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In the sweltering heat of a Tanzanian dry season, Dr. Lena Mbeki, a veterinary ethologist, watched a family of elephants through her binoculars. They were dying. Not from poachers or drought, but from something far stranger: a profound, collective grief that had manifested as physical illness.

6. The Future: One Health and Preventive Behavioral Medicine

The integration of animal behavior into veterinary science is accelerating in three key directions:

2. Common Behavioral Presentations of Medical Disease (Differential Diagnoses)

Veterinarians must distinguish primary behavior disorders (e.g., anxiety, compulsive disorders) from medical conditions causing behavioral signs.

Applications of Animal Behavior in Veterinary Science