Using personality ratings and cortisol to characterize individual differences in African Elephants (Loxodonta africana)

Diurnal variation of salivary cortisol in captive African elephants (Loxodonta africana) under routine management conditions and in relation to a translocation event

“…The present study found a significant diurnal variation of salivary cortisol levels when controlling for individual variation and the effect of the study period. The average cortisol level was higher in the morning than in the afternoon, which is in accordance with previous studies of the diurnal variation of cortisol in captive African elephants (Casares et al, 2016; Grand et al, 2012; Kelling Swilley, 2008) and numerous other mammal species (Aurich et al, 2015; Ekkel et al, 1996; Kutsukake et al, 2009; Suzuki et al, 2003). Generally, the high HPA‐axis activity in the morning is considered as an anticipatory response to awakening (Born, Hansen, Marshall, Mölle, & Fehm, 1999; Moore‐Ede, 1986).…”

“…In diurnal species, GC levels peak in the morning, decrease towards the afternoon, reach the trough around midnight and increase again in the second half of the night (Bohák et al, 2013; Coe & Levine, 1995; Ekkel et al, 1996; Kutsukake et al, 2009; Menargues, Urios, Limiñana, & Mauri, 2012, but see Giannetto et al, 2014 for dogs). This general pattern of diurnal GC dynamics has also been described for the African elephant, for which studies have shown that cortisol, the major glucocorticoid in this species, is secreted in high levels in the morning and low levels in the afternoon (Brown, Kersey, Freeman, & Wagener, 2010; Casares et al, 2016; Grand, Kuhar, Leighty, Bettinger, & Laudenslager, 2012; Kelling Swilley, 2008).…”

“…Transport is also associated with elevated GC secretion in African elephants as indicated by increases in levels of fecal GC metabolites in response to transportation (Millspaugh et al, 2007; Viljoen, Ganswindt, du Toit, & Langbauer, 2008). In addition, flattening of the diurnal GC profile in this species was attributed to an acute social stressor (Casares et al, 2016), personality (Grand et al, 2012) and potentially chronic stress conditions (Kelling Swilley, 2008). To what extent transportation stress also affects the diurnal GC dynamics in the African elephant has not yet been described.…”

“…Saliva, in contrast, is ideally suited for these purposes. Salivary cortisol concentrations reliably reflect circulating cortisol in the blood (Grand et al, 2012) with a time lag of approximately 5–20 min in humans (Kirschbaum & Hellhammer, 2000) and 10 min in cattle (Hernandez et al, 2014). Furthermore, saliva can be collected minimally invasively and repeatedly from captive elephants provided that the animals are habituated to sampling through positive reinforcement training.…”

Using an observer rating method to assess the effects of rotational stocking method on beef cattle temperament over time

“…Observer rating methods have long been used in research on human (Allport and Odbert, 1936;Deary, 1996) as well as animal behavior, to assess individual differences and temperament (or personality) of captive wild animals such as rhesus monkeys (Stevenson-Hinde and Zunz, 1978), gorillas (Gold and Maple, 1994;Kuhar et al, 2006), cheetahs (Wielebnowski, 1999), rhinoceros (Carlstead et al, 1999), tufted capuchin (Byrne and Suomi, 2002), chimpanzees (Martin, 2005;Weiss et al, 2007), and African elephants (Grand et al, 2012). Furthermore, a similar qualitative approach -Qualitative Behavior Assessment (QBA; Wemelsfelder et al, 2000) -was developed to assess welfare in farm animals and has been shown to be a valid and reliable method in swine (Wemelsfelder et al, 2000), dairy cattle (Rousing and Wemelsfelder, 2006), beef cattle , dairy buffalo (Napolitano et al, 2012), sheep (Phythian et al, 2013), and donkeys (Minero et al, 2015).…”