INVESTIGADORES
SOMOZA Gustavo Manuel
artículos
Título:
Physiological response of wild guanacos to capture for live shearing
Autor/es:
PABLO CARMANCHAHI; RAMIRO OVEJERO; CAROLINA MARULL; GABRIELA LÓPEZ; NATALIA SCHROEDER; GRACIELA JAHN; ANDRÉS NOVARO; GUSTAVO M. SOMOZA
Revista:
WILDLIFE RESEARCH
Editorial:
CSIRO PUBLISHING
Referencias:
Año: 2011 vol. 38 p. 61 - 68
ISSN:
1035-3712
Resumen:
Context. The use of wild guanacos (Lama guanicoe) through live capture and shearing may contribute to their conservation by providing an economic alternative to rural inhabitants and increasing tolerance towards the species. However, none of the biological impacts of this activity, including the physiological ones, have been addressed. Aims. The aim of this work was to characterize the acute response of guanacos to stress after capture and shearing in terms of serum cortisol levels, heart rate, and body temperature. Methods. The study was performed during 2006 and 2007 in La Payunia Reserve in western Argentina. In order to determine serum cortisol concentration, 128 blood samples were centrifuged and the unextracted sera were analized by RIA. Sex, age category, heart rate, body temperature and total restraint time (TRT) were also registered in each animal captured. Key results. Serum cortisol levels were higher in guanacos captured and sheared during 2007 than in 2006, and male cortisol levels were consistently lower than female´s. No significant differences were observed among cortisol levels of the different age categories. A positive correlation was observed between TRT and serum cortisol concentration. The analyses of cortisol levels in relation to TRT showed differences between males and females. Following the 80 min handling period, females showed a delayed stabilization in the cortisol response when compared with males. Heart rate and rectal temperature showed no differences between year, sex and age. Conclusions. The present results show that the stress response to capture and shearing in wild guanacos increased significantly with handling time. We recommend avoiding capture of large numbers of animals and making short-duration round ups in order to reduce TRT. Implications. This work provides new information that can improve the animal welfare during handling. This data may also have implications for the conservation of guanacos.