Van der Weyde L K, Martin G B, Blackberry M A, Gruen V, Harland A, Paris M C J
School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; Institute for Breeding Rare and Endangered African Mammals (IBREAM), 9 Ainslie Place, Edinburgh, EH3 6AT, UK; Botswana Predator Conservation Trust, Private Bag 13, Maun, Botswana.
School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; Nuffield Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK.
Anim Reprod Sci. 2015 May;156:75-82. doi: 10.1016/j.anireprosci.2015.03.003. Epub 2015 Mar 17.
African wild dogs are one of the most endangered canid species, with free-living populations declining as a consequence of habitat loss, disease and human conflict. Captive breeding is considered an important conservation strategy, but is hampered by a poor overall understanding of the reproductive biology of the species. To improve our basic knowledge, we studied hormone patterns in 15 female wild dogs using non-invasive faecal collections. By comparing longitudinal hormone profiles with behavioural and anatomical changes, females could be allocated among three reproductive classes: pregnant (n=1), pseudopregnant (n=9) and acyclic (n=4). We also monitored a single female in which contraception was induced with a deslorelin implant. Comparison of pseudopregnant and acyclic females showed that, in both classes, faecal oestradiol concentrations increased from anoestrus to pro-oestrus then declined into the oestrous and dioestrous phases. Progestagen concentrations rose steadily from anoestrus to the dioestrous phase in both pseudopregnant and acyclic females and, pseudopregnant females had significantly higher concentrations of progestagens than acyclic females in all phases of the oestrous cycle. Most females classed as pseudopregnant were found in female-only groups, suggesting that wild dogs are spontaneous ovulators. Furthermore, only one adult female did not ovulate, so suppression of reproduction in subordinates is likely to be behavioural rather than physiological.
非洲野狗是最濒危的犬科物种之一，由于栖息地丧失、疾病和人类冲突，其自由生活的种群数量正在减少。圈养繁殖被认为是一项重要的保护策略，但由于对该物种生殖生物学的整体了解不足而受到阻碍。为了提高我们的基础知识，我们使用非侵入性粪便采集方法研究了15只雌性野狗的激素模式。通过将纵向激素谱与行为和解剖学变化进行比较，雌性野狗可被分为三个生殖类别：怀孕（n=1）、假孕（n=9）和非周期性发情（n=4）。我们还监测了一只通过植入地洛瑞林诱导避孕的雌性野狗。对假孕和非周期性发情雌性野狗的比较表明，在这两个类别中，粪便中雌二醇浓度从乏情期到发情前期升高，然后在发情期和发情后期下降。在假孕和非周期性发情雌性野狗中，孕激素浓度从乏情期到发情后期稳步上升，并且在发情周期的所有阶段，假孕雌性野狗的孕激素浓度均显著高于非周期性发情雌性野狗。大多数被归类为假孕的雌性野狗出现在全雌性群体中，这表明非洲野狗是自发排卵者。此外，只有一只成年雌性野狗没有排卵，因此下属繁殖的抑制可能是行为上的而非生理上的。
