Reproductive tract morphology and symmetry of farmed common eland (Tragelaphus oryx) bulls, and their relationship with secondary sexual traits and social rank.

Autor: Consolacion J; Department of Animal Science and Food Processing, Faculty of Tropical Agrisciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic; Department of Agricultural Sciences, College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Environmental Sciences, Mindanao State University at Naawan, Naawan, Misamis Oriental, Philippines., Ceacero F; Department of Animal Science and Food Processing, Faculty of Tropical Agrisciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic., Musa AS; Department of Animal Science and Food Processing, Faculty of Tropical Agrisciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic., Ny V; Department of Animal Science and Food Processing, Faculty of Tropical Agrisciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic., Kotrba R; Department of Animal Science and Food Processing, Faculty of Tropical Agrisciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic; Department of Ethology, Institute of Animal Science, Prague 104 00, Czech Republic., Illek J; Department of Large Animal Clinic Laboratory, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary Sciences Brno, Brno, Czech Republic., Škorič M; Department of Pathological Morphology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary Sciences Brno, Brno, Czech Republic., Needham T; Department of Animal Science and Food Processing, Faculty of Tropical Agrisciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic. Electronic address: needham@ftz.czu.cz.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Animal reproduction science [Anim Reprod Sci] 2024 Apr; Vol. 263, pp. 107438. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Feb 17.
DOI: 10.1016/j.anireprosci.2024.107438
Abstrakt: Common eland bulls are important game ranching animals in southern Africa, for tourism, breeding/live sales, trophy hunting, and game meat production. Interest has grown in their production potential, intensifying animal husbandry and breeding approaches. However, little scientific information is available regarding the intensive management of this species, including information regarding scientifically based selection criteria for breeding bulls. Often, simple phenotypic traits are utilised unless high-value game animals are being bred, with horn and body size often being the only traits considered for breeding bulls. This study provides basic information about the reproductive tract morphology, symmetry, and their relationships with secondary sexual traits, social rank, and temperament in common eland. Six eland males (2-2.5 years old; 203 ± 20 kg) were utilised for the study. Social rank, body weight and body condition score, temperament score, and horn size were determined before the animals were culled, and their reproductive tracts were collected for morphometric and histological evaluation. Results indicate relatively low asymmetry in bilateral reproductive tract components. Individual traits of eland bulls such as age, body weight, and social rank correlated the development of some testicular morphologies and thus may possibly be used in zoos, game ranching, and commercial production for the selection of breeding males, but not temperament and horn length, which should be carefully evaluated. Whilst this study provides baseline information from a limited sample size, further studies should incorporate the assessment of testicular hemodynamics, as well as the effects of factors such as season and androgen secretion patterns over a wider age range of common eland males and populations to provide further information for the management practices of breeding common eland bulls.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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