Meeting Abstract

P3.90  Wednesday, Jan. 6  Development of non-invasive reproductive monitoring techniques for endangered snow leopards and Amur leopards GRAHAM, AW*; KOUBA, AJ; WILLIS, EL; Memphis Zoo, TN; Rhodes College, Memphis, TN; Memphis Zoo, TN; Memphis Zoo, TN graaw@rhodes.edu

Snow (Panthera uncia) and Amur leopards (Panthera pardus orientalis) are two of the most endangered large cats on Earth. Little is known about the reproductive physiology of these cats and a basic understanding of reproductive biology will aid in conservation efforts. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to optimize fecal steroid hormone extraction procedures and determine appropriate antibodies for enzyme immunoassays. For our first objective, we compared combinations of different fecal steroid hormone extraction procedures including, ethanol vs. methanol extraction and vortexing vs. rocking samples to determine which method extracted the greatest amount of steroid hormones. Results indicated that rocking fecal samples for 24 hr extracted less steroid hormone than vortexing. For fecal androgens, a 6.8-fold increase in hormone concentration was found when samples were extracted with methanol and vortexed for 20 minutes (M/V 20 min), compared to extraction with ethanol and vortexed for 20 minutes. Although results were not significant, the M/V 20 min extraction also yielded a greater amount of estrogens, compared to other extraction methods. For our second objective, we examined whether antibodies found to be appropriate for measuring fecal steroids in other felids were also suitable for snow and Amur leopards. As was found in other large cats, our preliminary results indicated that a broad scale testosterone antibody and an estrogen metabolite (E1G) antibody can be used to measure fecal androgens and estrogens in snow leopards, and may also be applicable to Amur leopards. Results from these studies will improve procedures to characterize the seasonal reproductive profiles of pubertal and adult female and male leopards.