Mate-guarding is an important determinant of male reproductive success in a number of species. Little is known however about the constraints of this behaviour, e.g. the associated energetic costs. We investigated these costs in long-tailed macaques where alpha males mate guard females to a lesser extent than predicted by the priority of access model. The study was carried out during two mating periods on three wild groups living in the Gunung Leuser National Park, Indonesia. We combined behavioural observations on males’ locomotion and feeding activity, GPS records of distance travelled and non-invasive measurements of urinary C-peptide (UCP), a physiological indicator of male energetic status. Mate-guarding led to a decrease in feeding time and fruit consumption suggesting a reduced intake of energy. At the same time, vertical locomotion was reduced, which potentially saved energy. These findings, together with the fact that we did not find an effect of mate-guarding on UCP levels, suggest that energy intake and expenditure was balanced during mate-guarding in our study males. Mate-guarding thus seems to not be energetically costly under all circumstances. Given that in strictly seasonal rhesus macaques, high-ranking males lose physical condition over the mating period, we hypothesise that the energetic costs of mate-guarding vary inter-specifically depending on the degree of seasonality and that males of non-strictly seasonal species might be better adapted to maintain balanced energetic condition year-round. Finally, our results illustrate the importance of combining behavioural assessments of both energy intake and expenditure with physiological measures when investigating energetic costs of behavioural strategies.

Mate-guarding is an important determinant of male reproductive success in a number of species. However, it is known to potentially incur costs. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of mate-guarding on male physiological stress and aggression in long-tailed macaques, a species in which males mate-guard females to a lesser extent than predicted by the Priority of Access model (PoA). The study was carried out during two mating periods on three groups of wild long-tailed macaques in Indonesia by combining behavioral observations with non-invasive measurements of fecal glucocorticoid (fGC) levels. Mate-guarding was associated with a general rise in male stress hormone levels but, from a certain threshold of mate-guarding onwards, increased vigilance time was associated with a decrease in stress hormone output. Mate-guarding also increased male-male aggression rate and male vigilance time. Overall, alpha males were more physiologically stressed than other males independently of mating competition. Increased glucocorticoid levels during mate-guarding are most likely adaptive since it may help males to mobilize extra-energy required for mate-guarding and ultimately maintain a balanced energetic status. However, repeated exposure to high levels of stress over an extended period is potentially deleterious to the immune system and thus may carry costs. This potential physiological cost together with the cost of increased aggression mate-guarding male face may limit the male's ability to mate-guard females, explaining the deviance from the PoA model observed in long-tailed macaques. Comparing our results to previous findings we discuss how ecological factors, reproductive seasonality and rank achievement may modulate the extent to which costs of mate-guarding limit male monopolization abilities.

The challenge hypothesis (Wingfield et al., 1990) has been broadly utilised as a conceptual framework to study male androgen correlates of reproductive challenges in mammals. These studies mainly assessed male androgen responsiveness to a general degree of challenge over extended periods of time. Short term co-variation between the socio-sexual challenging context and androgen levels remains, however, largely understudied. We thus aim at providing a multi-level test of the challenge hypothesis by investigating the inter- and intra-individual variations in faecal androgen excretion associated to 1) breeding seasonality, 2) dominance rank, 3) mate-guarding activity and 4) value of the guarded female. We studied long-tailed macaques, a species in which males engage in highly challenging monopolisation of females over discreet periods of time. This particularity allows testing specifically the predicted increase from level B to level C in the challenge hypothesis. The study was carried out during two reproductive seasons on three groups of wild long-tailed macaques. We combined behavioural observations and non-invasive measurements of faecal androgen metabolite (fAM) levels. We found that, as predicted by the challenge hypothesis, male long-tailed macaques respond not only to seasonal but also to short term reproductive challenges by adapting their androgen levels. First, males exhibited a seasonal rise in fAM levels during the mating period which may be triggered by fruit availability as shown by our phenological data. Second, males had increased androgen levels when mate-guarding females and, across mate-guarding periods, males had higher fAM levels when monopolising high-ranking parous females than when monopolising low-ranking ones. Finally, high-ranking males had higher fAM levels than low-ranking males year round. Our study confirms that, in species with a high degree of female monopolisability, androgen may be an important physiological fitness enhancing tool for males by increasing female monopolisation efficiency (in particular with highly valuable females) and helping males to respond to rank take-over challenges.

