the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and CWHC’s ongoing commitment to understanding and protecting health of animals and ecosystems in Canada’s rapidly developing urban landscapes.
