30 Vetcom Volume 57 ON LOCATION WHAT’S INTHEBLOOD? status iscriticalto decision-makingespeciallyfortranslocation. The availabilityoffieldteststoprovide rapidassessmentofhealth Paul vanHelden,PhD Sven Parsons,DVM,PhD Peter Buss,BVSc,MMedVet Michele Miller, DVM,MPH Contributing Authors:
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ON LOCATION 31 South Africa ), a mostly continue ), a smaller cousin of the spotted hyena that ), a smaller cousin of the ), a powerful predator that hunts in packs and ), a powerful predator that Crocuta crocuta Parahyaena brunnea often conjure up negative images due to their scavenging nature YENAS often conjure up negative black cowardice and even with gluttony, and have been associated important ecological hyenas play an However, magic in some cultures. by helping to recycle carrion inspiring the role especially as scavengers, scavenges in packs or singly in the arid regions of southern Africa. in the arid regions of southern scavenges in packs or singly
is found throughout sub-Saharan Africa; striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena is found throughout sub-Saharan India; and Western Africa, the Middle East, a range including solitary scavenger with and brown hyena ( H term “environmental health police”. Once widespread throughout Africa, Arabia, Africa, police”. Once widespread throughout term “environmental health near their conservation status is now considered Asia, and the Indian subcontinent, There are three species of loss and human persecution. threatened due to habitat hyena: spotted hyena ( 32 Vetcom Volume 57 ON LOCATION South Africa healthy hyenas werebeingtranslocated froma serum onthe Abaxis ComprehensiveRotor. Two compared todomesticdog parametersusing hyena havesimilarserum chemistry values Very preliminaryworkhasshownthatspotted hyenas. a databasethatwillfacilitatediseasedetectionin to create One ofthegoalsistousethisinformation panels usingthe to determinehealthstatus,includingbiochemical to developandevaluateavarietyoftechniques spotted hyenas.Ourresearchfocushasbeen its roleinresponsetobovinetuberculosis characterize theimmunesystemandinvestigate National Park,haveinitiatedastudyto Veterinary Wildlife ServicesstaffinKruger University inSouth Africa alongwiththe Animal TBResearchGroupatStellenbosch such asintroductionofdisease. Therefore, the conservation istominimizedeleteriousimpacts translocated. Oneoftheprimaryprinciples animals thatarebeingcapturedandpotentially more informationisrequiredtoassesshealthin their currentrangeareinprogress.However, to maintainandrestorehyenapopulationsin and bovinetuberculosis.Conservationprograms populations suchasrabies,caninedistempervirus can causedevastatingeffects onothercarnivore such astheirapparentresistancetodiseasesthat unique attributeswarrantadditionalinvestigation undergone severedegradation.Hyenas’ other or disappears,itsuggeststhatthehabitathas health. Ifaspottedhyenapopulationdeclines change, thusbeingindicatorsofecosystem have thegreatestbehavioraladaptationtohabitat As akeystonepredatorin Africa, spottedhyenas Two SpottedHyenas Abaxis comprehensiverotor. Chemistry Analyzer forthe domesticdog. compared tothereferencerangeprovidedby Abaxis VS2 The chemistryresultsfromthetwohyenaareshownbelow status iscriticaltodecision-makingespeciallyfortranslocation. availability offieldteststoproviderapidassessmenthealth providing abaselinerangeforserumchemistryparameters. The were usedforaseriesofimmunologicaltestsaswell without anyabnormalities.Bloodsamplesfromtheseindividuals On physicalexamination,bothwereinexcellentcondition facility withoutahistoryofbovinetuberculosisorotherdiseases. Glob g/dl TP g/dl K mmol/l Na mmol/l Glu mg/dl Cre mg/dl Phos mg/dl Ca mg/dl BUN mg/dl Tbil mg/dl Amy u/l ALT u/l u/l ALP Alb g/dl Comprehensive DiagnosticProfile(CDP) 4.7-4.8 7.0-7.1 2.3-5.2 4.8-5.1 5.4-8.2 136-137 3.7-5.8 91-99 2.0-2.3 60-110 3.2-3.6 0.3-1.4 10.1-10.3 2.9-6.6 21-30 0.4 7-25 0.1-0.6 271-323 105-109 24-26 2.3 20-150 2.5-4.0 Healthy hyenas 138-160 8.6-11.8 200-1200 10-118 Dog normalrange
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ON LOCATION 33 South Africa Dr. Miller retrieving Dr. a blood sample from a Spotted Hyena. KRUGER NATIONAL PARK Hematology and biochemical values, along with clinical Hematology and biochemical values, being developed for signs, and specific diagnostic tests information TB in spotted hyenas will provide valuable in this species. that can be used to assess health status Creating databases such as biochemical values adds to our knowledge of the biology of these unique animals. Spotted Hyenas scavenging a rhino carcass.