Estrous cycle behaviour of Malayan tapirs (Tapirus indicus) in captivity at the night safari

• Main Author: Sam, Shu Qin.
• Other Authors: School of Biological Sciences
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: DRNTU::Science::Biological sciences::Zoology::Animal behavior
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/49286
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

One of the main challenges faced by captive breeding of the Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus) is the inappropriate introduction of an incompatible pair. Unnecessary aggression that could result in serious injuries may occur when the adult female Malayan tapir is not in estrous when mixed. This could be due to the solitary nature of the Malayan tapir that mating pairs were formed only when the females were in estrous. This study investigates possible key estrous signs displayed by female Malayan tapirs to facilitate precise mixing and subsequent mating with the dominant male Malayan tapir in captivity. Behavioural observations indicated that the adult female Malayan tapir was more active and displayed an increased vocalisation and urine spraying during her estrous cycle. The adult female Malayan tapirs can be further confirmed to be in estrous by observing the interaction with an adjacent male Malayan tapir. Successful mating was observed when one of the focal female Malayan tapirs was introduced to the dominant male Malayan tapir upon displaying a series of estrous behaviour. Captive female adult Malayan tapirs varies in estrous cycle length and the key estrous behaviour observed in this study could be used to estimate their respective estrous period.