Noninvasive assessment of adrenal activity associated with husbandry and behavioral factors in clouded leopards

Wielebnowski and colleagues studied the notoriously difficult-to-breed North American clouded leopard population, using faecal corticoid monitoring across many individuals. They linked elevated adrenal activity to specific husbandry and behavioural factors: cats housed near potential predators or large carnivores, kept on public display, or lacking tall structures and hiding showed higher stress hormones and more stereotypy and self-trauma. The study connected concrete management variables to physiological stress and to the breeding failures plaguing the species. It led to husbandry recommendations such as providing height, cover, off-exhibit retreats and early pairing, and is a model of how non-invasive endocrinology can diagnose welfare problems and guide conservation breeding.