Abstract:
Thirty-six species of canid exist globally, two are classified as critically endangered, three as
endangered, and five as near threatened. Human expansion and the coinciding habitat fragmentation
necessitate conservation interventions to mitigate concurrent population deterioration. The current
conservation management of wild canids includes animal translocation and artificial pack formation.
These actions often cause chronic stress, leading to increased aggression and the suppression of
the immune and reproductive systems. Castration and pharmaceutical treatments are currently
used to reduce stress and aggression in domestic and captive canids. The undesirable side effects
make such treatments inadvisable during conservation management of wild canids. Pheromones
are naturally occurring chemical messages that modulate behaviour between conspecifics; as such,
they offer a natural alternative for behaviour modification. Animals are able to distinguish between
pheromones of closely related species through small compositional differences but are more likely to
have greater responses to pheromones from individuals of the same species. Appeasing pheromones
have been found to reduce stress- and aggression-related behaviours in domestic species, including
dogs. Preliminary evidence suggests that dog appeasing pheromones (DAP) may be effective in
wild canids. However, the identification and testing of species-specific derivatives could produce
more pronounced and beneficial behavioural and physiological changes in target species. In turn,
this could provide a valuable tool to improve the conservation management of many endangered
wild canids.
