Pairing Clouded Leopards (neofelis Nebulosa) in a Captive Breeding Program

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Kinnon, Katherine M. Mac
Copyright Year	2008
Abstract	By Katherine Margaret MacKinnon, MS Washington State University May 2008 Chair: Ruth C. Newberry Pairing the endangered clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) for reproduction in captivity is risky due to unpredictable male aggression toward females, which can result in lethal attacks or a need to intervene to prevent injury. To assess potential early indicators for successful pairings (i.e., pairings producing cubs), behavioral observations and fecal hormones were evaluated on four juvenile-male (< 1 y) and nine adult-male (> 1 y) pairs of clouded leopards in a breeding program in the Thailand Clouded Leopard Consortium at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo. Fecal cortisol concentrations, stereotyped pacing behavior and fighting were predicted to be lower in successful than failed pairs, and animals in successful pairs were predicted to display more affiliative behaviors than those in failed pairs. It also was predicted that pairs are more likely to be successful when females are paired with a juvenile male, rather than an adult male. Behavioral observations were conducted on paired males and females 2-5 times weekly. Daily fecal samples were collected for hormonal analysis of cortisol by enzyme immunoassay. Data were analyzed to identify predictors of successful (n = 5) versus failed (n = 8) pairings using generalized linear models. As predicted, animals in successful pairs exhibited higher (p < 0.05)
File Format	PDF HTM / HTML
Alternate Webpage(s)	http://www.dissertations.wsu.edu/Thesis/Spring2008/k_mackinnon_042508.pdf
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article