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.
Forty rescued common palm civets were anesthetized. Twenty animals received intramuscular injections of alfaxalone 5 mg/kg and medetomidine 0.05 mg/kg (A-M group), whereas twenty animals received 5 mg/kg of tiletamine and zolazepam (T-Z group). The A-M group was reversed with atipamazole 0.25 mg/kg. There were no significant differences in the time from anesthetic injection to induction and intubation between the A-M and T-Z groups. The time from the injection of reversal in the A-M group and the time from cessation of isoflurane in the T-Z group to extubation, first response to recovery and ambulation were longer (P<0.05) in the T-Z group. The T-Z group recorded lower (P<0.05) rectal temperatures compared to the A-M group. This study showed that both drug combinations can be used effectively for the immobilization of civets. The A-M combination provided better anesthetic depth, but with higher incidence of bradycardia and hypoxemia. The recovery time was reduced significantly as atipamezole was used as a reversal agent in the A-M combination.