Med. Weter. 2013, 69 (1) 40
Praca oryginalna Original paper
In recent years there has been an increasing interest in the use of physiological indices as bioindicators to assist in the studies of environmental changes. The basic and most common examination is peripheral blood morphology. The main functions of this liquid tissue are transportation and protection (immunity). Peripheral blood morphology is very helpful in eva-luating the health status of farm-bred animals in com-parison to free-living populations. Besides, it provi-des a good insight into animals natural habitats and their quality. In Sweden, carnivorous fur animals, espe-cially minks, are regarded as indicator species and used to monitor environmental pollution. The biological response of these animals to some substances present in the environment are often similar to those observed in laboratory animals or even humans (1, 4, 6, 12). These studies are very useful, since minks prey at higher trophic levels including both aquatic and terre-strial ecosystems. Therefore, the aim of the research was to compare selected morphological parameters of wild and farm minks, foxes and raccoons.
Material and methods
The studies were conducted at a farm of carnivorous fur animals with common red foxes, raccoons and standard
minks at the end of the production cycle. Free-living foxes, raccoons and dark brown colored minks were caught and maintained at the same farm for a month until the examina-tion started. The wild and farm-raised animals were fed the same diet tailored to the species and the feeding period (6) with water ad libitum.
The research material was sampled from 5 free-living foxes, 6 raccoons and 7 dark brown colored minks and from 10 farm animals of each species. Blood from all the animals was collected twice into Vacutainer EDTAk2 (Company Eklipse) tubes. The levels of the following blood indices were determined: red blood cell count (RBC), white blood cell count (WBC), hemoglobin concentration (Hb), hemato-crit (Ht) and indirect indices: mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean platelet volume (MPV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentra-tion (MCHC), thrombocyte concentraconcentra-tion (Tro), prothrom-bin time (Pt) and white blood cell picture. The parameters were determined with an MS4/5 analyzer (Melet Schloesing Laboratoires), and the results were subjected to variance analysis with an SAS statistical packet.
Results and discussion
Blood analysis is the basic diagnostic tool in eva-luating the health status and body condition of animals as well as an indirect indicator of their nutritional status, the presence of stressors and environmental conditions. Thus, the circulatory system is a critical
Hematological parameters of wild and farm mink,
red fox and raccoon dog*
)
BO¯ENA NOWAKOWICZ-DÊBEK, ANDRZEJ ZOÑ**, ANDRZEJ JAKUBCZAK*, WIOLETTA WNUK
Department of Animal and Environmental Hygiene, *Department of Biological Basis of Animal Production, Faculty of Biology and Animal Breeding, University of Life Sciences, Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
**National Research Institute of Animal Production, 39-331 Chorzelów 771, Poland
Nowakowicz-Dêbek B., Zoñ A., Jakubczak A., Wnuk W.
Hematological parameters of wild and farm mink, red fox and raccoon dog
Summary
The aim of the research was to compare hematological parameters of carnivorous fur animals (raccoons, foxes, minks), wild and farm-raised. Before blood collection, wild animals were caught and maintained under farm conditions. Blood samples were analyzed with an MS4/5 hematology analyzer (Melet Schloesing Laboratoires).
The analysis showed the greatest differences between the hematological indices of farm and wild animals in the cases of foxes and minks. For wild and farm raccoons statistically significant differences were found in lymphocytes, monocytes and neutrophils. These results are not only useful for environmental biomonitoring, but also constitute valuable reference material for physiological and pathological assessment of wild and farm animals.
Keywords: hematology, raccoon, fox, mink, wild, farm animal
*) The research project was financed by NCBiR, development project NR12--0140-10.
Med. Weter. 2013, 69 (1) 41
mechanism of homeostasis that functions on many levels. Each hematological parameter, though, should be analyzed in relation to the species, age and manage-ment conditions of the animal (2, 3, 5, 9, 11, 12). The raccoon has been present in natural ecosystems for years. However, no information on the biology and interaction of the raccoon with native mammal species or farm-raised raccoons is available (4).
