Fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels in captive Indian leopards (Panthera pardus fusca) housed under three different enrichment regimes
Environmental enrichment improves the health and wellbeing of zoo animals. To test this hypothesis, we used Indian leopards (Panthera pardus fusca), one of the popular zoo animals, as a model organism to understand effects of active and passive enrichment elements on stress hormone levels of captive individuals. We included three enrichment categories, category ‘A’ (having […]
Why leopards commit infanticide
Infanticide is a widespread but seldom observed behaviour that has been shown to convey strong selection forces on some social mammals. However, infanticide in nonsocial species is less clearly understood, particularly the evolutionary function of infanticide. Here we present direct and indirect evidence of infanticide in a large, solitary felid, the African leopard, Panthera pardus, […]