Haemato-biochemical profile of a wounded captive adult female chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes)

Abstract

Chimpanzees are long-lived social animals with close phylogenetic traits to humans and they also require great opportunities for social interactions, care, and management even in captivity. Thus like humans, they are faced with challenges of wounding, although with higher frequency in captivity than their counterparts in the wild. Clinical examination of complete blood counts and serum biochemistry as in other non-human primates (NHP) and human is vital for improved management and monitoring. The attention of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital’s wildlife unit, University of Jos was drawn to a wounded adult female Chimpanzee at the Jos Zoo, Plateau state, Nigeria. It was reported to have occurred following a fight with a younger male in the shelter. Clinical examination revealed varying degrees of injuries on the left index, middle, and ring fingers with traumatic amputation of portions of the index and ring fingers. Following immobilization using ketamine and xylazine (12mg/kg and 0.2mg/kg body weight), 5 milliliters of blood was collected via femoral venipuncture pre-and post-operative management for haemato-biochemical profiling. All parameters were largely within normal reference limits, except for a moderate hypoproteinemia. Following the instituted management, there was a shift from chronicity with observed progressive healing of the wounds. Total protein, conjugated bilirubin, high density lipids and low density lipids obtained in this study could be adopted as a guide for subsequent investigation involving the liver and fasting lipids. In conclusion, the haemato-biochemical profile in this report may be important in managing wounded Chimpanzees as values may be influenced by the individual’s dynamic pathophysiological state