Validating a non-invasive technique for monitoring physiological stress in the samango monkey

Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Validating a non-invasive technique for monitoring physiological stress in the samango monkey
 
Creator Scheun, Juan Tordiffe, Adrian S.W. Wimberger, Kirsten Ganswindt, Andre
 
Subject Endocrinology; Welfare; Conservation ACTH challenge; animal welfare; samango monkey; non-invasive hormone monitoring; glucocorticoids; biological validation
Description The non-invasive monitoring of physiological stress can provide conservation and wildlife managers with an invaluable tool for assessing animal welfare and psychological health of captive and free-ranging populations. A significant decrease in free-ranging primate populations globally and an increase in captive-housed primates have led to a need to monitor the stress and general welfare of these animals. We examined the suitability of three enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) for monitoring stress-related physiological responses in the samango monkey, Cercopithecus albogularis erythrarchus. We conducted an adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) challenge on a male and female at the National Zoological Garden, Pretoria, South Africa. Individual faecal samples were collected 8 days pre- and post-ACTH administration and subsequently analysed for faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGCM) concentrations. During the study, biological stressors occurred for both the male and female. Two of the three EIAs tested (11-oxoetiocholanolone I and II) were able to reliably monitor fGCM alterations throughout the study period in both sexes. The 11-oxoetiocholanolone I EIA, however, had the lowest mean deviation from the calculated baseline value and was thus chosen as the preferred assay. Both the physiological activation of the stress response and the biological response to a stressor could be monitored with the chosen assay. The successful establishment of a reliable, non-invasive method for monitoring adrenocortical activity in C. albogularis erythrarchus will now allow conservationists, scientific researchers and wildlife managers to evaluate the level of stress experienced, and general welfare, by animals in captivity as well as free-ranging populations.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2020-02-27
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Experimental
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/ojvr.v87i1.1720
 
Source Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research; Vol 87, No 1 (2020); 8 pages 2219-0635 0030-2465
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://ojvr.org/index.php/ojvr/article/view/1720/2068 https://ojvr.org/index.php/ojvr/article/view/1720/2067 https://ojvr.org/index.php/ojvr/article/view/1720/2069 https://ojvr.org/index.php/ojvr/article/view/1720/2066
 
Coverage South Africa — Age
Rights Copyright (c) 2020 Juan Scheun, Adrian S.W. Tordiffe, Kirsten Wimberger, Andre Ganswindt https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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