Obstetrics and Small Animal Reproduction, Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Belgium.
Anim Reprod Sci. 2012 Jul;133(1-2):1-9. doi: 10.1016/j.anireprosci.2012.06.003. Epub 2012 Jun 12.
The African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) is an endangered exotic canid with less than 5500 animals remaining in the wild. Despite numerous strategies to conserve this species, numbers of free-living animals are in decline. It is a highly social species with a complex pack structure: separate male and female dominant hierarchies with, typically, participation of subdominant adults in the rearing of the dominant breeding pairs' pups. Basic reproductive knowledge is largely missing in this species, with only limited information available on the profile of reproductive hormones, based on non-invasive endocrine monitoring. The dominant or alpha male and female are reproductively active and the subdominants are generally reproductively suppressed. However, the occasional production of litters by subdominant females and evidence of multiple paternity within litters suggests that fertility of subordinates is not completely inhibited. In this respect, there are still considerable gaps in our knowledge about the mechanisms governing reproduction and reproductive suppression in African wild dogs, particularly the influence of dominance and pack structure on both male and female fertility. Given concerns over the long-term survival of this species, further research in this area is essential to provide valuable information for their captive breeding and conservation. Reproductive information can also be applied to the development of Assisted Reproductive Techniques for this species; the utility of which in African wild dog conservation is also discussed.
非洲野犬（Lycaon pictus）是一种濒危的外来犬科动物，野外仅剩不到 5500 只。尽管采取了许多保护策略，但自由生活的动物数量仍在减少。它们是一种高度社会化的物种，具有复杂的群体结构：雄性和雌性有单独的优势等级制度，通常有亚优势成参与主导繁殖对的幼崽的养育。该物种的基本繁殖知识大部分缺失，只有有限的信息可用于基于非侵入性内分泌监测的生殖激素特征。优势雄性和雌性具有生殖能力，而亚优势者通常受到生殖抑制。然而，亚优势雌性偶尔会产仔，并且在一窝幼崽中存在多个父本的证据表明，亚优势者的生育能力并未完全受到抑制。在这方面，我们对控制非洲野犬繁殖和生殖抑制的机制的了解仍然存在很大的差距，特别是优势和群体结构对雄性和雌性生育能力的影响。考虑到该物种的长期生存问题，该领域的进一步研究对于为其圈养繁殖和保护提供有价值的信息至关重要。生殖信息也可以应用于该物种的辅助生殖技术的开发；还讨论了这些技术在非洲野犬保护中的应用。
