Nuances in the Body Temperature of Buffaloes Using Infrared Thermography

Abstract

This study aimed to apply thermography as an auxiliary tool for assessing thermal stress and well-being in buffaloes. Five buffaloes were used in an environment with an artificial pond providing both shaded and unshaded areas. The research was conducted at the Iguatemi Experimental Farm. Respiratory rate (RR) was monitored every 30 minutes as a physiological parameter. Temperature, relative humidity, and solar radiation were recorded every 10 minutes. Using an infrared camera, images were captured of the following body regions: back, eyes, muzzle, and dewlap. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) for meteorological data and RR was conducted using the least squares method, with mean separation performed by the Tukey-Kramer test. Pearson correlation was calculated between the mean surface temperatures and meteorological variables to assess the animals' thermal window. Air temperature ranged from 30.2°C to 41°C with 63% humidity, and solar radiation ranged from 770 W.m⁻² to 1106 W.m⁻². RR varied from 19 to 29 breaths per minute. The correlation between muzzle temperature and dry-bulb temperature (DBT) in sunlight was r = 0.87 and with relative humidity (RH) was r = -0.83; for eye temperature, DBT in sunlight was r = 0.76 and RH was r = -0.70; for dewlap temperature, DBT in sunlight was r = 0.68 and RH was r = -0.69; DBT in shaded areas was r = 0.64 for dewlap. Thermography effectively captured the animals' thermal response to the environment, validating its utility in well-being assessment.