Article

Makhar M. Ertuev, Sochi National Park; 54002, Russia, Sochi,, Kurortnyi Ave., 74; e-mail: mr.ertuev38@gmail.com
Umar A. Semenov, PhD, Head of the Centre of the leopard recovery in the Caucasus, Sochi National Park; 54002, Russia, Sochi,, Kurortnyi Ave., 74; e-mail: umar-semenov@rambler.ru

Ertuev M.M., Semenov U.A. 2016. Behaviour features of the Persian leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor) during different stages of the estrous cycle. Nature Conservation Research 1(3): 59–69. https://dx.doi.org/10.24189/ncr.2016.028

The implementation of the programme for the reintroduction of the Persian leopard in the Caucasus in Russia allowed carrying out a detailed video monitoring of various aspects of this subspecies' life under captive conditions in the «Center of the leopard recovery in the Caucasus». The most important stage of this programme was the formation of couples and the progeny getting of adult individuals caught in their natural environment and placed into a closed aviary. A complex sexual behaviour of leopards, while having different stages of the estrous cycle, could be identified by manifestation of characteristic features in various stages. There is an increase in both the motion behaviour as well as in the marking activity during proestrus; the cozying that helps to maintain the sexual activity of the male and the adopting of the receptive pose of the female during the estrus; avoidance of mating by the female during the proestrus stage; transition of the mating initiative to the male as well as passive behaviour of the female during the metaestrus stage. A large number of matings is caused by the species' biology. The leopard belongs to the animals with an «instigated» ovulation. Therefore the multiple coituses stimulate the maintaining of a high concentration of estrogens in the blood and promote the ovulation of follicles. As a result, we have concluded that the form of female sexual behaviour (with permissible error) can indicate the functional activity of the ovaries and the corpora lutea, as well as it allows determining the beginning and duration of the stages of the estrous cycle.

coitus, estrus, mating, Panthera pardus saxicolor, Persian leopard, sexual behaviour

Received: 12.09.2016

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