Studies on the reproductive endocrinology of koalas have been performed mainly by using blood samples; however, in practice it is difficult to collect blood periodically because koalas are easily stressed. The purposes of the present study were to establish a noninvasive endocrine monitoring technique and to investigate the reproductive physiology of female koalas. Feces were collected from female northern and southern koalas, and progestagen was extracted from lyophilized fecal samples and determined by enzyme immunoassay. In nonpregnant northern and southern koalas, fecal progestagen markedly increased after copulation and remained high for 36.3 +/- 2.5 days and 38.9 +/- 1.4 days (luteal phase, mean +/- SEM), respectively. Mean (+/-SEM) progestagen levels (6.34 +/- 0.49 microg/g) during the luteal phase in northern koalas were significantly higher than in southern koalas (4.19 +/- 0.24 microg/g). Fecal progestagen in parturient northern koalas remained high for 36.2 +/- 1.9 days (gestation period, 34.1 +/- 0.3 days). In northern koalas, the mean levels and profiles of progestagen during pregnancy (6.44 +/- 0.37 microg/g) were consistent with those during nonpregnancy after copulation (6.34 +/- 0.49 microg/g). The duration of behavioral estrus in northern koalas was 13.5 +/- 0.9 days without copulation. In contrast, when estrous females mated, the estrous sign disappeared just after copulation. The mean (+/-SEM) length of the estrous cycle in northern koalas, as determined by behavioral estrus intervals, was 33.5 +/- 2.2 days without the luteal phase and 69.2 +/- 7.6 days with the luteal phase. Fecal progestagen analysis is a helpful and noninvasive tool to monitor ovulatory activity in northern and southern koalas and could help us to understand the reproductive activity of koalas by the combination approach with behavioral estrus.

Abstract. The progesterone (P4) profiles and macroscopic vulvar changes of female Malayan tapirs were investigated in order to understand their fundamental reproductive physiology and to search for visual indicators of estrus. Blood was collected once or twice a week from seven female Malayan tapirs kept at four zoos. Serum or plasma P4 concentrations were determined by radioimmunoassay. The P4 concentrations changed cyclically throughout the years, and a total of 56 cycles was confirmed in the seven females. The length of the estrous cycle based on the P4 profiles was 43.6 ± 2.0 days; however, this mean includes great variation in length, from 21 to 84 days. Mucous discharge from the vulva and vulvar swelling were seen when the P4 concentrations were low before the beginning of a rise in most cases. In conclusion, captive female Malayan tapirs have variations of approximately 1 to 3 months in estrous cycle length, and visual changes in the vulva are helpful in estimating estrus in female Malayan tapirs.

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Abstract. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether changes in body temperature are related to the ovarian cycle in elephants. Rectal, tongue or fecal temperature was measured for 2 Asian and 5 African elephants using an electric thermometer. Evaluation of ovarian cycles was based on the changes in serum or fecal progestin. The mean ± SD values of the rectal, tongue, and fecal temperatures were 36.3 ± 0.3 (2 Asian), 36.2 ± 0.5 (1 African) and 36.5 ± 0.3 C (4 African), respectively; the fecal temperature was the highest of the 3 temperatures (P<0.01). The longitudinal changes in body temperatures correlated with the ovarian cycle, with higher temperatures occurring during the luteal phase. The fecal temperatures of one acyclic African elephant did not change cyclically. These results suggest that measurement of body temperature can be used to easily evaluate the ovarian cyclicity of an individual animal, although it might not be able to determine the ovarian cycle length. Key words: Fecal temperature, Ovarian cycle, Progesterone, Rectal temperature, Tongue temperature (J. Reprod. Dev. 53: [1099][1100][1101][1102][1103][1104][1105] 2007) he body temperature and thermoregulatory behavior of the elephant have been studied for many years [1,2]. The methods used to measure the body temperatures of elephants include insertion of a clinical thermometer into the rectum (rectum temperature), insertion of a clinical thermometer into feces immediately after defecation (fecal temperature) and direct measurement of the temperature of urine midstream during urination (urinary temperature) [1,3]. It has been believed that measurement of the urine temperature is suitable for body temperature measurement because a large amount of urine is stored deep within the elephant's body [1]. However, measurement of the fecal temperature is a simple and safe method for large mammals such as the elephant [3]. It has been reported that the fecal temperature well reflects an elephant's rectal temperature and that the values are very similar [1]. The normal range of the rectal temperature of Asian (Elephas maximus) and African elephants (Loxodonta africana) is 36 to 37 C [4,5], and a fever of 38 C is considered significant [5].In female humans and chimpanzees (Pan troglo-

Japanese Sooiety of Zoo and Wildlife Medioine iP4， iPdG， iE2 and iElanalyses ， Key Words；estradiol−17 rS ， feca1 steroid， orangutan ， ovarian cycle ， pregnanediol Jpn． 丿 ． Zoo ． Wi' dl． 〃 ed ， ヱ 2(2)， 97 − 103， 2007