Hematology and blood chemistry of the Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus)in Ecuador: Comparative values between captive zoo bears and rehabilitated-free bears

Hematologic and chemical blood values are baseline parameters to evaluate thehealth status of a given captive or wild population. These parameters can also measurephysiological responses in the face of intrinsic or environmental stress produced bynatural or human interventions. Nevertheless, this is only achieved by comparing with thenormal values of the species. Various molecular studies on the Ecuadorian Andean bear(Tremarctos ornatus) populations have revealed that the homozygous levels are high forhypervariable microsatellite markers and that effective numbers are strongly limited. Inorder to complement ecological and genetic studies, the physiological traits of thisspecies were studied. Eight hematologic traits and 10 biochemical variables weremeasured in two Andean bear groups, one comprised of captive animals in zoos and"centros de rescate" and the second comprised of individuals assigned to a rehabilitationprogram. Additionally, the hematologic and biochemical variables were compared to those obtained from three wild bears. The two main aims developed in the present studywere to analyze if Castellanos' rehabilitation procedure affects in these hematologic andbiochemical traits regarding those values found in captive zoo animals. If so, in whatsense and magnitude were these differences developed? Results show that thehematologic variables presented higher trends in favor of differences among therehabilitated-free group relative to the captive group (three out of eight) than didbiochemical variables (one out of ten).