Male primates living in multimale groups tend to direct mate and mate-guarding choices toward females of high reproductive value, i.e., high-ranking, parous females, or females with which they share strong bonds. Little is known, however, about the constraints that may limit male mate-guarding choices (the costs of this behavior) and the influence of the females’ quality on male investment in mate-guarding. We aimed to study the effects of female rank, parity status, and male–female social bond strength on the costs of and investment in mate-guarding by males. We carried out our study during two reproductive seasons on three groups of wild long-tailed macaques in Indonesia. We combined behavioral observations on male locomotion and activity with noninvasive measurements of fecal glucocorticoids (fGC). Males spent less time feeding when mate-guarding nulliparous females than when mate-guarding parous females and tended to have higher fGC levels when mate-guarding low-ranking nulliparous females than when mate-guarding high-ranking nulliparous ones. Evolution should thus favor male choice for high-ranking parous females because such a decision brings benefits at proximate (reduced costs of mate-guarding) and ultimate (higher reproductive value) levels. Further, male investment in mate-guarding was flexible and contingent on female reproductive and social value. Males were more vigilant and more aggressive toward other males when mate-guarding females to which they were strongly bonded and/or high-ranking ones than when mate-guarding other females. Our findings bring a new dimension to the study of mate choice by showing that males not only mate preferentially with high-quality females but may also aim to secure paternity with these females through optimized monopolization.

Heat stress on broiler chickens has an impact on the value of feed conversion ratio (FCR), carcass weight, and abdominal fat content. These impacts can be reduced by administering plant extracts, such as salix plant extract. However, the effect of this plant extract on normal condition is still unknown. This study aimed to determine the effect of salix extract to the value of feed conversion ratio, carcass weight, and abdominal fat content in chickens with heat stress and compared with chickens in normal conditions. This study used 30 samples of 21-day old broiler chickens. This research was conducted using a complete factorial randomized design with 2 x 3 treatment factors and 5 repetitions. The first factor consisted of two treatment conditions, namely heat stress (HS) and no heat stress (nHS), while the second factor consisted of three doses of salix extract treatment, dose 0 (ES-0), 50 (ES-50), and 100 (ES-100) mg/L of drinking water. Heat stress was conducted by increasing the temperature of the cage to 34 ± 1 °C for 4 hours per day. Salix extract was added in drinking water and given 2 hours before the temperature reached 34 ± 1 °C. Chickens without heat stress were kept in the cage at 25 ± 1 °C using air-condition (AC). Data were analyzed using two way ANOVA using SPSS 20. The results showed that administration of salix extract on heat stress chickens did not affect the FCR value and carcass weight, but had a significant effect (P ≤ 0.05) on abdominal fat weight. Fat content in the abdominal was higher (P≤ 0.05) in chickens with heat stress and given salix extract than non heat stress.

Nowadays, the non-invasive measurement of cortisol in feces is a popular method used as an indicator of stress in wild and captive animals. This study was conducted to examine the feasibility of a non-invasive method for cortisol metabolites measurements in feces and investigate its relationship with the number and arrival frequency of visitors in captive Sambar deer. In total 64 fecal samples were collected together with the observation of the number and arrival frequency of visitors from 7 Sambar deers (3 adult males, 4 adult females) rearing in zoos of Taman Rusa Lamtanjong, Aceh Besar, Indonesia. Subsequently, fecal samples were extracted and the concentration of cortisol was measured by using 3α, 11β-dihydroxy-etiocholanolone assay. Data were analyzed using a t-test and Pearson correlation. Results showed that cortisol metabolites concentration in adult males of Sambar deer (276.20 ± 52.74 ng/g dry feces) was higher compared to adult females (181.56 ± 25.87 ng/g dry feces). The concentration of cortisol metabolites was significantly correlated with the number of visitors ( r = 0.482, p < 0.05 ) and the arrival frequency of visitors ( r = 0.398, p < 0.05 ) in which the higher number and arrival frequency of visitors increased the cortisol metabolites concentration. In conclusion, the concentration of cortisol metabolites in Sambar deer can be measured non-invasively from feces and associated with the number and arrival frequency of visitors.

