Annual and seasonal variations of essential minerals in free-ranging Scandinavian brown bears (Ursus arctos)

• Main Author: Yngvell, Madeleine
• Other Authors: Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse (ENVT), Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT), Aude Ferran
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2024
• Subjects: Scandinavian brown bear; Whole blood; Essential minerals; Reference intervals; Seasonal and annual variations; Ursus arctos gobiensis; Ours brun; Minéraux; Ours brun scandinave; Ursus arctos; Concentrations sanguines; Minéraux essentiels; Intervalles de référence; Variations saisonnières et annuelles; [SDV.BA.MVSA]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Veterinary medicine and animal Health; Bruns
• Online Access: https://dumas.ccsd.cnrs.fr/dumas-04470082; https://dumas.ccsd.cnrs.fr/dumas-04470082/document; https://dumas.ccsd.cnrs.fr/dumas-04470082/file/T-2023-124.pdf

Exploring blood chemistry values has the potential to improve our understanding of physiological changes in wildlife. However, it has been sparsely investigated in brown bears (Ursus arctos). The objectives of this study were to determine reference intervals for twelve blood chemistry variables and to evaluate differences between seasons and years. To establish reference values for biochemical variables in whole blood for freeranging Scandinavian brown bears, 384 blood samples were collected from 164 different bears over a period of twelve years, from 2010 to 2022. The samples were collected during winter (February-March), spring (April-May) and summer (June), in the county of Dalarna in southcentral Sweden. The bears were chemically immobilized inside their den during winter, while being darted and immobilized from a helicopter during spring and summer. The drugs used for the chemical immobilization are a combination of tiletamine, zolazepam and medetomidine, with ketamine in addition in winter. Essential minerals are one of the important nutritional components having a significant role in animal health, reproduction, immune system, metabolism, etc. The biochemical variables included in this study are the following twelve essential minerals: calcium, cobalt, copper, iodine, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, selenium, sodium, sulfur and zinc. Seasonal and annual variations of the mineral values were established for the brown bears. L'exploration des concentrations sanguines en minéraux essentiels permet d’améliorer notre compréhension des changements physiologiques rencontrés dans la faune sauvage. Cependant, il s’agit d’un sujet peu étudié chez l'ours brun (Ursus arctos). Les objectifs de cette étude sont d’établir des intervalles de référence en concentrations sanguines de douze minéraux essentiels et d'évaluer leurs variations entre saisons et années. Afin d’établir ces valeurs de référence pour les ours bruns sauvages scandinaves, 384 échantillons sanguins ont été prélevés sur 164 ours bruns sur une ...