Corticosterone stress response of Greater Rhea (Rhea americana) during short-term road transport

Abstract

The effect of transport stress on blood corticosterone levels in captive Greater Rheas was investigated. Twelve adult individuals (7 males; 5 females) were loaded in pairs inside wooden crates and transported along a paved road for 30 min. Blood samples were taken before the individuals were introduced into the crate (baseline value) and immediately after they were unloaded (30 min after capture). To assess whether corticosterone levels were affected by the blood sampling procedure per se, another 6 (nontransport) control birds (3 males; 3 females) were also captured and sampled at the same times as their transported counterparts. Plasma corticosterone concentrations were measured using a commercially available corticosterone (125)I radio-immunoassay kit. Baseline corticosterone levels were similar in the control and transported birds (9.0 ± 1.6 and 10.4 ± 0.8 ng/mL, respectively). Transportation induced a highly significant (P < 0.001), more than 40-fold increase in the corticosterone levels (433.6 ± 35.4 ng/mL) that was about 5 times higher (P < 0.001) than in their nontransported counterparts (88.4 ± 14.8 ng/mL). The present findings suggest that Greater Rhea is a species highly sensitive to stressful manipulations. Both blood sampling and transportation induced highly significant adrenocortical responses. Considering that transportation is one of the unavoidable common practices in the management of Greater Rheas and, as shown in the present study, that it induces a significant 40-fold corticosterone stress response, efforts should focus on helping to generate management transport standards for optimization of the welfare of this ratite.

Effects of pretransport handling stress on physiological and behavioral response of ostriches

“…However, in our 18-h transport study the posttransport corticostrone concentration was higher (6.9 ± 2.1 ng/mL) but not significantly different from the pretransport hormone level. The difference between our study versus the Mitchell et al (1996) and Lèche et al (2013) studies could be due to the difference in the transport duration in these 3 studies and the variability in the glucocorticoid concentrations in different stages of the stressful event (Dantzer and Mormède, 1983;Mounier et al, 2006) or their circadian secretion rhythm (Möstl and Palme, 2002). Mounier et al (2006) indicated that corticosteroids did not show the stress level for events that occurred several hours previously.…”

“…Mitchell et al (1996) transported their ostriches for 4.5 h, and after transportation corticosterone concentrations increased by 75%. Lèche et al (2013) also reported a dramatic increase (40 times) in the corticosterone concentration of greater rhea (another member of the ratite family) after a 30-min transport. However, in our 18-h transport study the posttransport corticostrone concentration was higher (6.9 ± 2.1 ng/mL) but not significantly different from the pretransport hormone level.…”

Differential expression of luteinizing hormone receptor, androgen receptor and heat-shock protein 70 in the testis of long-distance transported mice

“…Many researchers have considered plasma cortisol as an indicator of stress, and have found a significant increase in plasma cortisol concentration (Tischner and Niezgoda, 2000;Leche et al, 2013). In our study, a significant reduction of AR expression was found in transported mice, and this may indicate that Sertoli cells function changed greatly in the testis, but the complex mechanism is still unknown.…”

Factors That Can Influence Animal Research

“…Numerous studies have documented the impacts of transportation on a variety of laboratory species (Arts et al, 2012;Browning and Leite-Browning, 2013;Chandurvelan et al, 2012;Lèche et al, 2013;Munsters et al, 2013;Stemkens-Sevens et al, 2009). Numerous studies have documented the impacts of transportation on a variety of laboratory species (Arts et al, 2012;Browning and Leite-Browning, 2013;Chandurvelan et al, 2012;Lèche et al, 2013;Munsters et al, 2013;Stemkens-Sevens et al, 2009).…”