Effects of serial radiography on juvenile bustards

Between 1994 and 1995, serial radiographic studies, used for the assessment of musculoskeletal conditions and early detection of skeletal abnormalities, were conducted on bustards maintained in breeding programmes at the National Avian Research Centre (NARC) in the United Arab Emirates. The risk of infertility in the 1995 NARC bustard flock as a result of successive exposure to radiation was investigated. Seven of the birds used in the serial radiographic study that survived to breeding age were able to breed successfully. The one surviving female kori from the study has produced 14 chicks to date, and the only three 1995-generation houbara bustards that have produced any viable chicks to date were participants in the radiographic study. Although these data are too few to demonstrate subtle effects on fertility, the findings show that birds that underwent serial radiography did successfully breed..