Resumo

MONTES-PEREZ, R.C. et al. Stress evaluation in pecari tajacu under two stocking densities. Arch. zootec. [online]. 2009, vol.58, n.223, pp.463-466. ISSN 1885-4494.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the level of stress produced by two stocking densities in the collared peccary (Pecari tajacu) in captivity. Four groups of adult animals (N= 20) were established: one group of females (n= 5) and other of males (n= 5) were correlated under a stocking density of 20 m²/animal, and the other two groups under a density of 10 m²/animal, during 30 days. Three blood samples per animal were taken at 0, 15 and 30 days and the amount and type of body lesions were registered at 3, 15 and 30 days of the study period. Cortisol levels were measured by radioimmunoanalysis tests. Data were analyzed for each sampling day using Fisher or analysis of variance tests. There were not effects of sex and stocking density on the number of animals with lesions. The analysis of variance showed no effect of density (p>0.05) on the amount of lesions or cortisol level at any of the evaluation days. However the interaction of sex x density was significant on cortisol at days 15 (p<0.03) and 30 (p<0.0005). In average females had higher levels of cortisol than males (10.1 and 7.5 mg/dl). The interaction was due to a greater concentration of cortisol in females kept under a density of 10 m²/ animal in comparison with males; but there was no differences between sexes at the stocking density of 20 m²/animal. It is concluded that the effect of stress, measured through the levels of cortisol in blood, depends of sex and stocking density.

Palavras-chave : Cortisol; Agonistic behavior; Stress; Vital area; Collared peccary.

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