Elevated levels of stress hormones in crop-raiding male elephants

Animal Conservation

Volumn 14, Issue 2, 2011, Pages 124-130

  Ahlering, M A ^a   Millspaugh, J J ^a   Woods, R J ^a   Western, D ^b   Eggert, L S ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI   (United States)

^b AFRICAN CONSERVATION CENTRE   (Kenya)

Author keywords

Crop raiding; Fecal glucocorticoids; Human elephant conflict; Loxodonta africana; Molecular sexing

Indexed keywords

CONCENTRATION (COMPOSITION); ELEPHANT; GENETICS; HORMONE; IMMUNOASSAY; METABOLITE;

KENYA;

ELEPHANTIDAE; LOXODONTA AFRICANA;

EID: 79952679080     PISSN: 13679430     EISSN: 14691795     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-1795.2010.00400.x     Document Type: Article

References (50)

1. Archie, E.A., Maldonado, J.E., Hollister-Smith, J.A., Poole, J.H., Moss, C.J., Fleischer, R.C. & Alberts, S.C. (2008). Fine-scale population genetic structure in a fission-fusion society. Mol. Ecol. 17, 2666-2679.
2. Blanc, J.J., Thouless, C.R., Hart, J.A., Dublin, H.T., Douglas-Hamilton, I., Craig, C.G. & Barnes, R.F.W. (2003). African elephant status report 202: an update from the African elephant database). Gland/Cambridge: IUCN/SSC African Elephant Specialist Group, IUCN.
3. Chiyo, P.I. & Cochrane, E.P. (2005). Population structure and behaviour of crop-raiding elephants in Kibale national park, Uganda. Afr. J. Ecol. 43, 233-241.
4. Chiyo, P.I., Cochrane, E.P., Naughton, L. & Basuta, G.I. (2005). Temporal patterns of crop raiding by elephants: a response to changes in forage quality or crop availability? Afr. J. Ecol. 43, 48-55.
5. Comstock, K.E., Georgiadis, N., Pecon-Slattery, J., Roca, A.L., Ostrander, E.A., O'brien, S.J. & Wasser, S.K. (2002). Patterns of molecular genetic variation among African elephant populations. Mol. Ecol. 11, 2489-2498.
6. Comstock, K.E., Wasser, S.K. & Ostrander, E.A. (2000). Polymorphic microsatellite DNA loci identified in the African elephant (Loxodonta africana). Mol. Ecol. 9, 1004-1005.
7. Douglas-Hamilton, I. (1987). African elephants: population trends and their causes. Oryx 21, 11-24.
8. Du Toit, J.T. & Owen-Smith, N. (1989). Body size, population metabolism, and habitat specialisation among large African herbivores. Am. Nat. 133, 736-740.
9. Eggert, L.S., Ahlering, M.A. & Manka, S. (2007). Lessons from genetic censuses of forest elephants. Proceedings of the 2007 International Elephant Conservation and Research Symposium, Orlando, 157-167.
10. Eggert, L.S., Maldonado, J.E., Fleischer, R.C., Zimmer, E.A. & Roalson, E.H. (2005). Nucleic acid isolation from ecological samples - animal scat and other associated materials. In: Methods in enzymology: 73-82. Zimmer, E.A. & Roalson, E.H. (Eds). New York: Academic Press.
11. Eggert, L.S., Ramakrishnan, U., Mundy, N.I. & Woodruff, D.S. (2000). Polymorphic microsatellite DNA markers in the african elephant (Loxondonta africana) and their use in the asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Mol. Ecol. 9, 2223-2225.
12. Fernando, P. & Melnick, D.J. (2001). Molecular sexing eutherian mammals. Mol. Ecol. Notes 1, 350-353.
13. Fernando, P., Wikramanayake, E., Weerakoon, D., Jayasinghe, L.K.A., Gunawardene, M. & Janaka, H.K. (2005). Perceptions and patterns of human-elephant conflict in old and new settlements in Sri Lanka: insights for mitigation and management. Biodivers. Conserv. 14, 2465-2481.
14. Foley, C.A.H., Papageorge, S. & Wasser, S.K. (2001). Noninvasive stress and reproductive measures of social and ecological pressures in free-ranging African elephants. Conserv. Biol. 15, 1134-1142.
15. Gadd, M.E. (2005). Conservation outside of parks: attitudes of local people in Laikipia, Kenya. Environ. Conserv. 32, 50-63.
16. Ganswindt, A., Palme, R., Heistermann, M., Borragan, S. & Hodges, J.K. (2003). Non-invasive assessment of adrenocortical function in the male African elephant (Loxodonta africana) and its relation to musth. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 134, 156-166.
17. Gobush, K.S., Mutayoba, B.M. & Wasser, S.K. (2008). Long-term impacts of poaching on relatedness, stress physiology, and reproductive output of adult female African elephants. Conserv. Biol. 22, 1590-1599.
18. Hoare, R.E. (1999). Determinants of human-elephant conflict in a land-use mosaic. J. Appl. Ecol. 36, 689-700.
19. Jachmann, H. & Bell, R.H.V. (1984). The use of elephant droppings in assessing numbers, occupance and age structure: a refinement of the method. Afr. J. Ecol. 22, 127-141.
20. Jackson, T.P., Mosojane, S., Ferreira, S.M. & Van Aarde, R.J. (2008). Solutions for elephant Loxodonta africana crop raiding in northern Botswana: moving away from symptomatic approaches. Oryx 42, 83-91.
21. Keay, J.M., Singh, J., Gaunt, M.C. & Kaur, T. (2006). Fecal glucocorticoids and their metabolites as indicators of stress in various mammalian species: a literature review. J. Zoo Wildl. Med. 37, 234-244.
22. King, L.E., Lawrence, A., Douglas-Hamilton, I. & Vollrath, F. (2009). Beehive fence deters crop-raiding elephants. Afr. J. Ecol. 47, 131-137.
