Non-invasive assessment of adrenocortical activity as a measure of stress in giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)

Bashaw, Meredith J.; Sicks, Florian; Palme, Rupert; Schwarzenberger, Franz; Tordiffe, Adrian S. W.; Ganswindt, André

doi:10.1186/s12917-016-0864-8

Cited by 31 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…This technique has been validated previously in a variety of mammal species, including felids [33,34], and is considered a reliable and non-invasive approach to measuring patterns of adrenocortical activity. Individually identifiable faecal samples were collected during each treatment day, and 1-2 days post treatment, to account for excretion lag time [35,36]. Typically, the cats defecated once a day, though occasionally somewhat more or less frequently.…”

Section: Adrenocortical Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Behind-The-Scenes Encounters and Interactive Presentations on the Welfare of Captive Servals (Leptailurus serval)

Acaralp-Rehnberg

Coleman

Magrath

et al. 2020

Animals

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The serval (Leptailurus serval) is a small African felid that is well represented in zoos and often serves as an animal ambassador in encounter programs with zoo visitors. The impact on serval welfare in relation to such programs has not been investigated to date, and the aim of this study was to assess short-term welfare effects of varying levels of visitor interaction in two captive servals. Weekly blocks of four different treatments were imposed three times on each animal over 12 weeks, and the treatments involved (1) Presentations (serval undertaking a routine training session in a designated presentation space, typically attracting high visitor numbers), (2) Behind-the-scenes (BTS, a close encounter allowing a small group of visitors to interact closely with the cat in its enclosure), (3) Presentations and BTS combined, and (4) No visitor interaction. Serval activity budgets as well as behavioural diversity were created from behaviours observed from Close Circuit Television (CCTV) footage during four daily recording sessions per animal over three consecutive days per treatment, using instantaneous scan sampling every 60 s. Individual faecal samples were collected daily to monitor changes in faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) concentration. Results indicate that the mean number of scans with stereotypic pacing was significantly reduced (p = 0.01) during Treatments 1 and 3, when cats participated in presentations only, or the two activities combined. Conversely, a significant reduction in behavioural diversity (p < 0.001) was observed when cats participated in Treatment 3, i.e., cats expressed fewer behaviours when interaction with visitors was more frequent. FGM concentrations did not vary significantly with treatment (p > 0.05). Given the reduction in stereotypic pacing, these findings suggest that involvement in an encounter program appears to exert an overall positive short-term welfare effect on the individual servals in this study. Although a reduction in behavioural diversity was not considered a negative welfare effect in the short term, potential long-term negative welfare effects resulting from a more frequent encounter program could not be ruled out in the present study.

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Section: Adrenocortical Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Behind-The-Scenes Encounters and Interactive Presentations on the Welfare of Captive Servals (Leptailurus serval)

Acaralp-Rehnberg

Coleman

Magrath

et al. 2020

Animals

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“…The validation techniques used in this study for FGM analysis have been previously used in other studies (Bashaw et al, 2016;Chinnadurai et al, 2009;Morrow, Kolver, Verkerk, & Matthews, 2002;Yadav et al, 2013), but obtaining a biological validation (i.e., an ACTH challenge) for this study was not possible. We validated the assay biochemically for this species and monitored variability between assays using quality high and low controls.…”

Section: Fecal Hormone Extraction and Assay Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring the behavioral and adrenal activity of giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) to assess welfare during seasonal housing changes.

