笼养红斑羚生态生物学的初步观察

This study presents the results of a demographic analysis of 20 years of birth and death records of red gorals kept at the Shanghai Zoo.The age of the first successful breeding,sex ratio at birth,seasonality of reproduction and mortality rate are presented.The females or males of red goral born in captivity can give their first birth at the age of 2 or 3 separately.The births mainly occurred from May to July and peaked in June.Ratio of females to males at birth was 2.36:1.1 The mortality rate for infants and adults were 23.1% and 11.8%,respectively while there was no sub-adult death recorded during the 20 years period.There was a definite relation between mortality rate and seasons and mainly in July.     

小兴安岭通河林区斑羚冬季食性分析

2004年1～3月在小兴安岭通河林区,使用粪便显微组织学分析方法并结合野外食痕调查,对斑羚（Naemorhedus goral）的冬季食性进行了分析研究。结果表明,斑羚冬季主要以枯草、落叶和当年生枝条为食,共取食20属,22种植物。通过频率转换分析发现,莎草科的羊胡子苔草（Carex callitrichos）和杜鹃花科的兴安杜鹃（Rhododendron dauricum）是其冬季的大宗食物,占食物的百分比分别为31．72％和18．14％。此外,斑羚冬季对苔藓、杨柳科和木犀科植物的取食频次也较高,其百分比分别为7．30％、6．87％和5．25％．     

赤斑羚和斑羚核型比较研究

本文对赤斑羚（ＮａｅｍｏｒｈｅｄｕｓＣｒａｎｂｒｏｏｋｉ）和斑羚（Ｎ．ｇｏｒａｌｇｒｉｓｅｕｓ）的染色体Ｇ带、Ｃ带和Ａｇ－ＮＯＲｓ的数目、分布等作了较详细的比较研究。赤斑羚２ｎ＝５６全部为近端着丝粒染色体,Ｎ．Ｆ＝５４;斑羚２ｎ＝５４,除Ｎｏ．３是亚中着丝粒染色体外,具有丰富的异染色质;二者Ｇ带带纹相似程度高,其Ｎｏ．３长臂Ｇ带带纹相似。斑羚的Ｎｏ．３短臂与赤斑羚Ｎｏ．２７近端着丝粒染色体的大小、     

Considering threats to population viability of the endangered Korean long-tailed goral (Naemorhedus caudatus) using VORTEX

Population viability analysis (PVA) has frequently been used in conservation biology to predict extinction rates for threatened or endangered species. In this study, we used VORTEX to model Korean long-tailed goral (Naemorhedus caudatus) using previously collected ecological data. We focused on modelling population extinction, mean population size and heterozygosity. The minimum viable population size was found to be at least 50 gorals for 100 years, regardless of carrying capacity. However, populations with fewer than 50 gorals could not remain successful in the model. Inbreeding depression, catastrophes and supplementation also affected patterns of population extinction, mean population size and heterozygosity. Supplementation with new individuals had the strongest effect on extinction, mean population size and heterozygosity, followed by initial population size, inbreeding, catastrophes and carrying capacity. These results suggest that a supplementation by extra goral individuals from goral proliferation facilities would be the most helpful means for the restoration programme. More Korean goral-specific information regarding demographic and habitat parameters is needed for further PVA of the species.     

同域分布马鹿与中华斑羚的冬夏季食物构成比较

同域分布的有蹄类动物面临食物资源竞争,而食物又是影响野生动物生存的关键因子之一,研究不同种类动物的食物构成可以反映其对栖息地条件的适应程度。本研究通过粪便显微分析法,对内蒙古赛罕乌拉国家级自然保护区马鹿（Cervus elaphus）和中华斑羚（Naemorhedus griseus）的冬、夏季食物构成进行比较分析。结果显示,马鹿在夏季取食22科48种植物,中华斑羚取食15科31种植物;在冬季,马鹿取食17科32种植物,中华斑羚取食13科23种植物。Pianka重叠指数显示,夏季时马鹿与中华斑羚食物重叠度为85.4%,冬季重叠度为77.6%。使用Levins指数计算,夏季时马鹿与中华斑羚的营养生态位分别是13.71和5.34,冬季时分别是11.08和4.02。在同一季节,马鹿取食植物的丰富度和均匀度均大于中华斑羚。本研究结果表明,马鹿与中华斑羚的食物选择对季节性食物资源变化具有适应性,但马鹿对环境的适应性高于中华斑羚;鉴于马鹿的分布范围广、种群数量多,建议在对物种与栖息地的保护中侧重于中华斑羚。     

