Livestock and Wildlife Laboratory, Arid Lands Institute, University of Gabès, 4100, Médenine, Tunisia.
Doctoral School of Gabes "SIS", Rue Omar, Ibn Khattab, 6029, Gabès, Tunisia.
Trop Anim Health Prod. 2021 Apr 20;53(2):275. doi: 10.1007/s11250-021-02702-6.
Effects of two different management systems on male dromedary camel hormones, behaviors, and semen parameters were documented. Camels (n=6) were tested under two management systems: (i) housed in single boxes with 1-h freedom (H23); (ii) exposed to females for 17 h (from 3.30 p.m. to 8.30 a.m.) and then housed (ConExF). Blood was collected every morning; camel behavior was recorded twice a day: (i) from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. to determine the short effects; (ii) from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. to determine the long effects. Each camel underwent a female parade and semen collection thrice a week; sexual behavior, libido, and semen parameters were assessed. Testosterone and cortisol concentrations were higher in ConExF than H23. Compared to the H23 group, ConExF group spent more time walking, standing tripods, and looking outside their pen/box but they spent less time eating, ruminating, resting, standing, and showing stereotypical behaviors. In the morning, ConExF group spent more time walking, ruminating, and showing typical sexual behaviors compared to themselves during afternoon time and the H23 group. However, in the afternoon time, ConExF camels put more time their heads outside the box through the window and showed higher frequencies of stereotypies, probably due to a higher level of frustration. While the sexual behavioral score was higher and ejaculates showed a higher fraction of milky white and white-colored semen in ConExF than H23 group, their libido was similar. Overall, 17 h of exposure led to an increase in testosterone and cortisol levels, enhancing sexual behavior and semen color, but leading to frustration.
两种不同管理系统对雄性单峰驼激素、行为和精液参数的影响。对 6 匹骆驼在两种管理系统下进行了测试：（i）单箱饲养，每天有 1 小时的自由活动时间（H23）；（ii）与雌性接触 17 小时（从下午 3:30 到早上 8:30），然后圈养（ConExF）。每天早上采集血液；每天记录两次骆驼行为：（i）从早上 7:00 到 8:00 确定短期影响；（ii）从下午 2:00 到 3:00 确定长期影响。每匹骆驼每周进行三次雌性游行和精液采集；评估性行为、性欲和精液参数。与 H23 相比，ConExF 组的睾酮和皮质醇浓度更高。与 H23 组相比，ConExF 组花更多的时间行走、站立三足和看围栏/箱外，但花更少的时间进食、反刍、休息、站立和表现刻板行为。早上，ConExF 组比下午时间和 H23 组花更多的时间行走、反刍和表现典型的性行为。然而，在下午，ConExF 骆驼通过窗户将更多的时间放在箱外，并表现出更高频率的刻板行为，可能是由于更高水平的挫折感。虽然 ConExF 组的性行为评分更高，射精时出现乳白色和白色精液的比例更高，但它们的性欲相似。总的来说，17 小时的接触导致睾酮和皮质醇水平升高，增强了性行为和精液颜色，但导致了挫折感。
