The Role of Management Systems on Haematological Profile of Southern Giant Pouched Rat (Cricetomys ansorgei) Under the Tropical Setting in Morogoro, Tanzania

Abstract

Introduction: The study explored the effect of management system on the haematological profiles of African giant pouched rats (Cricetomys ansorgei) as compared to the natural Standard procedures were observed in determination of blood cells and other blood ratios or units. Method: The blood samples were collected from the rats both wild and captivity rats, analyzed using haematological analyser; statistically the descriptive statistics and analysis of variance were done using SPSS version 20. Results: The analysis of the collected has shown that the southern giant pouched rats in the wild had high counts (mean ± standard deviation) for RBC (6.5 ± 1.5) and lymphocytes (38.1 ± 15.7) as compared to the housed rats. The rats in captivity had high reading of total white blood cell counts (8.7 ± 2.4), neutrophils (3.5 ± 2.4) and eosinophil (1.4 ± 1.01) than the wild rats. The blood indices showed that wild rats have relatively high reading on PCV (42.1 ± 7.4) and HBC (18.5 ± 1.8); whereas the rats in captivity had high reading on MCV (72.9 ± 6.7), Thrombin concentration (380.2 ± 104.5) and MPV (7.6 ± 0.9).The analysis determined the relation of sex with respect to blood cells and blood indices; it was shown that female wild rats had highreading on RBC (7.2 ± 1.3), WBC (7.8 ± 1.7) and lymphocytes (35.0 ± 1.8) compared to their male counterparts; the male rats had high reading on monocytes (3.3 ± 1.9), neutrophils (2.3 ± 1.3) and eosinophil (1.0 ± 0.5). The relation of sex to the determined heamotological parameters had no significant difference. The blood indices with respect to se of the rats; it was shown that wild male rats had high reading on MCV (67.0 ± 18.8), PCV (39.8 ± 9.6), HBC (14.9 ± 4.4) and thrombin concentration (387.0 ± 109.0); meanwhile the rats in captivity the reading were not significant different. Conclusion: The present study presents preliminary haematological profiles of southern giant pouched rats in Morogoro which could be useful to researchers in animal physiology. It is our hope that further researches are conducted in these precious animals to even improve their reproductive performance as well as human food.