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Faecal glucocorticoid level is not correlated with stereotypic pacing in two captive margays (Leopardus wiedii)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

M Gusset
M Gusset*
Affiliation:
Physiology and Animal Husbandry Research Group, Institute of Animal Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
*
Correspondence address: Applied Behaviour and Ecology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Transkei, Private Bag X1, UNITRA 5117, South Africa; e-mail: mgusset@bluewin.ch
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Abstract

The ‘coping hypothesis’ of stereotypic behaviour — that stereotypies are performed as a means of helping the animal to cope with its environment by reducing stress — was tested using two adult female margays (Leopardus wiedii), an endangered neotropical small cat species. Within-individual and between-individual comparisons of the duration of stereotypic pacing and glucocorticoid concentration, measured non-invasively in faeces, indicated that stereotypic pacing did not help the two margays to cope with their captive environment by reducing their physiological stress level. However, hiding appeared to serve as a coping function in the two margays, not by immediately reducing the faecal glucocorticoid concentration, but rather as a long-term effect.

Keywords

animal welfarecopingglucocorticoidsmargaynon-invasivestereotypic pacing
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 14 , Issue 2: The Three Rs: past, present and future , May 2005 , pp. 157 - 159
Copyright
© 2005 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

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