ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Zoological Medicine
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1602296
Reference Intervals for Hematology, Serum Biochemistry and Blood Gas Parameters in Indian Elephants (Elephas maximus indicus) under Human Care
Provisionally accepted
Sanath Krishna Muliya1,2*
Uddalak Tathagato Bindhani1Lallianpuii Kawlni1*Anjan Kumar Ramakrishna3Vaseem Mirza4Mujib Ur Rahman5Vinay Kumar6Ramesha Huchhaiah5Thammaiah Chekkera Kuttappa1Souritra Sharma1Kafil Hussain1,7
Vishnupriya Kolipakam1Ramesh Kumar Pandey8
Qamar Qureshi1- 1Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, India
- 2National Zoological Park & National Tiger Conservation Authority, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, New Dehli, India
- 3Veterinary College, Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
- 4Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Karnataka Forest Department, Mysore, India
- 5Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, Karnataka Forest Department, Mysore, India
- 6Sakrebyle Elephant Camp, Karnataka Forest Department, Shivamogga, India
- 7Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
- 8Project Elephant, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Delhi, India
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The Indian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus), classified as "Endangered" by the IUCN, faces significant population declines and habitat degradation, necessitating robust health assessment tools for both managed and free-ranging populations. This study aimed to establish comprehensive hematology, serum biochemistry and arterial blood gas reference intervals (RIs) for Indian elephants, addressing gaps in existing studies, and following the guidelines of the American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology (ASVCP). Samples were collected from a well-defined elephant population under human care in southern India and analyzed on the same day. Phlebotomy was carried out in unsedated elephants in lateral recumbency to avoid sedation-related effects on measurands. A total of 92 elephants were sampled. Hematology RIs were derived from EDTA whole blood using automated methods, while serum biochemistry RIs were generated using semi-automated analyzers; arterial blood gas analysis was also performed using a portable field analyzer. The established hematology RIs were as follows:
Keywords: Asian elephants, Blood gas, Electrolytes, Elephas maximus indicus, Hematology, Physiological parameters, Reference intervals, Serum biochemistry
Received: 29 Mar 2025; Accepted: 25 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Muliya, Bindhani, Kawlni, Ramakrishna, Mirza, Rahman, Kumar, Huchhaiah, Kuttappa, Sharma, Hussain, Kolipakam, Pandey and Qureshi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Sanath Krishna Muliya, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, India
Lallianpuii Kawlni, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, India
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