23. Kioko, J., Kiringe, J. & Omondi, P. (2006). Human-elephant conflict outlook in the Tsavo-Amboseli ecosystem, Kenya. Pachyderm 41, 53-60.
24. Kioko, J., Muruthi, P., Omondi, P. & Chiyo, P.I. (2008). The performance of electric fences as elephant barriers in Amboseli, Kenya. S. Afr. J. Wildl. Res. 38, 52-58.
25. Millspaugh, J.J., Burke, T., Van Dyk, G.U.S., Slotow, R.O.B., Washburn, B.E. & Woods, R.J. (2007). Stress response of working African elephants to transportation and safari adventures. J. Wildl. Mgmt. 71, 1257-1260.
26. Millspaugh, J.J. & Washburn, B.E. (2004). Use of fecal glucocorticoid metabolite measures in conservation biology research: considerations for application and interpretation. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 138, 189-199.
27. Millspaugh, J.J., Washburn, B.E., Milanick, M.A., Slotow, R. & Van Dyk, G. (2003). Effects of heat and chemical treatments on fecal glucocorticoid measurements: implications for sample transport. Wildl. Soc. Bull. 31, 399-406.
28. Moss, C.J. (2000). Elephant memories: thirteen years in the life of an elephant family. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
29. Moss, C.J. (2001). The demography of an African elephant (Loxodonta africana) population in Amboseli, Kenya. J. Zool. Soc. Lond. 255, 145-156.
30. Munshi-South, J., Tchignoumba, L., Brown, J.L., Abbondanza, N., Maldonado, J.E., Henderson, A. & Alonso, A. (2008). Physiological indicators of stress in African forest elephants (Loxodonta africana cyclotis) in relation to petroleum operations in Gabon, central Africa. Divers. Distrib. 14, 993-1001.
31. Nyakaana, S., Okello, J.B., Muwanika, V. & Siegismund, H.R. (2005). Six new polymorphic microsatellite loci isolated and characterized from the African savannah elephant genome. Mol. Ecol. Notes 5, 223-225.
32. Osborn, F.V. (2002). Capiscum oleoresin as an elephant repellent: field trials in the commual lands of Zimbabwe. J. Wildl. Mgmt. 66, 674-677.
33. Osborn, F.V. (2004). Seasonal variation of feeding patterns and food selection by crop-raiding elephants in zimbabwe. Afr. J. Ecol. 42, 322-327.
34. Osborn, F.V. & Parker, G.E. (2003). Towards an integrated approach for reducing the conflict between elephants and people: a review of current research. Oryx 37, 80-84.
35. Palme, R., Rettenbacher, S., Touma, C., El-Bahr, S.M. & Möstl, E. (2005). Stress hormones in mammals and birds: comparative aspects regarding metabolism, excretion, and noninvasive measurement in fecal samples. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1040, 162-171.
36. R Development Core Team. (2008). R: a language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. (accessed November 2009).
37. Shannon, G., Page, B.R., Mackey, R.L., Duffy, K.J. & Slotow, R. (2008). Activity budgets and sexual segregation in African elephants (Loxodonta africana). J. Mammal. 89, 467-476.
38. Sitati, N.W. & Walpole, M.J. (2006). Assessing farm-based measures for mitigating human-elephant conflict in Transmara district, Kenya. Oryx 40, 279-286.
39. Sitati, N.W., Walpole, M.J. & Leader-Williams, N. (2005). Factors affecting susceptibility of farms to crop raiding by African elephants. J. Appl. Ecol. 42, 1175-1182.
40. Sitati, N.W., Walpole, M.J., Smith, R.J. & Leader-Williams, N. (2003). Predicting spatial aspects of human-elephant conflict. J. Appl. Ecol. 40, 667-677.
41. Stokke, S. & Du Toit, J.T. (2002). Sexual segregation in habitat use by elephants in Chobe national park, Botswana. Afr. J. Ecol. 40, 360-371.
42. Strum, S.C. (2010). The development of primate raiding: implications for management and conservation. Int. J. Primatol. 31, 133-156.
43. Sukumar, R. (1990). Ecology of the Asian elephant in southern India. II. Feeding habits and crop raiding patterns. J. Trop. Ecol. 6, 33-53.
44. Sukumar, R. (2003). The living elephants: evolutionary ecology, behaviour, and conservation. New York: University of Oxford Press.
45. Waits, L.P., Luikart, G. & Taberlet, P. (2001). Estimating the probability of identity among genotypes in natural populations: cautions and guidelines. Mol. Ecol. 10, 249-256.
46. Wasser, S.K., Hunt, K.E., Brown, J.L., Cooper, K., Crockett, C.M., Bechert, U., Millspaugh, J.J., Larson, S. & Monfort, S.L. (2000). A generalized fecal glucocorticoid assay for use in a diverse array of nondomestic mammalian and avian species. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 120, 260-275.
47. Wasser, S.K., Mailand, C., Booth, R., Mutayoba, B., Kisamo, E., Clark, B. & Stephens, M. (2007). Using DNA to track the origin of the largest ivory seizure since the 1989 trade ban. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 104, 4228-4233.
48. Western, D. (2007). A half a century of habitat change in Amboseli national park Kenya. Afr. J. Ecol. 45, 1-9.
49. Western, D. & Waithaka, J. (2005). Policies for reducing human-wildlife conflict. A Kenya case study and general implications. In People and wildlife: conflict or coexistence: 357-372. Woodroffe, R., Thirgood, S. & Rabinowitz, A. (Eds). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
50. Zar, J.H. (1999). Biostatistical analysis. Upper Saddle River: Prentice-Hall.