Abstract:
The leopard’s versatility as a generalist predator facilitates
occupation of a wide range of habitats. Although protected
areas are important for the conservation of this species, the
majority of suitable leopard habitat lies beyond protected
area boundaries. Leopards utilizing areas under different
anthropogenic influences may therefore be exposed to
different environmental, physiological, and psychosocial
stressors.
This study aims to examine the suitability of enzymeimmunoassays
for monitoring adrenocortical function in the
leopard based on faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGCM)
analysis by performing an adrenocorticotropic hormone
(ACTH) challenge test. Subsequently the study will investigate
variations in fGCM concentrations of animals under different
anthropogenic influences to identify the potential extrinsic
and intrinsic stressors linked to different land use types.
The ACTH challenge will be performed on one adult male
and one adult female housed at Predator World in the Northwest Province. In addition, gastrointestinal transit time
will be determined in 10 animals housed at different captive
facilities in the North West, Mpumalanga, and Gauteng
Provinces. A potential aging effect of the hormone matrix
will be investigated by determining the rate of metabolism
of fGCMs post-defaecation. Finally, faecal samples from
free-ranging leopards in protected and unprotected areas
of Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces including the Sabi
Sands Game Reserve, Guernsey, the Hoedspruit Wildlife
Estate and surrounds, will be collected over a period of 6
months.
The ability to reliably assess adrenocortical function in
leopards will provide a solid foundation from which to
further examine endocrine responses to recognised
stressors in this iconic African species. Specifically, our study
will help to untangle some of the wildlife management,
conservation, and human-predator conflict mitigation
challenges faced by free-raging leopards at the human-domestic-wildlife
interface.
Description:
Poster presented at the University of Pretoria, Faculty of Veterinary Science Faculty Day, August 25, 2016, Pretoria, South Africa.
