Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 March 2010
Introduction
Studies of behavioral endocrinology provide opportunities to examine the reproductive biology and stress responses of animals. In the case of endangered species, the study of reproductive biology has the two-fold value of contributing to both applied and pure research. In the wild, conservation efforts are enhanced by the assessment of reproductive function and population growth dynamics. It can be used as a diagnostic tool to improve the breeding management plans of captive animal populations. Exchange of information between researchers and managers of captive and wild populations can assist the efforts of both groups (Wildt & Wemmer, 1999). From the standpoint of pure research, studies of reproductive biology help us to understand the evolution of sexual behavior from both proximate and ultimate perspectives, including sex differences in behavior, sexual selection, and the diversity of reproductive mechanisms observed in the animal kingdom. Additionally, studying stress is important because it may affect the reproductive abilities and well-being of individuals which may impact lifetime reproductive success and survivorship.
The reproductive biology of gorillas has been the focus of much research with both captive and wild populations. From an applied perspective, difficulties in captive breeding led to the need for improved understanding of reproductive function. While the lowland gorilla has been kept in captivity since the late 1800s, it was not until 1956 that efforts to have captive gorillas reproduce began and initially the results were poor.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.