FAECAL EVALUATION OF PDG IN A FEMALE OKAPI (Okapia Johnstoni) TO DEFINE OESTRUS CYCLE AND FERTILE WINDOW FOR REPRODUCTION PROGRAM OF CONSERVATION

FAECAL EVALUATION OF PDG IN A FEMALE OKAPI (NOME SCIENTIFICO) TO DEFINE OESTRUS CYCLE AND FERTILE WINDOW FOR REPRODUCTION PROGRAM OF CONSERVATION Rebecca Andreini1,3, Annalisa Zaccaroni1, Renato-Piccinini,2 Giuseppe Piscopo3,4 1 DIMEVET Bologna University 2 Parco Zoo Falconara Marittima 3 Delfini Bizantini Research Association 4 Veterinary Medicine Naples University The okapi (Okapia Johnstoni) number is declining rapidly in their native habitat and the species is listed as endangered in the IUCN red list. To increase conservation efforts and to improve the welfare of okapis under human care, the evaluation of endocrine profile is an essential part of the scientific research. The need to use a non-invasive matrix for the endocrine analysis in wild life species is linked to the difficulty in obtaining blood samples and to the necessity to not stress the animals with restraining and medical procedure that could affect their welfare. This study aims to evaluate the faecal concentration of pregnanediol-3-glucoronide (PDG) in faeces of a young female hosted in Falconara Marittima zoo, Italy. Faeces have been collected twice a week, immediately after the emission, by zoo staff from March to April 2019. Samples have been labelled and stored at – 20 °C till analysis. For hormones extraction 200 μg of faeces have been weighted and added with 2 ml of ethanol, vortexed at 100 rpm for 60 minutes, centrifuged at 2500 rpm for 20 minutes and dried. For PDG detection an ELISA kit has been used, following test procedure. As far as we know few information are available regarding oestrous cycle and reproduction of the okapi, so a comparison of our results with bibliographic data was difficult. Despite this, we analysed our results in order to define the different phases of the oestrous cycle and to estimate their length with the goal to identify the fertile window of the subject. The results will allow scientists to have a further knowledge of the physiology of this species and will represent an essential step to define best strategies for the management of the subjects under human care and to establish programmes to strengthen the effort in assisted reproduction.