WildLife Group
of the SAVA
disinfectant; camera; necropsy form, pencil, pen
and ruler.
Optional items: forceps, ax and hacksaw; DMSO
bottles, blood tubes, swabs and sterile sample
bottles; bucket, brush and soap; glass slides; GPS.
•
Get as much information as possible from people who
may have seen the animal alive: including but not by
any means limited to changes in behaviour, feeding,
the environment of the animal, the weather, detailed
information on clinical signs and any treatment
received. Any recent changes in recent weather
conditions that could have caused animal deaths
(drought, floods, electrical storm, etc); any signs or
history of struggling before death?
This should not be collected for only the dead animal,
but for the remaining animals including previous
health issues. Ideally, you should have a template for
the recording of such information.
Put one half of the brain in formalin, and send the
other half on ice to your veterinarian.
Assess the Condition of the Environment:
Note recent weather conditions that could have
caused animal deaths (drought, floods, electrical
storm, etc).
•
Note signs of struggling before death.
Assess the body condition and external appearance
of the Animal: note any bite wounds or other signs of
predation. If wounds are present, look for bruising and
bleeding in the tissues near the wounds, which would
indicate that they occurred before the animal died.
If the pangolin will be euthanased, consider calling the
Wildlife Biological Resource Centre (082 3 994 4 388)
to have samples collected for genetic studies, as well
as sperm or ova for storage.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN THE EXAMINATION
All carcasses should be handled as if they were
harboring potentially dangerous diseases: wear
gloves. Do not eat or answer the phone while
performing an examination and wash your hands well
when you are finished.
Could this animal have a disease that is transmissible
to humans, livestock or other wildlife?
•
Wet the skin with soapy disinfectant.
If there is a history of abnormal behaviour (eg very
aggressive, unusually tame), consider Rabies and
consider whether you should notify a vet, take extra
precautions, and make sure the person is vaccinated.
If you are properly protected by vaccination, and have
a mask and gloves, remove the head (see below), and
cut it lengthwise down the middle.
6
Measuring the pangolin’s length
Otherwise these wound most likely were caused from
the carcass being scavenged.
Curl the pangolin up tightly and measure the length of
the animal from the tip of the snout to the tip of the
tail.
If possible, weigh the pangolin as accurately as
possible.
Take a blood smear sample from an ear or tail vein (or
from a severed artery during the necropsy) Slide 1 To
make a blood smear, collect one TINY drop of blood
with a glass slide, place it at one end of a second glass
slide. Using the first slide, gently smear the blood
along the length of the second slide. Make at least