Download or read book Predictors of Testosterone in Zoo Managed African Elephants Loxodonta Africana written by Kaitlyn Campbell and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reproductive complications for both male and female zoo-managed African elephants (Loxodonta Africana) contribute to the rapidly declining population. With respect to captive bull elephants, few studies have explored the potential physiological, physical, social and environmental zoo factors that influence bull fertility, and in particular, androgen production. Testosterone is the steroid hormone essential for sexual maturation and inadequate concentrations can be detrimental for spermatogenesis. Testosterone, cortisol, leptin, glucose, insulin and triglycerides were analyzed from weekly fecal and blood serum samples taken over the course of six months in six zoo-managed African elephant bulls (10-19 years of age). These hormone levels were compared to data about the weekly social and environmental factors, daily musth condition and body condition scores (BCS). Several factors significantly influenced testosterone concentrations; however, glucose-to-insulin ratio was the only physiological biomarker found to be positively associated with testosterone. Predictive physical factors included Musth Score and Moderate Exercise. Bulls with body condition scores (BCS) signifying overweight (BCS 4) had lower testosterone (36.6 ± 1.6 ng/g Fecal Extraction) than bulls with healthy body conditions scores (BCS 3; 51.2 ± 4.9 ng/g FE). Testosterone concentrations increased for every 1 hour increase in Total Contact Day (1.7 ng/g FE), Female Interaction Day (1.3 ng/g FE), Indirect Contact Day (2.67 ng/g FE) and Indirect Contact Night (1.01 ng/g FE). For every 1 hour increase in Total No Contact, testosterone decreased by 0.45 ng/g FE. With each 1% increase in time spent indoors, elephants had a 37 ng/g FE decrease in testosterone, whereas, testosterone increased by 48.5 ng/g FE and 58.1 ng/g FE with each 1% increase in time spent outdoors or in a mixed space. Each additional daily browse opportunity increased testosterone by approximately 7ng/g FE. Emphasis should be placed on optimizing these markers of testosterone production in zoo environments to promote bull reproductive health.
Download or read book Biology Medicine and Surgery of Elephants written by Murray Fowler and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2008-01-09 with total page 597 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Elephants are possibly the most well-known members of the animal kingdom. The enormous size, unusual anatomy, and longevity of elephants have fascinated humans for millenia. Biology, Medicine, and Surgery of Elephants serves as a comprehensive text on elephant medicine and surgery. Based on the expertise of 36 scientists and clinical veterinarians, this volume covers biology, husbandry, veterinary medicine and surgery of the elephant as known today. Written by the foremost experts in the field Comprehensively covers both Asian and African elephants Complete with taxonomy, behavioral, geographical and systemic information Well-illustrated and organized for easy reference
Download or read book Mammal Societies written by Tim Clutton-Brock and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2016-05-31 with total page 760 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book aims to integrate our understanding of mammalian societies into a novel synthesis that is relevant to behavioural ecologists, ecologists, and anthropologists. It adopts a coherent structure that deals initially with the characteristics and strategies of females, before covering those of males, cooperative societies and hominid societies. It reviews our current understanding both of the structure of societies and of the strategies of individuals; it combines coverage of relevant areas of theory with coverage of interspecific comparisons, intraspecific comparisons and experiments; it explores both evolutionary causes of different traits and their ecological consequences; and it integrates research on different groups of mammals with research on primates and humans and attempts to put research on human societies into a broader perspective.
Download or read book Reproductive Sciences in Animal Conservation written by Pierre Comizzoli and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-08-30 with total page 559 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This second edition emphasizes the environmental impact on reproduction, with updated chapters throughout as well as complete new chapters on species such as sharks and rays. This is a wide-ranging book that will be of relevance to anyone involved in species conservation, and provides critical perspectives on the real utility of current and emerging reproductive sciences. Understanding reproductive biology is centrally important to the way many of the world’s conservation problems should be tackled. Currently the extinction problem is huge, with up to 30% of the world’s fauna being expected to disappear in the next 50 years. Nevertheless, it has been estimated that the global population of animals in zoos encompasses 12,000 – 15,000 species, and we anticipate that every effort will be made to preserve these species for as long as possible, minimizing inbreeding effects and providing the best welfare standards available. Even if the reproductive biology community cannot solve the global biodiversity crisis for all wild species, we should do our best to maintain important captive populations. Reproductive biology in this context is much more than the development of techniques for helping with too little or too much breeding. While some of the relevant techniques are useful for individual species that society might target for a variety of reasons, whether nationalistic, cultural or practical, technical developments have to be backed up by thorough biological understanding of the background behind the problems.
Download or read book The Amboseli Elephants written by Cynthia J. Moss and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2011-03-15 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Elephants have fascinated humans for millennia. Aristotle wrote of them with awe and Hannibal used them in warfare. This book is the summation of what's been learned from the Amboseli Elephant Research Project (AERP) - the longest continuously running elephant research project in the world.
Download or read book National Park Science written by Jane Carruthers and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-08-17 with total page 563 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explains the changing philosophies and permutations in research and management of South Africa's national parks during the twentieth century.
Download or read book Mammalian Sexuality written by Alan F. Dixson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-06-03 with total page 405 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first detailed account of post-copulatory sexual selection and the evolution of reproduction in mammals.
