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A simplified method for monitoring progestagens in African elephants under field conditions
Author(s) -
Freeman Elizabeth W.,
Abbondanza F. Nicole,
Meyer Jordana M.,
Schulte Bruce A.,
Brown Janine L.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
methods in ecology and evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.425
H-Index - 105
ISSN - 2041-210X
DOI - 10.1111/j.2041-210x.2009.00004.x
Subject(s) - biology , feces , hormone , endocrinology , ecology
Summary 1. Hormone analyses are frequently used to support management of wildlife; however, current techniques are not very field‐friendly. In situ hormone monitoring is often expensive, time consuming and logistically difficult. Thus, a new method for assessing ovarian cycle activity non‐invasively in free‐ranging African elephants was developed. 2. The technique involves handshaking faecal samples in common organic solvents, use of environmentally stable antibody‐coated microtitre plates and assessment of progestagen concentrations based on a visual colour change. 3. Studies using ex situ African elephants determined that handshaking faeces in a solution of isopropyl alcohol was effective for extracting the faecal progestagens (efficiency >90%). 4. Antibody‐coated plates were stable for up to 3 months under a range of temperatures (4 to >38 °C) and the resulting faecal oestrous cycle progestagen profiles corresponded significantly to those of serum ( r = 0·89, P < 0·01). 5. This field‐friendly technique provided qualitative hormone data without the need for expensive equipment. Although developed for progestagen analyses in elephants, this approach should be adaptable to other steroids in a myriad of species. As such, it could facilitate how hormones are measured in species under field conditions and provide new tools for making sensible conservation management decisions.