Avian toe-legged disease poses serious threat to ostrich farms worldwide. Despite its severity, the underlying pathogenic mechanism of toe- legged disease in ostrich remains elusive. Our study aims to explore the connection between toe leg disease and articular cartilage with prime focus on the underlying mechanism in the pathogenesis of the disease. For this purpose, 18 male ostriches, comprising three groups: group A (6 healthy), group B (6 with mild disease), and group C (6 with severe disease), all aged 3 months were selected. Histopathological changes in tarsal joints of ostriches with leg and toe disease were observed using radiological examination (X-ray), Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E), Safranin O-staining, and Masson trichome staining. The chondrocyte were evaluated for apoptosis and changes in the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax in articular cartilage using TdT-mediated dUTP Nick-End Labeling (TUNEL), and Immunohistochemistry (IHC). The results indicated that the tarsal joints of ostriches with leg and toe disease exhibit pathological changes such as thickening of the periosteum, decreased number of chondrocytes, shallow staining of cartilage matrix, incomplete tidemark, and decreased collagen. In comparison to Group A, there was a significant decrease in cell apoptosis (P<0.01) while the expression of apoptosis proteins Bcl-2 and Bax was found to be significantly increased (P<0.01) in the tarsal cartilage of groups B and C. In conclusion, our findings suggest that excessive chondrocyte apoptosis may be the underlying pathogenic mechanism for toe and leg disease in ostriches. These findings offer valuable insights for the diagnosis and treatment of ostriches with toe-legged disease.