Hematology reference intervals in a wild female edible dormouse (Glis glis) in a reproductive population in Northeastern Thrace (Eastern Balkan Peninsula)

Abstract. Here, we report the values of 13 haematological parameters obtained from 10 potentially reproductive female individuals of the edible dormouse (Glis glis) from anthropogenically uninfluenced deciduous woodlands of Colchisian-Mediterranean type, with evergreen colchisine sub-forest in the Strandja region of Northeastern Thrace (Bulgaria). All specimens were captured at the end of the spring season in the bird's nest box in which they had lived. Values of hematological parameters investigated were calculated using a non-parametric percentile method and are described by their basic descriptive statistics (Mean; Median; SD; 2.5, 25, 75 and 97.5 percentile values). The present examination and statistical analysis of the hematological parameters described has established the basic norm of their variation in this species, described by their 2.5-97.5 % percentile range. This can be used not only for evaluation of the physiological condition of individuals, but also as an informative marker for evaluating the quality of the natural environment which they inhabit and thus contributes to species conservation in the Southeast Balkans.