Correlation Between Seasonal Changes Of Reproductive Behavior And Fecal Hormone Concentrations In Captive Blue Sheep (Pseudois Nayaur)

For the purpose of researching the reproductive behavior regularity of the blue sheep,studying the estrus frequency and estrus duration differences during breeding and nonbreeding periods,analyzing the relation between reproductive steroids in feces and reproductive behaviors.The reproductive behaviors of blue sheep were observed by means of focal sampling and all-occurrence recoding method from June 2015 to July 2016 in Zhongshan Park in Yinchuan City.The monthly differences of reproductive behaviors were observed between five blue sheep within one male and four female.In the meanwhile,fresh faeces of the blue sheep were collected and analyzed by radioimmunoassay to research the secretion levels of testosterone,estradiol and progesterone.We investigated the changes of reproductive behaviors of male and female in captive conditions and the corresponding relation between productive steroids changes and behaviors.The consequence of the observation and analysis were as follows:The results of single factor analysis of variance showed that there were significant differences in monthly reproductive behaviors such as the courtship(F = 8.323,P <0.01),frequency(F = 7.732,P <0.01),climbing(F = 6.435,P <0.01),olfactory(F = 8.125,P <0.01).According to the results of LSD analysis,the frequency of latrine sniffing was higher in January compare to other months,the frequency of urine,climbing,chasing female and other reproductive behavior was significantly higher in December compare to other month's group.There were significant differences in female blue sheep in December between accept standing(F = 16.342,P <0.01)and refuse standing(F = 14.735,P <0.01).In the aspect of childbearing behavior,female blue sheep showed significant differences in lactation behavior during the month,reaching a peak in the duration of breastfeeding in June,while the duration difference of other behaviors was not significant.According to the Pearon correlation analysis,there was a significant positive correlation in male blue sheep between the frequency and duration of behaviors such as latrine sniffing,standing,courtship and urinary frequency and testosterone secretion level(P <0.01).The results showed that the frequency and duration of testis such as excrement markers and other behavior was significantly positive correlated(P <0.05).The results of Pearson correlation analysis confirmed that only the behavior of lactation had significant correlation with the progesterone content(P <0.05),there was no significant correlation with other behaviors(P > 0.05).There was a positive correlation between lactation and olfactory behavior and estradiol levels(P <0.05).