Hematological and biochemical reference intervals for wild caught Eurasianotter from Spain

Hematologic and serum chemistry reference intervals were determined from 33 wild caught Eurasian otters (Lutra lutra lutra) between November 1995 and May 1998 during a reintroduction project. Blood was obtained by jugular ven ipuncture after administration of ketamine and medetomidine. The mean, stan dard deviation, and range for 19 hematology parameters and 28 serum chemist ry values are presented. There were no significant differences between sexe s in most analytes. The results are in agreement with those reported previo usly for Eurasian otters with the exception of higher leukocyte and neutrop hil counts, lower eosinophil and lymphocyte counts and higher activities fo r aspartate aminotransferase and creatine kinase. The Eurasian otters have lower erythrocyte counts but higher mean corpuscular volume and mean corpus cular hemoglobin values than the river otter (Lutra canadensis) in North Am erica.