Hair cortisol concentration reflects the life cycle and management of grey wolves across four European populations

• Published in: Scientific Reports
• Main Authors: Patrícia Pereira, Núria Fandos Esteruelas, Mónia Nakamura, Helena Rio-Maior, Miha Krofel, Alessia Di Blasio, Simona Zoppi, Serena Robetto, Luis Llaneza, Emilio García, Álvaro Oleaga, José Vicente López-Bao, Manena Fayos Martinez, Jasmine Stavenow, Erik O. Ågren, Francisco Álvares, Nuno Santos
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Portfolio 2022
• Subjects: Medicine; R; Science; Q; Canis lupus
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-09711-x; https://doaj.org/article/3b13138a81c845728eb6a4d68bc88ad1

Abstract The grey wolf (Canis lupus) persists in a variety of human-dominated landscapes and is subjected to various legal management regimes throughout Europe. Our aim was to assess the effects of intrinsic and methodological determinants on the hair cortisol concentration (HCC) of wolves from four European populations under different legal management. We determined HCC by an enzyme-linked immune assay in 259 hair samples of 133 wolves from the Iberian, Alpine, Dinaric-Balkan, and Scandinavian populations. The HCC showed significant differences between body regions. Mean HCC in lumbar guard hair was 11.6 ± 9.7 pg/mg (range 1.6–108.8 pg/mg). Wolves from the Dinaric-Balkan and Scandinavian populations showed significantly higher HCC than Iberian wolves, suggesting that harvest policies could reflected in the level of chronic stress. A significant negative relationship with body size was found. The seasonal, sex and age patterns are consistent with other studies, supporting HCC as a biomarker of chronic stress in wolves for a retrospective time frame of several weeks. Our results highlight the need for standardization of sampling and analytical techniques to ensure the value of HCC in informing management at a continental scale.