Routine blood values for New Zealand brushtail possums at capture

Abstract

Extract

Thank you for the opportunity to reply to Dr Clark's and Ms Cooke's recent letters. As stated in our original letter “Routine blood values for New Zealand brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) at capture”, the brushtail possum is the subject of intense and diverse study throughout the country (Lynch, 1997). Part of this study focuses on finding disease agents that may be useful in biological control. At present there are no publications detailing the blood values one might expect to find in a non-diseased, wild New Zealand possum at capture. As noted in our letter, we have not set out to find absolute normal values, rather those blood values an investigator might expect to find in a healthy possum presented with little or no history by a member of the public immediately following capture (hence the use of the word “routine” in the title rather than “normal”).