Razal¹,

Bryant²,

Miller³

2017

AB&C

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Citation -Razal, C. B., Bryant, J., & Miller, L. J. (2017). Monitoring the behavioral and adrenal activity of giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) to assess welfare during seasonal housing changes. Animal Behavior and Cognition, 4(2), 154-164. https://doi.org/10.12966/abc.03.05.2017Abstract -In inclement weather, northern zoos are required to provide animals from warmer climates with indoor exhibits. These indoor exhibits are typically smaller, lack natural substrate, and have lower levels of stimulation for the animals. The purpose of this study was to examine the welfare of four reticulated giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata) exhibited at the Chicago Zoological Society -Brookfield Zoo -during the summer in an outdoor enclosure compared to the winter in an indoor enclosure. A combination of direct behavioral observations, percentage of time spent recumbent, and adrenal hormone monitoring through fecal samples were utilized for a more comprehensive look at welfare. Individual variation was observed between the giraffe. An adult female giraffe engaged in Active Forage behavior significantly more in the winter compared to summer (mean difference = 0.23, p = 0.049). An adult female and a juvenile male displayed significantly more Active Non-Forage behavior in the summer than in the winter (mean difference = 0.32, p = 0.048; mean difference = 0.31, p = 0.048). The predominant behavior in the summer for the group as a whole was Active Non-Forage (59%), whereas Active Forage was most prevalent in the winter (60%). There was also a significant positive correlation between time spent recumbent per hour for each 24-hour day measured in the summer and winter (r = 0.51, p = 0.010). Although no significant differences were found for individual FGM concentrations between the seasons, average FGM concentrations for the group were 2306.67 ng/g in the summer and 4261.64 ng/g in the winter. Information gained from this study can help aid animal managers to make informed decisions to ensure each individual giraffe is thriving year-round. In addition, we hope this study can serve as a model to examine the seasonal welfare of other animals in zoological institutions with similar conditions.

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“…Fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGCM) concentrations were determined using an 11-oxoetiocholanolone enzyme immunoassay (antibodies raised in rabbits against 5β-androstane-3-ol-11one-17-CMO:BSA; which has been shown to reliably monitor fGCM alterations in a variety of mammals including giraffes (Bashaw et al, 2016; Palme, 2012 for review). The assay procedure followed established protocols (Ganswindt et al, 2002).…”

Section: Fecal Sample Collection Extraction and Assaymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, these age estimates are mainly based on observations from captive populations (Hall-Martin et al, 1978;Reuther, 1961), and therefore it is questionable if males of this age can be seen as mature in a free-ranging setting (Hall-Martin et al, 1978). Finally, respective group-specific assays have recently been established for monitoring adrenocortical activity in this species using a non-invasive approach (Bashaw et al, 2016). Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the influence of different group compositions (mixed sex groups vs. all-male groups) on GC concentrations of giraffe bulls in different age classes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of age-class and social context on fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels in free-ranging male giraffes

Wolf

Bennett

Burroughs

et al. 2018

General and Comparative Endocrinology

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One of the primary sources of perceived stress is the social environment of an animal and the interactions with conspecifics. An essential component of the response to a stressor is the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis, which results amongst others in a temporal increase in circulating glucocorticoid (GC) levels. Giraffes occur in a highly flexible fission-fusion social system and group compositions can change on a daily basis, with bulls establishing an age-related dominance hierarchy and showing a roaming strategy in the search for fertile females. The aim of this study was to non-invasively monitor the influence of different group compositions (mixed sex groups vs. all-male groups) on GC concentrations in free ranging giraffe bulls of different age classes. We collected fecal samples from free-ranging giraffe bulls for 12months in a South African Private Game Reserve to examine age- and social context-related patterns of fecal GC metabolite (fGCM) concentrations. We found that fGCM levels in giraffe bulls are age-class dependent, as well asassociated with changes in the social environment. Independently of the social setting, bulls of the youngest age class exhibited the highest fGCM levels compared to bulls of the other two older age-classes, with differences most pronounced when the bulls are associated in all-male groups. In contrast, an almost reversed picture appears when looking at the fGCM levels of sexually active individuals in mixed sex groups, where highest levels were found for the bulls in the oldest age-class, and the lowest for the bulls in the youngest age-class. The study stresses the importance to taking factors such asage-related status and social settings into account, when interpreting fGCM levels in free ranging giraffes.

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Non-invasive assessment of adrenocortical activity as a measure of stress in giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)

Cited by 31 publications

References 70 publications

The Effect of Behind-The-Scenes Encounters and Interactive Presentations on the Welfare of Captive Servals (Leptailurus serval)

The Effect of Behind-The-Scenes Encounters and Interactive Presentations on the Welfare of Captive Servals (Leptailurus serval)

Monitoring the behavioral and adrenal activity of giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) to assess welfare during seasonal housing changes.

The impact of age-class and social context on fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels in free-ranging male giraffes

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