Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Animals

Author ORCID Identifier

Eric M. Gese https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8910-7397

Cole A. Bleke https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1919-1559

Volume

13

Issue

23

Publisher

MDPI AG

Publication Date

11-21-2023

First Page

1

Last Page

15

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Abstract

Reproduction is considered an energetically and physiologically demanding time in the life of an animal. Changes in physiological stress are partly reflected in changes in glucocorticoid metabolites and can be measured from fecal samples. We examined levels of fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (fGCMs) in 24 captive coyotes (Canis latrans) to investigate responses to the demands of reproduction. Using 12 pairs of coyotes (five pairs produced pups, seven pairs did not), we analyzed 633 fecal samples covering 11 biological periods (e.g., breeding, gestation, and lactation). Levels of fGCMs showed high individual variability, with females having higher fGCM levels than males. The production of pups showed no statistical effect on fGCM levels among females or males. Among females, fGCM levels were highest during 4–6 weeks of gestation compared to other periods but were not significantly different between pregnant and nonpregnant females. Among males, the highest fGCM levels were during 1–3 weeks of gestation compared to other periods, but were not significantly different between males with a pregnant mate versus nonpregnant mate. Of females producing pups, litter size did not influence fGCM levels. Given that they were fed ample food throughout the year, we found that the demands of producing pups did not appear to statistically influence measures of fGCM concentrations in captive coyotes.

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