Stress and Welfare

Stress is an inseparable part of the life of each individual from every species. Even though we usually imagine predation and the fight for our own life, there are many types of natural stressors, for example an addition of a new individual into a stable social group (Fraňková et al. 2012). In spiny mice, stress levels depend on the position in the group’s hierarchy, there is also a discrepancy in basal stress hormone levels between commensal and non-commensal populations (Nováková et al. 2008). The level of stress hormones can be assessed from the blood or faeces of the animal. The measurements from faeces have one major advantage – they are non-invasive and in an apparatus we developed, the animal can remain in contact with the members of its group (Frynta et al. 2009). There are other non-invasive methods of stress assessment, for example, heart-beat, body temperature, or skin conductance measurements. At present we are developing a device for a heart-beat measurement of wild and moving animals of various species. Several standard behavioural tests are considered stressful (or in contrast non-stressful), nevertheless we often lack objective measurement of the physiological stress the animals actually experience in these tasks.

 


Fraňková, M., Palme, R., & Frynta, D. (2012). Family affairs and experimental male replacement affect fecal glucocorticoid metabolites levels in the Egyptian spiny mouse Acomys cahirinus. Zoological Studies51(3), 277-287.

Frynta, D., Nováková, M., Kutalová, H., Palme, R., & Sedláček, F. (2009). Apparatus for collection of fecal samples from undisturbed spiny mice (Acomys cahirinus) living in a complex social group. Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science48(2), 196-201.

Nováková, M., Palme, R., Kutalová, H., Janský, L., & Frynta, D. (2008). The effects of sex, age and commensal way of life on levels of fecal glucocorticoid metabolites in spiny mice (Acomys cahirinus). Physiology & behavior, 95(1-2), 187-193.

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