Hematological and serum biochemical parameters of rescued Sunda pangolins (Manis javanica) in Singapore

The Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica) population in Southeast Asia faces threats such as poaching and deforestation. Health assessments of rescued individuals including physical examination and blood work are crucial for clinicians to determine the health status of these animals. The establishments of reference intervals of hematology and serum biochemistry are important for identifying clinical abnormalities. The objectives of our study were to establish blood reference intervals for Sunda pangolins, to determine if there are age and sex related differences in hematology and serum biochemistry, and to compare our results with those of a previous study on confiscated Sunda pangolins in Thailand. Fifty-eight Sunda pangolins were rescued between January 2011 and December 2015. The hematology and serum biochemistry results of 51 clinically normal Sunda pangolins were selected for the establishment of the blood reference intervals. No sex related differences were noted in this study. Age-related differences were observed, in which adult Sunda pangolins had a significantly higher mean corpuscular volume than juveniles, and juvenile Sunda pangolins had significantly higher red blood cell counts and hemoglobin levels than those of the adults (P<0.05). Age-related differences were also noted in several serum biochemistry parameters: alkaline phosphatase (ALP) was significantly higher in juveniles, and total protein was significantly higher in adult Sunda pangolins. Compared to a previous study the white blood cell counts, neutrophil counts, and ALP were higher, and the lymphocyte counts were lower in the present study.