Monitoring hormones in urine and feces of captive bonobos (Pan paniscus)

Urinary and fecal hormones were analyzed on average every other day in 17 f emale bonobos kept at Four US toes (San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park, Mil waukee, Columbus, and Cincinnati). Ovarian cycle activity was monitored thr oughout the 15-month study period using estrogen and progesterone profiles and swelling charts. Behavioral data on sexual activity were also collected on a daily basis. Fecal and urinary samples were analyzed using high press ure liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC- MS), and nanoelectrospray. Preliminary results indicate that in urine, both conjugated progestin and estrogen metabolites were abundant, while in feca l samples, free progestin metabolites from the 5a-pregnane series were foun d. Although traces of estrogen metabolites were detected in Fecal samples, long-term monitoring of ovarian activity in our study yielded no meaningful estrogen profiles. In contrast, fecal progestin profiles, after adjusting for a one-day delay in excretion, closely matched the corresponding urinary progestin profiles. Using the identical antibody and tracer for both, feca l and urinary progestins, fecal samples yielded approximately ten times the relative amount of progestins compared to urinary progestins. Thus, when c onverted using a regression formula, fecal progestins may complete the pict ure obtained from urinary progestins, particularly in cases where the urine sample record is unavailable or incomplete. Evidence of the usefulness of urinary cortisol as a measure of stress is presented.