Download or read book Conservation by Proxy written by Tim Caro and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2010-06-23 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The vast scope of conservation problems has forced biologists and managers to rely on "surrogate" species to serve as shortcuts to guide their decision making. These species-known by a host of different terms, including indicator, umbrella, and flagship species-act as proxies to represent larger conservation issues, such as the location of biodiversity hotspots or general ecosystem health. Synthesizing an immense body of literature, conservation biologist and field researcher Tim Caro offers systematic definitions of surrogate species concepts, explores biological theories that underlie them, considers how surrogate species are chosen, critically examines evidence for and against their utility, and makes recommendations for their continued use. The book clarifies terminology and contrasts how different terms are used in the real world considers the ecological, taxonomic, and political underpinnings of these shortcuts identifies criteria that make for good surrogate species outlines the circumstances where the application of the surrogate species concept shows promise Conservation by Proxy is a benchmark reference that provides clear definitions and common understanding of the evidence and theory behind surrogate species. It is the first book to review and bring together literature on more than fifteen types of surrogate species, enabling us to assess their role in conservation and offering guidelines on how they can be used most effectively.
Download or read book Equids zebras Asses and Horses written by Patricia Des Roses Moehlman and published by IUCN. This book was released on 2002 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The new Equid Action Plan provides current knowledge on the biology, ecology and conservation status of wild zebras, asses, and horses. It specifies what information is lacking, and prioritizes needed conservation actions. The Action Plan also provides chapters on equid taxonomy, genetics, reproductive biology, and population dynamics. These chapters highlight unsolved issues of taxonomy and genetics. They also provide information and insight into the special demographic and genetic challenges of managing small populations. The chapter on disease provides a review of documented equine disease and epidemiology and focuses on priorities for equid conservation health. The final chapter deals with the importance of developing an assessment methodology that explicitly considers the role of equids in ecosystems and the ecological processes that are necessary for ecosystem viability. The approach of combining ecological field studies and ecosystem modeling should prove useful for the scientific management and conservation of wild equids worldwide. These chapters provide research and conservation practitioners with new information and paradigms.
Download or read book Sociality The Behaviour of Group Living Animals written by Ashley Ward and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-04-20 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The last decade has seen a surge of interest among biologists in a range of social animal phenomena, including collective behaviour and social networks. In ‘Animal Social Behaviour’, authors Ashley Ward and Michael Webster integrate the most up-to-date empirical and theoretical research to provide a new synthesis of the field, which is aimed at fellow researchers and postgraduate students on the topic.
Download or read book Pheromones and Animal Behavior written by Tristram D. Wyatt and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2014-01-23 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explains how animals use chemical communication, emphasising the evolutionary context and covering fields from ecology to neuroscience and chemistry.
Download or read book African Elephant Status Report 2007 written by J. J. Blanc and published by IUCN. This book was released on 2007 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Fencing for Conservation written by Michael J. Somers and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-11-23 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The conflict between increasing human population and biodiversity conservation is one of the IUCN’s key threatening processes. Conservation planning has received a great deal of coverage and research as a way of conserving biodiversity yet, while theoretically successful, it has never been tested. Simple lines on maps to illustrate conservation areas are unlikely to be successful in the light of human encroachment. It may be that some form of overt display is necessary to ensure the protection of reserves. This may be signage, presence of guards/rangers or physical fencing structures. The need for some form of barrier goes beyond restricting human access. The megafauna of Africa pose a genuine threat to human survival. In southern Africa, fences keep animals in and protect the abutting human population. Elsewhere, fencing is not considered important or viable. Where poverty is rife, it won’t take much to tip the balance from beneficial conservation areas to troublesome repositories of crop-raiders, diseases and killers. Conversely, in New Zealand fences are used to keep animals out. Introduced species have decimated New Zealand’s endemic birds, reptiles and invertebrates, and several sites have been entirely encapsulated in mouse-proof fencing to ensure their protection. Australia faces the same problems as New Zealand, however surrounds its national parks with cattle fences. Foxes and cats are free to enter and leave at will, resulting in rapid recolonisation following poisoning campaigns. How long will these poison campaigns work before tolerance, aversion or resistance evolves in the introduced predator populations?
Download or read book Pheromones and Animal Behaviour written by Tristram D. Wyatt and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2003-02-27 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We are entering one of the most exciting periods in the study of chemical communication since the first pheromones were identified some 40 years ago. This rapid progress is reflected in this book, the first to cover the whole animal kingdom at this level for 25 years. The importance of chemical communication is illustrated with examples from a diverse range of animals including humans, marine copepods, Drosophila, Caenorhabditis elegans, moths, snakes, goldfish, elephants and mice. It is designed to be advanced, but at the same time accessible to readers whatever their scientific background. For students of ecology, evolution and behaviour, this book gives an introduction to the rapid progress in our understanding of olfaction at the molecular and neurological level. In addition, it offers chemists, molecular and neurobiologists an insight into the ecological, evolutionary and behavioural context of olfactory communication.
Download or read book Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 11 written by Jane Hurst and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-10-26 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume contains the proceedings of the conference of the same name held in July 2006 at the University of Chester in the United Kingdom. It includes all the latest research on chemical communication relevant to vertebrates, particularly focusing on new research since the last meeting in 2003. Topics covered include the chemical ecology, biochemistry, behavior, olfactory receptors, and the neurobiology of both the main olfactory and vomeronasal systems of vertebrates.
Download or read book The Developing Marsupial written by C.H. Tyndale-Biscoe and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Marsupials are excellent objects for studies on developmental processes in all mammals including humans. Marsupials are very immature at birth and undergo most of their development in a pouch where they can be manipulated in a variety of ways without affecting the mother. Most of these studies are on systems which largely mature before birth in eutherian mammals and are consequently difficult to investigate. Attention is also drawn to certain features peculiar to adult marsupials: e.g., they continue to grow throughout adult life, valuable for studies on growth mechanisms, and furthermore the composition of marsupial milk changes radically through lactation, most important in studies of hormonal regulation of milk composition and secretion.
