Effects of Positive Reinforcement Training and Novel Object Exposure on Salivary Cortisol Levels under Consideration of Individual Variation in Captive African Elephants (Loxodonta africana).

ABSTRACT: Dealing with potential stress in species that have high husbandry requirements, such as elephants, is a challenge for zoos. The objective of the present study was to determine whether positive reinforcement training (PRT) and exposure to a novel object (NOV) for enrichment induced a salivary cortisol response indicative of activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and which factors determine individual variation in this regard in captive African elephants. We repeatedly sampled the saliva of ten animals (three zoos) for the analysis of cortisol (SACort) before and up to 60 min (in 10-15 min intervals) after the onset of PRT (three repeats) or NOV (nine repeats), which lasted 10 min. There was considerable individual variation in SACort in response to PRT or NOV. Using mix

SUBMITTER: Hambrecht S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8698154 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature