Examining Visual Measures of Coat and Body Condition in Wild Ring-Tailed Lemurs at the Bezà Mahafaly Special Reserve, Madagascar

Abstract

Coat and body mass status provide a potential noninvasive way to assess primate health status as well as the effects of seasonality, resource use and reproductive state. Coat and body condition were scored visually for 36 wild Lemur catta at the Bezà Mahafaly Special Reserve, Madagascar, from July 2012 to March 2013. Coat quality generally increased during the wet season when resource availability increased, in contrast to that observed during the resource-depleted dry season. Alopecia frequency increased from June to December and declined between January and March. Sex differences for coat condition were only observed in January, when males had superior coat scores. Body condition did not vary by month or sex except in February, when males were larger than females. Females that birthed infants were of lower body size than individuals who did not for November and from January to March. Our results indicate visual methods effectively detect variability in coat and body condition related to seasonality and reproductive status. Such methods present a noninvasive means for assessing the impact of seasonal resource availability, stresses of infant care and reproductive state on ring-tailed lemurs, and may be useful for assessing the impacts of these factors on general health status.

Large Lemurs: Ecological, Demographic and Environmental Risk Factors for Weight Gain in Captivity

“…While known pregnant females were excluded from analyses (see Section 2.2), females with undiagnosed pregnancy could be in our final dataset. Breeding is highly seasonal and often synchronised for wild lemurs (e.g., [12,25]), and captive lemurs also maintain strongly seasonal breeding patterns [132,133]. Thus, the seasonal pattern in relative body mass reported here could reflect pregnancies.…”

“…Such conditions are associated with fat-levels that may impair health [1], and problems such as diabetes, heart disease, impaired reproduction, orthopaedic disorders, and cancers [2][3][4][5][6][7]. Methods of determining body condition include weight-for-height (kg/m 2 ) indices in humans ("body mass index": 1) and other primates (e.g., [8]), skinfold thickness (e.g., [9]), and visual body condition scoring systems (e.g., [10][11][12]). Body mass is also used as a proxy for body fat: individuals ≥20-25% over the ideal are considered obese (e.g., in humans, dogs, Canis lupus familaris, and cats, Felis catus: [7,13]).…”

Ring-Tailed Lemurs: A Species Re-Imagined

“…Assessing the health status of ring-tailed lemurs is also important in terms of conservation as well as understanding seasonal effects. Millette et al [2015] demonstrate the effectiveness of a non-invasive way to assess ring-tailed lemur health status by using visual measures of coat and body condition. They find that coat and body condition vary relative to seasonal resource availability (dry vs. wet season) and that lactating females exhibit lower body condition scores when compared to males and non-lactating individuals, suggesting higher energetic costs associated especially with lactation.…”

Welfare assessment of slow loris (Nycticebus spp.) at an Indonesian primate rehabilitation center: Development and validation of body condition score

“…BCS systems have now been developed for several mammalian species, including dogs, cats, horses, cattle, mice, rhesus macaques, ring‐tailed lemurs, and chimpanzees (Baldwin et al, 2010; Burkholder, 2000; Clingermann & Summers, 2012; Millette et al, 2015; Reamer et al, 2020; Ullman‐Culleré & Foltz, 1999). The absence of a comprehensive reference on the health and nutrition of slow lorises has made it difficult for ex‐situ conservation agencies, both for the public and for particular purposes, to assess and monitor the welfare status of slow lorises.…”

“…It can also be used to help make quick and informed decisions to mitigate human−animal interaction and animal confiscation regardless of sex or age class (Clingermann & Summers, 2012). BCS systems have now been developed for several mammalian species, including dogs, cats, horses, cattle, mice, rhesus macaques, ring-tailed lemurs, and chimpanzees (Baldwin et al, 2010;Burkholder, 2000;Clingermann & Summers, 2012;Millette et al, 2015;Reamer et al, 2020;Ullman-Culleré & Foltz, 1999).…”