Blood values of Bald Ibis (Geronticus eremita) in captivity: comparative ranges and variability with age, sex and physical condition

Abstract

The Bald Ibis (Geronticus eremita) is one of the world's most threatened species of birds. The number of individuals in captivity is several times greater than the number of individuals in the wild, so that the re-introduction of individuals from captive breeding into their natural habitat may be vital for the recovery of the species. A knowledge of the health problems associated with the handling of captive individuals and the improvement of their veterinary care could have great importance in determining the success of these captive breeding programs. Haematology and blood chemistry are very useful complementary tools in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases in birds, and provide valuable information about the individual's nutritional status and physical condition. The present work reports haematocrit and blood chemistry values for individuals belonging to a captive population of this species, and analyses their variability with respect to age, sex, and physical condition of the animals. Adults presented greater values of haematocrit, uric acid, total proteins, cholesterol, and aspartate amine transferase than the young. With respect to sex differences, adult female birds had higher concentrations of alkaline phosphatase than males, contrary to previous results for captive individuals of this species. The condition index of adults was positively correlated with triglycerides, glucose, and alkaline phosphatase levels, and negatively with urea and lactate dehydrogenase levels. These results may be very useful as a complementary diagnosis tool during the veterinary care of individuals of this species included in re-introduction programs.

Excretion patterns of coccidian oocysts and nematode eggs during the reproductive season in Northern Bald Ibis (Geronticus eremita)

“…In the context of conservation physiology (Stevenson et al 2005 ; Wikelski and Cooke 2006 ), our results also contribute background information which may support Northern Bald Ibis re-introduction and conservation programmes (e.g. Dutton et al 2002 ; Sánchez-Guzmán et al 2004 ; Villegas et al 2004 ).…”

Sex and other sources of variation in the haematological parameters of White Stork Ciconia ciconia chicks

“…There is also often considerable unexplained variation among individuals (Dawson and Bortolotti 1997a;Campo and Davila 2002;Blas et al 2006), potentially linked to sex, but whether this variation is indeed related to sex remains largely unknown. On the other hand, as has been seen in species with high sexual dimorphism (Kostelecka-Myrcha 1985;Bowerman et al 2000;Gayathri et al 2004;Villegas et al 2004;Gil et al 2007), we predict that some blood parameters of males and females will diverge with age due to the differential effects of sex-specific hormones. For instance, hormones may modulate aggressive behaviour among chicks, and therefore access to food provided by parents (Villegas et al 2004;Tryjanowski et al 2011).…”

“…However, considerable within-population variation may exist in haematological traits and may need to be incorporated to provide useful reference values. Age has been identified as a major factor that can influence blood parameters, and others, such as sex or stage of the breeding cycle, may also be important (Kostelecka-Myrcha 1985;Pastor et al 2001a, b;Campo and Davila 2002;Gayathri et al 2004;Villegas et al 2004;Baos et al 2006b;Kasprzak et al 2006;Jakubas et al 2008). However, our knowledge of the influence of sex and other factors on haematological parameters, especially in chicks, is limited.…”

Biochemical reference intervals for homing pigeons in China

“…Similar findings in previous studies held that it possibly relate to rising physical activity before fledging ( Muriel, et al., 2013 ). Different levels in TP and UA between young and adult pigeons may result from different nutritional status rather than age difference ( Villegas et al., 2004 , Barbara et al., 2017 ).…”