1. ¹Disease Research Laboratory, Microbiology Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
2. ²Trudeau Institute, 100 Algonquin Avenue, Saranac Lake, NY 12983, USA

Correspondence: Douglas Begg, Disease Research Laboratory, Microbiology Department University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin New Zealand. Email: begdo852@student.otago.ac.nz

Received 4 August 2003; Accepted 26 November 2003; Published online 1 June 2004.

Abstract

Specific and non-specific immunological tests were used to monitor aspects of the immune response in captive possums. The tests included total and differential white blood cell counts, lymphocyte transformation assay, and enzyme linked immunosorbant assay. The level of free cortisol present in possum plasma samples was evaluated as an endocrine marker for stress. Four different housing conditions were used to test whether stress could be managed or avoided in captive animals. Animals were caged individually or as groups in pens. Bacille Calmette-Gurein (BCG) and tetanus toxoid immunization was used to evoke primary cell mediated and antibody responses in test animals. The results indicated that there was no significant difference in immunological responses or endocrine parameters in animals held under any of the housing conditions. The results infer that wild possums adapt quickly post-capture to novel housing conditions and produce representative patterns of immunity when held in housing conditions and fed ad libitum.