Effects of castration on sexual behavior of tropical male goats.

This study was undertaken because comparative information regarding the role of gonadal androgen in sexual behavior of adult male mammals is notably deficient in data from ungulate species. After a series of preoperative tests, eight Red Sokoto male goats were castrated and tested for sexual behavior with receptive females at 1 to 2 wk intervals for 52 postoperative wk. Only one animal was judged to have lost the ejaculatory response; this was after 18 wk of postoperative testing. Compared with observations on other species, an unusually high percentage of these goats showed a long-term retention of sexual activity after castration. Even with this long-term retention, however, there was a significant decrement in frequency of ejaculatory responses within one week after castration. The flehmen response, which some believe to be related to detection of excreted urinary pheromones, also declined in frequency after castration.