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Biology

Western Kentucky University

Biology Faculty Publications

2010

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

A Simplified Method For Monitoring Progestagens In African Elephants Under Field Conditions, Bruce A. Schulte, Elizaeth Freeman, F. Nicole Abbondanza, Jordana Meyer, Janine Brown Jan 2010

A Simplified Method For Monitoring Progestagens In African Elephants Under Field Conditions, Bruce A. Schulte, Elizaeth Freeman, F. Nicole Abbondanza, Jordana Meyer, Janine Brown

Biology Faculty Publications

Summary: 1. Hormone analyses are frequently used to support management of wildlife; however, current techniques are not very field-friendly. In situ hormone monitoring is often expensive, time consuming and logistically difficult. Thus, a new method for assessing ovarian cycle activity non-invasively in free-ranging African elephants was developed. 2. The technique involves handshaking faecal samples in common organic solvents, use of environmentally stable antibody-coated microtitre plates and assessment of progestagen concentrations based on a visual colour change. 3. Studies using ex situ African elephants determined that handshaking faeces in a solution of isopropyl alcohol was effective for extracting the faecal progestagens …


Elephants - A Conservation Overview, Heidi Riddle, Bruce A. Schulte, Ajay Desai, Laura Van Der Meer Jan 2010

Elephants - A Conservation Overview, Heidi Riddle, Bruce A. Schulte, Ajay Desai, Laura Van Der Meer

Biology Faculty Publications

Loss of habitat is one of the most significant problems facing elephants worldwide, leading to clashes over resources between wildlife and humans where elephants receive the largest part of blame – defined as Human Elephant Conflict (HEC). The sub-Saharan region of Africa contains an approximate population of 500,000 elephants that occupy 37 range countries. The African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) is categorized as Vulnerable in the Red List of Threatened Species; they are listed there as two distinct subspecies: the Savanna Elephant (L.a. africana) and the Forest Elephant (L. a. cyclotis). The Red List of …