Cell cycle analysis of in vitro cultured goral (Naemorhedus caudatus) adult skin fibroblasts

The present study was undertaken to examine cell cycle characteristics of endangered Goral (CITES Appendix I) adult skin fibroblasts. Seven experiments were performed, each with a one-way completely randomized design involving three replicates. Least significant difference (LSD) was used to determine variation among treatment groups. Experiment I focused on the effects of cycling, serum-starved, and fully confluent stages of Goral cells. In Experiments II and III, the effects of different antioxidants like beta-mercaptoethanol (beta-ME, 10 microM), cysteine (2 mM), and glutathione (2 mM) were examined after cells were fully confluent without serum starvation for 24 h and 4 h, respectively. In Experiments IV and V, three protease inhibitors, namely 6-dimethylaminopurine (6-DMAP, 2 mM), cycloheximide (7.5 microg/ml) and cytochalasin B (7.5 microg/ml), were used as in Experiment II. In Experiments VI and VII, the effect of different levels of dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) at 0%, 0.5%, 1.0% and 2.5% were tested by flow cytometry (FACS). In Experiment I, 68.7% of Goral skin fibroblasts reached the G(0)/G(1) stage (2C DNA content) when subjected to the serum-starved medium, which was more than the cycling (64.9%) and fully confluent groups (61.0%) (P > 0.05). Among the chemically treated group, beta-ME, cysteine and DMSO showed better results for synchronization of G(0) + G(1) phases than cycling, serum-starved and fully confluent groups. It can thus be concluded that beta-ME, cysteine and DMSO at certain concentrations can synchronize the cell cycle effectively, which could have a positive impact on somatic cell nuclear transfer in the goral.     

Assessment of ovarian activity in captive goral (Naemorhedus griseus) using noninvasive fecal steroid monitoring

To date, there is no information on gonadal steroidogenic activity of female goral (Naemorhedus griseus), a threatened species of Thailand. Captive goral populations have been established to produce animals for ex situ conservation and reintroduction, but as yet none are self-sustaining. The objectives of the present study were to (1) determine the influence of season on ovarian steriodogenic function; and (2) examine the relationship between gonadal hormone excretion and sexual behaviors throughout the year. Fecal samples were collected 5 to 7 days/wk for 15 months from 8 adult females housed at Omkoi Wildlife Breeding Center in Thailand and analyzed for ovarian steroid metabolites using validated enzyme immunoassays. Observations of sexual behaviors and mating were conducted each morning for 30 min/session. Based on fecal estrogen and progestagen metabolite concentrations, the overall estrous cycle length was about 21 days, with a 2- to 3-day follicular phase and an 18- to 20-day luteal phase. Sexual behaviors, most notably tail-up, increased for 2 to 3 days during the time estrogens were elevated during mating. Fecal progestagens were elevated during luteal phases and increased further during gestation, which lasted approximately 7 months. The lactation period was 5 months, and females were anestrus for 2 to 5 of those months, with the exception of one that cycled continuously throughout. Two females conceived around 2 months postpartum and so were pregnant during lactation. Birth records over the past 21 years indicated young are born throughout the year. This combined with the hormonal data suggests that female gorals are not strongly seasonal, at least in captivity, although there was considerable variation among females in estrogen and progestagen patterns. In conclusion, fecal steroid metabolite monitoring is an effective means of assessing ovarian function in this species and will be a useful tool for breeding management and planned development of assisted reproductive techniques such as artificial insemination and embryo transfer.