| Summary: | Giant pandas are the flagship species in world conservation, and include two subspecies, <i>Ailuropoda melanoleuca qinlingensis</i> (<i>A. m. qinlingensis</i>) and <i>Ailuropoda melanoleuca sichuanensis</i> (<i>A. m. sichuanensis</i>). Hematology and serum biochemistry studies are crucial to protecting giant pandas. Even though research on hematology and serum biochemistry are well-established in <i>A. m. sichuanensis</i>, research in <i>A. m. qinlingensis</i> is scarce. The study aimed to (1) establish a baseline for hemogram and reference intervals (RIs) for hematological and serum biochemical parameters in <i>A. m. qinlingensis</i>, (2) assess the possible variations in these parameters of <i>A. m. qinlingensis</i> based on age, gender, and storage condition of blood samples, and (3) compare the parameters to those of <i>A. m. sichuanensis</i>. Blood samples (<i>n</i> = 42) were collected from healthy <i>A. m. qinlingensis</i> (<i>n</i> = 21) housed in Shaanxi (Louguantai) Rare Wildlife Rescue and Breeding Research Center, and hematological (<i>n</i> = 25) and serum biochemical parameters (<i>n</i> = 18) were analyzed in March and December of 2019. The results showed no significant abnormality in the blood smears of all individuals in this study, except for a few serrated red blood cells, platelet aggregations, and occasionally giant platelets. Between sub-adult and adult <i>A. m. qinlingensis</i>, there were significant differences in five hematological and one serum biochemical parameter (<i>p</i> < 0.05), whereas six serum biochemical parameters were present when α = 0.1 (<i>p</i> < 0.1). Gender influenced % NEU, % LYM, % EOS, LYM, EOS, GGT, and CHOL of <i>A. m. qinlingensis</i>. The majority of the hematological and serum biochemical parameters of <i>A. m. qinlingensis</i> were different from those of <i>A. m. sichuanensis</i> regarding age and gender. The anticoagulant whole blood samples of <i>A. m. qinlingensis</i> stored at 2–8 °C for 24 h and the serum samples stored at −18 °C for 48 h had little influence on the values of hematological and serum biochemical parameters. In conclusion, this study provided a baseline of hemogram and established RIs for hematological and serum biochemical parameters of <i>A. m. qinlingensis</i>. RIs of <i>A. m. sichuanensis</i> reported before were not completely fit for <i>A. m. qinlingensis</i>, and age, gender, or the storage condition of blood samples influenced some of the parameters of <i>A. m. qinlingensis</i>. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report of a hemogram baseline and RIs for hematological and serum biochemical parameters of <i>A. m. qinlingensis</i>.
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