**5. Conclusions**

Serum protein electrophoresis is a useful tool in the diagnosis and monitoring of a number of diseases. This study presents serum protein electrophoresis in a sample of healthy captive tigers. Due to the nature of wild *Panthera tigris*, it is extremely difficult to obtain biological samples from free-living subjects, and therefore the values obtained from captive tigers provide very useful data. Results indicate that agarose gel electrophoresis separates the total serum protein into six fractions, albumin, α1, α2, β1, β2 and γ globulins in tigers as in other mammals, resulting in a typical electrophoretic pattern for the distribution of proteins. Mean values of albumin and globulin fractions, with the exception of α2 and β1 globulins mean concentration, in our healthy tiger population fell within the reference values indicated for protein serum electrophoresis performed with AGE in domestic cats. These preliminary results provide the first data on serum electrophoretic pattern in healthy tigers and may offer a platform for further research into serum proteins as a useful diagnostic tool in the health assessment of this endangered species.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, D.P., E.S., R.P.; methodology, L.B. and D.G.; formal analysis, D.P..; investigation, L.B.; resources and samples G.R.; data curation, D.P.; E.S. and R.P.; writing—original draft preparation, D.P.; writing—review and editing, D.P., E.S., R.P., L.B.; project administration, D.P. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest
