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Integrity of mating behaviors and seasonal reproduction in coyotes (Canis latrans) following treatment with estradiol benzoate

Coyotes (Canis latrans) are seasonally monestrous and form perennial pair-bonds. Breeding is dominated by each pack's alpha male and female, and both sexes share responsibility for territory defense and pup-rearing. They are also opportunistic predators on domestic livestock and pets. But while...

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Autores principales: Carlson, Debra A., Gese, Eric M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Elsevier B.V. Published by Elsevier B.V. 2010
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7126472/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19523776
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anireprosci.2009.05.008
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author Carlson, Debra A.
Gese, Eric M.
author_facet Carlson, Debra A.
Gese, Eric M.
author_sort Carlson, Debra A.
collection PubMed
description Coyotes (Canis latrans) are seasonally monestrous and form perennial pair-bonds. Breeding is dominated by each pack's alpha male and female, and both sexes share responsibility for territory defense and pup-rearing. They are also opportunistic predators on domestic livestock and pets. But while dominant adults have been implicated as primary killers, depredation is reduced when coyotes are without pups. Contraception, therefore, may represent a non-lethal solution for conflicts between coyotes and humans. Steroid hormones successfully control fertility in some species, but have been considered contraindicated in wildlife and canids in particular; specific concerns include possible induction of aberrant behavior, or uterine and hematopoietic pathologies. Herein we describe a study examining the physiological effectiveness, health safety, and behavioral consequences following treatment of estrous coyotes with exogenous estrogen. We treated captive adult female coyotes in estrus with 0.01 mg/kg estradiol benzoate (EB), either before (n = 5) or immediately after ovulation (n = 6), then documented reproductive outcome, physiological variables and behavioral responses, during and after treatment. Pregnancy was averted in six females treated after ovulation, suggesting that appropriate timing of treatment proved crucial. A transient suppression of sexual behavior was observed, and in some cases, estrus appeared slightly lengthened. However, neither ovulation nor mating behavior was fully suppressed. Importantly, non-pregnant females (and their mates) displayed diestrous socio-sexual behavior similar to pregnant coyotes (behavioral pseudopregnancy). Furthermore, non-pregnant coyotes did not mate again until the next native breeding season, and we observed no deleterious physiological effects during diestrus or subsequent ovarian cycles.
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spelling pubmed-71264722020-04-08 Integrity of mating behaviors and seasonal reproduction in coyotes (Canis latrans) following treatment with estradiol benzoate Carlson, Debra A. Gese, Eric M. Anim Reprod Sci Article Coyotes (Canis latrans) are seasonally monestrous and form perennial pair-bonds. Breeding is dominated by each pack's alpha male and female, and both sexes share responsibility for territory defense and pup-rearing. They are also opportunistic predators on domestic livestock and pets. But while dominant adults have been implicated as primary killers, depredation is reduced when coyotes are without pups. Contraception, therefore, may represent a non-lethal solution for conflicts between coyotes and humans. Steroid hormones successfully control fertility in some species, but have been considered contraindicated in wildlife and canids in particular; specific concerns include possible induction of aberrant behavior, or uterine and hematopoietic pathologies. Herein we describe a study examining the physiological effectiveness, health safety, and behavioral consequences following treatment of estrous coyotes with exogenous estrogen. We treated captive adult female coyotes in estrus with 0.01 mg/kg estradiol benzoate (EB), either before (n = 5) or immediately after ovulation (n = 6), then documented reproductive outcome, physiological variables and behavioral responses, during and after treatment. Pregnancy was averted in six females treated after ovulation, suggesting that appropriate timing of treatment proved crucial. A transient suppression of sexual behavior was observed, and in some cases, estrus appeared slightly lengthened. However, neither ovulation nor mating behavior was fully suppressed. Importantly, non-pregnant females (and their mates) displayed diestrous socio-sexual behavior similar to pregnant coyotes (behavioral pseudopregnancy). Furthermore, non-pregnant coyotes did not mate again until the next native breeding season, and we observed no deleterious physiological effects during diestrus or subsequent ovarian cycles. Elsevier B.V. Published by Elsevier B.V. 2010-02 2009-05-18 /pmc/articles/PMC7126472/ /pubmed/19523776 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anireprosci.2009.05.008 Text en Copyright © 2009 Elsevier B.V. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Since January 2020 Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company's public news and information website. Elsevier hereby grants permission to make all its COVID-19-related research that is available on the COVID-19 resource centre - including this research content - immediately available in PubMed Central and other publicly funded repositories, such as the WHO COVID database with rights for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for free by Elsevier for as long as the COVID-19 resource centre remains active.
spellingShingle Article
Carlson, Debra A.
Gese, Eric M.
Integrity of mating behaviors and seasonal reproduction in coyotes (Canis latrans) following treatment with estradiol benzoate
title Integrity of mating behaviors and seasonal reproduction in coyotes (Canis latrans) following treatment with estradiol benzoate
title_full Integrity of mating behaviors and seasonal reproduction in coyotes (Canis latrans) following treatment with estradiol benzoate
title_fullStr Integrity of mating behaviors and seasonal reproduction in coyotes (Canis latrans) following treatment with estradiol benzoate
title_full_unstemmed Integrity of mating behaviors and seasonal reproduction in coyotes (Canis latrans) following treatment with estradiol benzoate
title_short Integrity of mating behaviors and seasonal reproduction in coyotes (Canis latrans) following treatment with estradiol benzoate
title_sort integrity of mating behaviors and seasonal reproduction in coyotes (canis latrans) following treatment with estradiol benzoate
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7126472/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19523776
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anireprosci.2009.05.008
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