Relationship between maternal fecal cortisol levels and mother-infant be-haviors in early nursing period of giant panda
Giant panda(Ailuropoda melanoleuca)is an altricial species.The early period of nursing is critical for the sur-vival,growth and development of the cub,and also the most vulnerable period for the young.In order to understand the relationship between maternal cortisol levels and mother-infant behaviors during the early nursing period,and improve the survival rate of cubs in the aspect of behavioral adaptation mechanism,were monitored the concentration of fecal cor-tisol of 7 mother pandas in the early nursing period(0-75 days)by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).In ad-dition,we observed the behaviors of 3 pairs of mother and infant using the focal animal sampling method.The results showed that the fecal cortisol concentration of mother panda decreased with the cub's growth by days(r=-0.950,P＜0.001)in the early nursing period.Before and after weaning,there was no significant difference in maternal cortisol concentrations(t=-0.935,P=0.361).The changes in maternal cortisol concentrations had significant positive correla-tions with communicating(r=0.0918,P＜0.001),cub calling(r=0.777,P=0.001)and resting(r=0.731,P=0.002)behaviors.Furthermore,cortisol concentrations were negatively correlated with feeding(r=-0.608,P=0.016)and not correlated with licking(r=0.366,P=0.179).Results indicated that the cortisol concentration of the mother gi-ant panda was related to the growth and development of the cub during the early nursing period.We hypothesize that the stress intensity of the mother might decrease with the improvement of the cold resistance and independent activity ability of the cub.In addition,cortisol may be involved in the regulation of maternal behavior,which can help the mother re-spond positively to the demand signals of her cub,enhance maternal behavior,and thus improve the survival rate of her cub at the early stage of nursing.
Giant pandaStressFecal cortisolMother-infant behaviorEarly period of nursing
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