The analysis of raccoon blood samples displayed marked differences in the count of leukocytes and thrombocytes (Tab. 1) between wild and farm raccoons, but the differences were not significant statistically. However, statistically significant differences between
the two groups were found in the evaluation of lympho-cytes, monocytes and neutrophils (Fig. 1). According to Skulimowska (11), the levels of these parameters can be modified by physiological and environmental factors. The organisms response to a stressor is a very individual trait, yet traumas, organic compound poisoning or bacterial and viral infections can clearly change the white blood cell picture. As regards wild and farm foxes, statistically significant differences were found for WBC, Ht, Hb, MCV, MCH, MPV and monocytes (Tab. 2, Fig. 2). The values of these
para-Fig. 1. Mean white-cell parameters in the blood of wild and
farm raccoon dogs (á £ 0.05) Fig. 2. Mean white-cell parameters in the blood of wild andfarm foxes (á £ 0.05) Tab. 1. Mean hematological parameters of wild and farm
raccoon dogs (á £ 0.05), (n = 6 wild/10 farm)
r e t e m a r a P Sapenicmieaslsof Mean Min Max Std )l / G ( s e t y c o k u e L wlid 14.42 11.08 17.46 3.13 m r a f 16.49 11.33 23.02 3.51 )l / T ( s e t y c o r h t y r E wlid 7.14 5.86 8.49 0.96 m r a f 7.09 6.39 7.67 0.41 )l /l ( t H wlid 0.39 0.30 0.46 0.06 m r a f 0.41 0.37 0.46 0.02 )l /l o m m ( b H wlid 13.20 19.5 15.5 2.17 m r a f 13.12 11.7 14.4 0.92 )l f( V C M wlid 55.15 50.5 59.0 2.89 m r a f 57.49 54.4 60.6 2.15 )l o m f( H C M wlid 1.14 1.00 1.38 0.13 m r a f 1.15 1.05 1.36 0.09 )l /l o m m ( C H C M wlid 20.75 19.16 23.44 1.57 m r a f 19.99 18.10 22.57 1.23 )l / G ( o r T wlid 173.33 190 246 60.141 m r a f 242.20 108 358 76.081 )l f( V P M wlid 8.08 7.70 8.40 0.30 m r a f 8.31 7.20 9.10 0.53 ) % ( t P wlid 0.14 0.07 0.21 0.05 m r a f 0.20 0.08 0.30 0.07
Tab. 2. Mean hematological parameters of wild and farm foxes (á £ 0.05), (n = 5 wild/10 farm)
r e t e m a r a P Sapenicmieaslsof Mean Min Max Std )l / G ( s e t y c o k u e L wlid 3.41 a 0.42 16.54 2.46 m r a f 9.28b 5.27 12.53 2.24 )l / T ( s e t y c o r h t y r E wlid 7.14 5.86 8.49 0.96 m r a f 7.09 6.39 7.67 0.41 )l /l ( t H wlid 0.34 a 0.11 0.46 0.14 m r a f 0.50b 0.46 0.54 0.03 )l /l o m m ( b H wlid 18.11 a 3.29 10.55 2.87 m r a f 10.12b 9.50 10.67 0.46 )l f( V C M wlid 37.16 a 35.5 39.7 1.91 m r a f 47.87b 46.7 49.5 0.98 )l o m f( H C M wlid 0.91 a 0.82 1.06 0.09 m r a f 0.97b 0.94 1.00 0.02 )l /l o m m ( C H C M wlid 24.43 22.69 29.82 2.95 m r a f 20.30 19.59 20.83 0.40 )l / G ( o r T wlid 252.0 168 463 141.031 m r a f 269.5 204 357 58.70 )l f( V P M wlid 7.42a 7.2 7.6 0.20 m r a f 8.04b 7.8 8.3 0.16 ) % ( t P wlid 0.19 0.05 0.35 0.11 m r a f 0.22 0.16 0.28 0.05
Explanations: a, b means with different superscript letters differ significantly at p £ 0.05
Med. Weter. 2013, 69 (1) 42
meters are consistent with studies by other authors and with the reference ranges (2, 3, 5, 11). The changes in the hematological indices of wild animals as compared to those of farm animals can be examined as a response to environmental stressors, e.g. leukopenia related to acute and chronic organic substance poisoning or persistent malnutrition and emaciation of organism. Zienius et al. (13) highlight strong ecological links between the raccoon and fox as visible in the white blood cell picture. Their neighbourhood in nature favors vector transmission and changes the epidemio-logy of many infections.
The mean values of selected hematological para-meters of wild and farm minks showed statistically significant differences for erythrocytes, hematocrit, hemoglobin and MPV (Tab. 3). In the white cell picture, notable, but statistically insignificant, differences were found for lymphocytes and neutrophils (Fig. 3). Para-meters presented by Weiss et al. (12) in the case of farm minks are slightly lower for hematocrit and hemoglobin, but similar for erythrocytes and MCV. The leukocyte count, however, is apparently higher than in the present research. The authors stress the importance of comparative studies on minks under different envi-ronmental conditions, as well as farming and feeding strategies. Such studies make it possible to detect potential health disturbances or inappropriate manage-ment of animals, and these problems have notable impact on their physiological system (1, 8, 12).
The diversity of the natural environments of the three species also results in differences in blood morphology parameters recorded between species living in envi-ronments with similar food resources, but having con-siderably different food preferences. This factor is very significant in the light of interaction between animals and their natural environments, especially in epizootic situations.
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Corresponding author: dr hab. prof. nadzw. Bo¿ena Nowakowicz--Dêbek, ul. Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin; e-mail: bozena.nowakowicz @up.lublin.pl
Fig. 3. Mean white-cell parameters in the blood of wild and farm minks (á £ 0.05)
Tab. 3. Mean hematological parameters of wild and farm minks (á £ 0.05), (n = 7 wild/10 farm)
r e t e m a r a P Sapenicmieaslsof Mean Min Max Std )l / G ( s e t y c o k u e L wlid 4.11 3.07 5.53 0.92 m r a f 3.96 1.47 8.47 2.35 )l / T ( s e t y c o r h t y r E wlid 9.70 a 9.07 10.84 0.64 m r a f 8.66b 7.13 19.75 0.88 )l /l ( t H wlid 0.53 a 0.50 0.60 0.03 m r a f 0.49b 0.40 0.56 0.05 )l /l o m m ( b H wlid 11.13 a 10.30 13.09 0.92 m r a f 10.02b 18.63 11.05 0.95 )l f( V C M wlid 55.20 52.9 57.2 1.27 m r a f 56.31 53.2 60.7 2.31 )l o m f( H C M wlid 1.14 1.09 1.20 0.05 m r a f 1.15 1.08 1.22 0.05 )l /l o m m ( C H C M wlid 20.75 19.72 21.82 0.84 m r a f 20.57 18.97 21.58 0.75 )l / G ( o r T wlid 399.86 306 438 44.17 m r a f 512.50 123 740 194.531 )l f( V P M wlid 10.09a 9.5 10.6 0.43 m r a f 19.49b 8.9 10.3 0.53 ) % ( t P wlid 0.40 0.32 0.46 0.04 m r a f 0.49 0.11 0.76 0.20 Explanations: as in Tab. 2.
