Adrenal activity in relation to subjective temperament assessment in Clouded leopards, Neofelis nebulosa.

WIELEBNOWSKI NC; BUSSO JM; BROWN JL

Florida, USA

Jornada; Felid Taxon Advisory Group Web Site: www.felidtag.org.; 1999

Clouded leopards (Neofelis nebulosa) have been maintained in captivity for decades; however, breeding success has been poor. Behavioral incompatibility among pairs, with males injuring or even killing females, and self-mutilating behaviors are commonly observed in this species. Keepers assert that one problem may be that individual differences in temperaments affect the animal´s ability to cope with captivity ?stress?, with some individuals being inherently more stressed than others. Increases in cortisol secretion from the adrenal cortex have been used as a measure of ?stress? in a variety of species. To determine if captive management and temperament differences are associated with captive stress, we utilized a non-invasive fecal corticoid assay to assess variations in adrenal activity. This technique already has been validated the biological significance of this assay system for clouded leopard, we measured the excretion of corticoid metabolites after an ACTH challenge. Five animals (3males/2females) were injected with 80IU of a long-acting ACTH gel and all fecal sample were collected for the next 7 days. In all leopards, a significant increase in fecal corticoid metabolite concentrations was observed within 1-2 days after ACTH injection. Concentration increased from a baseline of <200ng/g to a peak of 1500ng/g, indicating the effectiveness of the corticoid assay to measure acute increases in adrenal secretory activity. The temperament study involved measuring fecal corticoid concentration in 32 clouded leopard housed at four North American facilities. Individuals were chosen on the basis of subjective temperament assessments. Keepers at each facility assigned animal to one of two temperaments categories: stressed or calm. We then selected 15 stressed and 17 calm individuals distributed evenly across facilities  and gender categories. Fecal samples were collected every other day for six weeks. Results indicated that fecal corticoid metabolite concentrations varied greatly between and within individuals. Comparison of average concentrations across temperaments categories showed a statistically significant difference between stressed and calm individuals with stressed cats exhibiting higher concentrations than calm cats. There also were significant differences when concentrations were compared according to gender and rearing history. Females had significantly higher concentrations on average than males, and mother-reared cats had higher concentrations than hand-reared individuals. We conclude, therefore, that the fecal corticoid assay is a valid method for monitoring adrenal activity in clouded leopard, and the measurable individual differences in corticoid concentrations may be associated with temperaments, as well as gender and rearing differences.