Size Matters: Zoo Data Analysis Shows that the White Blood Cell Ratio Differs between Large and Small Felids.

The total number of white blood cells (WBCs) is related the immune system. In mammals, it is affected by the body mass, but it is unclear how the numbers of different WBC types correlate with this parameter. We analyzed the effect of body mass on WBC number and ratio in felids, where species are similar in diet (warm-blood vertebrates) and reproductive strategy (promiscuity).

CANINE DISTEMPER VIRUS IN A WILD FAR EASTERN LEOPARD ( PANTHERA PARDUS ORIENTALIS).

The critically endangered population of Far Eastern leopards ( Panthera pardus orientalis) may number as few as 60 individuals and is at risk from stochastic processes such as infectious disease. During May 2015, a case of canine distemper virus (CDV) was diagnosed in a wild leopard exhibiting severe neurologic disease in the Russian territory of Primorskii Krai. Amplified sequences of the CDV hemagglutinin gene and phosphoprotein gene aligned within the Arctic-like clade of CDV, which includes viruses from elsewhere in Russia, China, Europe, and North America.