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Reproductive endocrinology of zoo-housed aardwolves

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Abstract

Knowledge regarding the relationship between endocrine parameters and reproductive activity can offer important insights into how social and environmental factors influence the reproductive success of mammals. Although components of both the physical and social environment affect endocrine regulation of reproduction, less is understood about the potential role of interactions between different endocrine axes on reproductive activity. We evaluated temporal patterns of reproductive and adrenocortical steroids in two male and three female aardwolves (Proteles cristata) housed in captivity at Brookfield Zoo, Chicago, IL, USA. We found seasonal variation in faecal androgens, estrogens, and progestagens, which provide support for previous observations of the aardwolf as a seasonal breeder. However, the timing of peak endocrine activity did not correspond to observations from wild populations. Our interpretation is that this discrepancy is caused by photoperiodic regulation of reproductive activity. We found a positive relationship between faecal androgens and faecal glucocorticoid metabolites in males and a positive relationship between faecal estrogens and faecal glucocorticoid metabolites in females when housed with conspecifics but not when housed alone. We also found a positive but asymptotic relationship between faecal progestagens and faecal glucocorticoid metabolites. We argue that these observations indicate a potential effect of reproductive endocrine activity on the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, which could result in interesting physiological trade-offs in male reproductive tactics and female pre-partum maternal investment because of the negative effects of long-term glucocorticoid elevation on reproductive performance. Finally, our results suggest that social and environmental factors interact in regulating many aspects of endocrine fluctuations in this mostly solitary species.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the ‘Fragile Kingdom’ manager and keeper staff at Brookfield Zoo for their dedicated scat sample collection and for providing details on housing and husbandry of the aardwolves. We also thank zoo intern Jaime Pape and several volunteers who helped with weighing of faecal samples, some aspects of sample processing, and data entry in the Brookfield Zoo Endocrine Laboratory. D. Marneweck, F. Dalerum and A. Ganswindt were supported by the National Research Foundation of South Africa, and F. Dalerum and A. Ganswindt were further supported by research fellowships from University of Pretoria.

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Author notes

  1. Nadja Wielebnowski

    Present address: Ocegon Zoo, 4001 SW Canyon Road, Portland, OR, 97221, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Pretoria, 0028, South Africa

    David G. Marneweck, Andre Ganswindt & Fredrik Dalerum

  2. Department of Production Animal Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort, 0110, South Africa

    Andre Ganswindt

  3. Animal Programs, Chicago Zoological Society, 3300 Golf Road, Brookfield, IL, 60513, USA

    Stephanie Rhodes

  4. Department of Conservation Science, Chicago Zoological Society, 3300 Golf Road, Brookfield, IL, 60513, USA

    Astrid Bellem, Jocelyn Bryant & Nadja Wielebnowski

  5. Centre for Wildlife Management, Hatfield Experimental Farm, University of Pretoria, Private bag X20, Pretoria, 0028, South Africa

    Fredrik Dalerum

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  1. David G. Marneweck
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Correspondence to Fredrik Dalerum.

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Communicated by: Kris Hundertmark

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Marneweck, D.G., Ganswindt, A., Rhodes, S. et al. Reproductive endocrinology of zoo-housed aardwolves. Acta Theriol 58, 223–232 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-012-0101-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-012-0101-1

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