Reproductive characteristics of captive male jaguars (Panthera onca)

• Autor(a) principal: Morato, Ronaldo Gonçalves
• Data de Publicação: 1999
• Outros Autores: Guimarães, Marcelo Alcindo Barros de Vaz, Ferreira, Fernando, Verreschi, Ieda Therezinha do Nascimento [UNIFESP], Barnabe, Renato Campanarut
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UNIFESP
• Texto Completo: http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1413-95961999000500008; http://repositorio.unifesp.br/handle/11600/721
• topic: Jaguars; Semen characters; Testosterone; Season; Jaguar; Características do sêmen; Testosterona; Sazonalidade

Ejaculate traits, testicular volume and plasma testosterone levels were determined once every two months for one year in 4 adult male jaguars (Panthera onca) housed at the São Paulo Zoo, SP, Brazil. Semen samples was collected by electroejaculation and analyzed for pH, total volume, motility (0-100%), status (0-5), total spermatozoa count and morphology. Blood samples was obtained by cephalic venipuncture immediately before the onset of electroejaculation and stored at -20ºC until assay of testosterone by RIA. Using a calliper, the length and width of each testis was measured and the values were combined to determine the testicular volume. Semen analyses demonstrated a high percentage of structurally abnormal sperm (mean = 51%) and low rates of motility (50.6%) and status (2.2). No correlation was found between semen traits, plasma testosterone and testicular volume (Spearman s test). No season variation was detected throughout the year for semen traits, plasma testosterone and testicular volume (p>0.05, Friedman s test). The results of this study suggest that the captive jaguars in Brazil are not seasonal, and that semen collections can be performed throughout the year without a perturbation in overall ejaculate quality. However, underlying causes of high percentages of structurally abnormal sperm, found in captive jaguars, need to be investigated mainly to improve semen quality.