Abstract
Haematological parameters were assessed from elephants of three institutions in Sri Lanka with different captive conditions, in order to evaluate if different captive conditions influence the physiology of the animals. The institutions were: The National Zoological Gardens (NZG), where elephants live a comparatively sedentary lifestyle, Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage (PEO), where elephants are allowed to walk and engage in intra-specific behaviours, and Millennium Elephant Foundation (MEF), where the elephants are used for tourist rides. Four adult females were examined from the NZG, while only two males and two females could be examined from PEO and MEF respectively. All animals were sampled on four consecutive days. Blood glucose levels, total white blood cells (WBC), red blood cells (RBC), packed cell volume (PCV), mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and differential white blood cell counts were carried out. Certain blood parameters of the elephants from NZG differed significantly from the parameters of the elephants from PEO and MEF. These were, the total WBC counts (Kruskal-Wallis, H=21.92, 2d.f., P=0.000), the lymphocyte count (Kruskal-Wallis, H=16.40, 2d.f., P=0.00) and the Neutrophil: Lymphocyte ratios (Kruskal-Wallis , H=14.58, 2d.f., P less than 0.05). PCV , blood glucose levels and monocyte counts were also shown to be significantly different among the three groups (Kruskal-Wallis P less than 0.000). We suggest that differences in the stress levels associated with the different management methods might influence these haematological values.
Highlights
The glucose levels of the elephants kept at MEF were significantly higher than the glucose levels of the animals kept at NZG and PEO (Kruskal-Waalis, H=6.88, 2d.f., P=0.032,)
The lymphocyte counts of the animals kept at NZG were significantly lower compared to those of the animals kept at PEO and MEF (Kruskal-Wallis, H=16.40, 2d.f., P=0.00)
The total white blood cells (WBC) counts and lymphocyte counts were significantly lower while the ratio of neutrophils to lymphocytes was significantly higher in the elephants from NZG
Summary
In addition to its wild population, Sri Lanka currently maintains a captive population of elephants for various purposes including exhibition, work and for cultural pageants (Canon & Davis 1995). Almost all captive elephants in Sri Lanka are caught from the wild at a young age. Little work has been done to evaluate how different management conditions affect the physiology of captive elephants. Captive animals, including elephants, have shown a tendency towards being stressed The increase of the ratio of neutrophils to lymphocytes has been shown to be an indicator of stress (Rossdale et al 1982; Kock et al 1999). We studied the haematology of elephants from three different captive conditions to compare how the management methods affected the haematology of the animals
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