ABSTRAKPenelitian ini bertujuan mengetahui prevalensi perubahan perilaku anjing lokal jantan yang dikandangkan berdasarkan prinsip kesejahteraan hewan. Sebanyak 3 ekor anjing lokal jantan dijadikan sebagai obyek penelitian. Perilaku anjing diamati dengan metode focal animal sampling. Anjing dikandangkan selama 60 hari, dipenuhi kebutuhan makan dan minum serta tempat tinggalnya. Dalam pengamatan anjing diidentifikasi berdasarkan warna bulu dan ukuran tubuh. Perilaku anjing diamati tiga kali setiap hari yaitu pada pagi, siang, dan sore selama 3 periode, yaitu periode I (hari ke-1 sampai hari ke-20), periode II (hari ke-21 sampai hari ke-40), dan periode III (hari ke-41 sampai hari ke-60). Pengamatan dilakukan selama 60 hari, alokasi waktu per pengamatan sekitar 30 menit. Hasil yang diperoleh menunjukan bahwa prevalensi perilaku yang terjadi pada anjing selama periode I didominasi oleh duduk diam dan tidur. Di samping itu, juga diselingi dengan perilaku berlari, berjalan, bermain, mencium-cium, dan makan. Pada periode ini juga terlihat perilaku stres seperti menggonggong, menggali, mundur/bersembunyi, menggigit, dan memanjat. Pada periode II dan periode III perilaku duduk diam dan tidur semakin dominan, sedangkan perilaku stres sangat berkurang. Berdasarkan hasil tersebut dapat disimpulkan bahwa anjing lokal akan menunjukkan perilaku stres selama 20 hari pertama dikandangkan, dan akan semakin tenang pada hari-hari berikutnya selama kesejahteraan hewan dipenuhi. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Kata kunci: anjing lokal, perilaku anjing, kesejahteraan hewan ABSTRACT PENDAHULUANAnjing (Canis familiaris) merupakan hewan yang telah lama dikenal sebagai hewan piaraan dan pekerja. Di Indonesia, terdapat anjing yang dipelihara untuk dijadikan sebagai anjing pemburu, anjing penjaga ladang, ataupun penjaga rumah. Salah satu contoh anjing yang digunakan adalah anjing kampung (anjing lokal) untuk berburu babi hutan. Penggunaan anjing kampung ini karena memiliki tubuh yang kecil memanjang, telinga dan moncongnya runcing, penciuman tajam, dapat berlari dengan cepat serta memiliki kemampuan berenang (Untung, 1999). Selain itu, anjing kampung mampu bersosialisasi dengan manusia dan dalam perawatannya tidak terlalu susah (Dharmojono, 2003).Meskipun anjing lokal banyak dipelihara oleh masyarakat, namun sangat sedikit informasi terkait perilakunya. Selain itu, aspek kesejahteraan hewan bisa jadi jarang diperhatikan. Dalam usaha meningkatkan kualitas pemeliharaan sangat diperlukan data mengenai karakteristik perilaku anjing lokal. Data perilaku tersebut akan berguna dalam perbaikan manajemen pemeliharaan anjing lokal. Di samping itu, juga untuk memenuhi aspek kesejahteraan hewan. Perubahan perilaku pada hewan yang dikandangkan bisa diamati dari sejak awal hingga beberapa waktu kemudian. Menurut Marston (2007), hewan yang baru dikandangkan atau ditempatkan di lokasi yang lain akan memperlihatkan perilaku-perilaku stres seperti menggonggong, memakan kot...

A study was conducted on broiler chickens under heat stress to evaluate the effect of combined jaloh (Salix tetrasperma Roxb) extract with chromium mineral in the body weight, value of feed ratio convertion, and time to meat to become decomposed. Twenty four of 20-day old Cobb female broiler chickens were randomly assigned and devided to 4 treatment groups. Completely randomized design was used in this study. The treatments were as follows: 1) chickens given no heat stress and jaloh extract nor chromium (tCp); 2) chickens under heat stress without given jaloh extract nor chromium (Cp); 3) chickens under heat stress and given jaloh extract in 1.000 mg/lt drinking water (Cp+Ej); and 4) chickens under heat stress, given jaloh extract in 1.000 mg/lt drinking water, and chromium in 1.000 ug/lt drinking water (Cp+Ej+Cr). Heat stress given was 33 ± 1 o C of cage temperature during 4 hours per day within 15 days. Jaloh extract and chromium treatments in drinking water were given at 2 hour before cage temperature reaching 33 ± 1 o C and were stopped being given after 1 hour, when cage temperature back to room temperature. On the 16 th day of the study chickens were measured before slaughtered. Samples obtained were chicken meat that taken from breast part (musculus pectoralis). The result suggested that either giving jaloh extract per se at the dose of 1.000 mg/lt in drinking water or combine it with chromium that given two hours before cage temperature reaching 33 ± 1 o C, can prevent chickens from decreasing their body weight, decreasing value of feed ratio convertion, and extending time to meat to become decomposed.