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BackgroundTo understand and reduce the concomitant effects of trapping and handling procedures in wildlife species, it is essential to measure their physiological impact. Here, we examined individual variation in stress levels in non-anesthetized European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), which were captured in box traps and physically restrained for tagging, biometrics and bio-sampling. In winter 2013, we collected venous blood samples from 28 individuals during 28 capture events and evaluated standard measurements for stress (heart rate, body temperature, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, lactate and total cortisol). Additionally, we assessed stress using the immunological tool, Leukocyte Coping Capacity (LCC), a real-time proxy for stress measuring oxygen radical production by leukocytes. Finally, the behavioral response to handling was recorded using a scoring system.ResultsLCC and therefore stress levels were negatively influenced by the time animals spent in the box trap with human presence at the capture site prior to handling. In contrast, none of the classical stress measures, including total cortisol, nor the behavioral assessment, were correlated with the stressor tested (time of human presence prior to handling) and thus did not provide a clear depiction regarding the extent of the animals short-term stress response.ConclusionsOverall our study verifies the LCC as a strong method to quantify short-term stress reactions in wildlife. Moreover, our results clearly show that human presence at the trapping site prior to handling should be kept to an absolute minimum in order to reduce stress levels.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12917-017-1045-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Wildlife management, conservation interventions and wildlife research programs often involve capture, manipulation and transport of wild animals. Widespread empirical evidence across various vertebrate taxa shows that handling wildlife generally induces a severe stress response resulting in increased stress levels. The inability of individuals to appropriately respond to rapidly changing environmental conditions during and after manipulations may have deleterious and long-lasting implications on animal welfare. Therefore, mitigating stress responses in the frame of conservation interventions is a key animal welfare factor. However, we have a poor understanding of the metrics to adequately assess and monitor the dynamic physiological changes that animals undergo when subjected to stressful procedures in wild or captive conditions. A growing number of studies provide good evidence for reciprocal interactions between immune processes and stress. Here, we review the existing literature on a relatively new technique—Leukocyte Coping Capacity (LCC), a proxy for stress quantifying oxygen radical production by leukocytes. We discuss the strength and weaknesses of this immunological approach to evaluate stress, the individual capacity to cope with stress and the resulting potential implications for animal welfare. Additionally we present new data on LCC in captive roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus ) under long-time anesthesia and free-ranging Asiatic wild asses (Kulan; Equus hemionus kulan ) were LCC was used to assess stress levels in animals captured for a reintroduction project.

PREFACECompilation of this document was initiated by the Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management in order to establish recommended protocols for capture, chemical immobilization, anesthesia and radiotagging of free-ranging brown bears (Ursus arctos), gray wolves (Canis lupus), wolverines (Gulo gulo) and Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx). In addition, procedures to ensure proper sampling of biological materials for management, research and banking purposes have been included.The current protocols are based on nearly 3,000 captures of free-ranging brown bears, wolves, wolverines and lynx carried out from 1984 through 2012 in Scandinavia. Some of the results have been published as peer reviewed papers, conference presentations, theses, and reports. However, a large amount of data are still on file and will be published in the future. In addition, comprehensive reviews of the global literature on brown bears, wolves, wolverines and lynx have been carried out in order to include pertinent information from other sources.These protocols have been approved by all ongoing research projects on brown bears, wolves, wolverines and lynx in Scandinavia.We thank the contributors for their cooperative efforts. We also thank the Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management for their support. This document will be updated on a regular basis and will be available in pdf format at:

We present the first reference ranges for hematology (n = 35 animals), serum biochemistry (n = 62), and serum protein electrophoresis (n = 32) in physically restrained free-ranging roe deer (Capreolus capreolus). Animals were captured in box traps and physically restrained for blood sampling during the winter in Sweden, 2011-13. No clinically significant sex or age differences were found.