Abstract
In recent years, ecological studies have shown that oxidative status can have a significant impact on fitness components in free-ranging animals. This has raised awareness by conservation practitioners about the importance of identifying the factors associated with individual variation in markers of oxidative status because this might provide several potential benefits for conservation programmes. In this study, we measured five markers of oxidative status in the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), a carnivore species classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. We asked whether the five measures of oxidative damage and antioxidant blood-based markers are associated with a number of socioecological and environmental factors, including individual sex, age class, living condition (free-ranging vs. captive), restraint duration stress (i.e. capture duration stress), spatial tactic of males (territory holders vs. non-territory holders, i.e. floaters) and reproductive status of females (accompanied by offspring vs. solitary). Markers of oxidative damage were higher in those cheetahs that were physically restraint for a longer duration in the trap, indicating that oxidative stress may be increased by short-term unpredictable environmental stressors. Markers of oxidative damage were also higher in captive than free-ranging cheetahs, suggesting that oxidative stress might be a physiological mechanism underlying the detrimental effects of captivity on the health status of cheetahs. Variation of oxidative status markers was also significantly associated with individual age class, spatial tactic and reproductive status, opening new research avenues about the role of oxidative stress in influencing behavioural and life-history traits in cheetahs.
Highlights
Knowledge of the stress resistance and health status of threatened and endangered species is fundamental for understanding and predicting the impact of ongoing environmental changes on population viability and for planning sustainable and successful conservation strategies
We asked whether the five measures of oxidative damage and antioxidant blood-based markers are associated with a number of socioecological and environmental factors, including individual sex, age class, living condition, restraint duration stress, spatial tactic of males and reproductive status of females
Markers of oxidative damage were higher in those cheetahs that were physically restraint for a longer duration in the trap, indicating that oxidative stress may be increased by short-term unpredictable environmental stressors
Summary
Knowledge of the stress resistance and health status of threatened and endangered species is fundamental for understanding and predicting the impact of ongoing environmental changes on population viability and for planning sustainable and successful conservation strategies. A promising and increasingly used approach of conservation practitioners is to identify physiological markers, i.e. measurable indicators of a given biological state, that reliably reflect individual. It is increasingly advocated that physiological markers of allostatic load (‘stress’) may provide a valuable tool for long-term environmental monitoring of animal populations to assess the effects of environmental changes on individual health and to predict how individuals will cope with these ongoing changes (Romero, 2004; Busch and Hayward, 2009; Cooke et al, 2013; Wingfield, 2013). When an individual is exposed to stressful conditions for a prolonged period, it may enter an emergency lifehistory stage in which resources are mostly used to sustain mechanisms activated to protect it from allostatic failure and to promote life-saving strategies essential to self-maintenance and survival (McEwen and Stellar, 1993; Wingfield et al, 1998)
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