Do you prefer to use the medial saphenous vein, or the tail, or the jugular? What gauge needle should you use for the different sites?

Find out the answer to this and much more on the Wild Tiger Health Project website - a one stop hub for veterinary information relevant to the conservation of wild tigers. To celebrate International Tiger Day, more content has been added to the website and they have launched a private Facebook group for veterinary professionals working with wild tigers.

The group provides a platform for discussion, advice and feedback about cases. It will be a resource hub for information pertaining to the care of wild tigers. You can request to join up here.

We shall be publishing interesting updates in our newsletter, so please sign up if you haven't already.

For your additional information, the jugular vein is usually the easiest to collect a blood sample from in a tiger, using a 1 inch 19-gauge needle. If using the medial saphenous vein, a tourniquet should be placed around the tiger's upper thigh/stifle and the fur clipped away. The tail can be used in animals that have been trained to present their tails. Again a tourniquet should be placed as the base of the tail.

‍