Research overview: using cortisol monitoring to evaluate management interventions in felids

Non-invasive cortisol metabolite monitoring lets keepers test whether husbandry changes actually reduce physiological stress, moving welfare management from intuition to evidence. This overview surveys how faecal and other glucocorticoid measures have been used to evaluate interventions such as adding hiding places, changing neighbours, modifying enclosures, introducing enrichment and altering visitor exposure in captive cats. It discusses study-design essentials, including individual baselines, the gut-transit lag between stressor and faecal hormone peak, adequate sampling frequency and controlling for confounds, and the interpretive caution that hormone changes do not map one-to-one onto welfare. The synthesis frames endocrine monitoring as a powerful but technically demanding tool for objectively assessing whether felid management changes improve wellbeing.