The implementation of the programme for the reintroduction of the Persian leopard in the Caucasus in Russia allowed carrying out a detailed video monitoring of various aspects of this subspecies' life under captive conditions in the «Center of the leopard recovery in the Caucasus». The most important stage of this programme was the formation of couples and the progeny getting of adult individuals caught in their natural environment and placed into a closed aviary. A complex sexual behaviour of leopards, while having different stages of the estrous cycle, could be identified by manifestation of characteristic features in various stages. There is an increase in both the motion behaviour as well as in the marking activity during proestrus; the cozying that helps to maintain the sexual activity of the male and the adopting of the receptive pose of the female during the estrus; avoidance of mating by the female during the proestrus stage; transition of the mating initiative to the male as well as passive behaviour of the female during the metaestrus stage. A large number of matings is caused by the species' biology. The leopard belongs to the animals with an «instigated» ovulation. Therefore the multiple coituses stimulate the maintaining of a high concentration of estrogens in the blood and promote the ovulation of follicles. As a result, we have concluded that the form of female sexual behaviour (with permissible error) can indicate the functional activity of the ovaries and the corpora lutea, as well as it allows determining the beginning and duration of the stages of the estrous cycle.

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АННОТАЦИЯ В статье рассмотрены результаты наблюдений за поведением самца и самки переднеазиатского леопарда в условиях вольерного содержания в различные фазы эстрального цикла. Приведены данные, отражающие локомоторную двигательную активность, маркировочное и половое поведение. Изучение динамики поведения животных в течение года проводилось ежедневно в течение светового дня, а в периоды активизации полового поведения круглосуточно, с использованием камер видеонаблюдения, установленных в вольерах.

Abstract. Ertuev MM, Semenov UA. 2019. Some behavior features of a female Panthera pardus tulliana during pregnancy and at first parturitions. Biodiversitas 20: 1333-1338. The present paper reports the results of the behavioral study of a female Panthera pardus tulliana during pregnancy, and before, during and after parturitions. The study was conducted in the Center of leopard recovery in the Caucasus, located in the mountain zone of the Sochi National Park, Russia. The behavior of Panthera was observed using surveillance cameras. During pregnancy, there is a significant shift in the level and ratio of hormones in the female's body. These internal changes can cause reorganization of the brain divisions which participate in the formation of the behavioral reaction, including female's behavior. We have shown that significant changes occur in the manifestation of individual behavior forms along with the increase of the pregnancy age and the intensification of fetal growth: a decrease in the level of anxiety and fear, and an increase in feed intake. At the end of pregnancy, the frequency of sleep and rest periods increases, but they are short-term. Before parturition, a female experiences painful sensations due to increase motor activity of the fetus, accumulation of toxins, possible hypoxia.