Department of Life and Consumer Sciences, University of South Africa, South Africa; National Zoological Garden, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria 0001, South Africa; Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0028, South Africa.
National Zoological Garden, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria 0001, South Africa.
Gen Comp Endocrinol. 2020 Sep 15;296:113539. doi: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2020.113539. Epub 2020 Jun 17.
Due to considerable global decline in wildlife population numbers and species diversity, because of various anthropogenic activities, conservationists increasingly rely on captive and managed populations as important reservoirs to ensure the survival of endangered and vulnerable species. However, very few of these facilities implement robust, non-invasive monitoring techniques to confirm the effectiveness of their management practices to address animal welfare challenges. This study assessed adrenocortical activity as an indication of environmental stress by investigating the effects of both natural (climate, life-history stages) and anthropogenic (visitor presence) factors on captive-housed African penguins. Seven male-female African penguin breeding pairs were housed in a large, naturalistic outside enclosure at the National Zoological Garden (NZG), South Africa. Weekly urofaecal samples were collected from all individuals over one-year to measure urofaecal glucocorticoid metabolite (ufGCM) concentrations. General linear mixed model analysis determined that visitor presence (for males) and rainfall (for females) were the two factors which best explained the variation in ufGCM concentrations of the study population; however, none of the environmental and anthropogenic factors monitored were found to be significant. A posthoc graphical analysis showed considerable individual variation in terms of ufGCM concentrations within and between sexes when comparing life-history stages. This study confirms that non-invasive steroid monitoring can be an effective tool set for defining and assessing environmental stressors for African penguins and potentially other captive seabirds. However, conservationists and wildlife managers should also consider that individual-, sex-, and population-specific differences in the response to environmental stressors can exist. As such, a generalized management protocol for a specific species may not be sufficient and should be customized according to the specific captive population and/or individual.
由于各种人为活动导致全球野生动物数量和物种多样性大幅减少，保护主义者越来越依赖圈养和管理种群作为重要的储备，以确保濒危和脆弱物种的生存。然而，这些设施中很少有实施强大的、非侵入性监测技术来确认其管理实践的有效性，以应对动物福利挑战。本研究通过调查自然（气候、生活史阶段）和人为（访客存在）因素对圈养非洲企鹅的影响，评估了肾上腺皮质活动作为环境应激的指标。七对雄性-雌性非洲企鹅繁殖对被安置在南非国家动物园（NZG）的一个大型自然主义外部围栏中。每周从所有个体中收集尿便样本，以测量尿便糖皮质激素代谢物（ufGCM）浓度。一般线性混合模型分析确定，访客存在（雄性）和降雨量（雌性）是解释研究人群 ufGCM 浓度变化的两个最佳因素；然而，监测的环境和人为因素都没有被发现是显著的。事后图形分析显示，在比较生活史阶段时，雄性和雌性个体之间的 ufGCM 浓度存在相当大的个体差异。本研究证实，非侵入性类固醇监测可以成为定义和评估非洲企鹅和潜在其他圈养海鸟环境应激源的有效工具集。然而，保护主义者和野生动物管理者也应该考虑到个体、性别和种群对环境应激源的反应可能存在差异。因此，针对特定物种的通用管理方案可能是不够的，应根据特定的圈养种群和/或个体进行定制。
