Laissez-Faire Stallions? Males' Fecal Cortisol Metabolite Concentrations Do Not Vary with Increased Female Turnover in Feral Horses (Equus caballus)

Simple Summary Stress can come in many forms for social animals. We investigated the effects of increased social instability on individual male stress levels in feral horses. When females change groups (thereby leaving one male to join another) stallions will often fight with one another and will remain alert, watching out for rival stallions and monitoring female locations; all potentially stressful behaviors. Such responses can be particularly important in managed populations as contracepted females are more likely to change groups, causing increased social instability in both the groups left and joined. We collected fecal samples from stallions to determine if decreased social instability (caused by females) affected male cortisol metabolite concentrations (an indicator of the physiological stress response). Surprisingly, we found that stallions experiencing increased social instability did not exhibit higher fecal cortisol even while they engaged in the fighting and alert behaviors typically associated with stress. Our results highlight the importance of considering both physiological and behavioral measures when investigating animal responses to challenging situations. Only by using such a holistic approach can we best understand the potential costs animals face; this is especially important in managed populations in which human perturbation can lead to unintended side effects. Stress responses can be triggered by several physical and social factors, prompting physiological reactions including increases in glucocorticoid concentrations. In a population of feral horses (Equus caballus) on Shackleford Banks, North Carolina, females previously immunized with the immunocontraceptive agent porcine zona pellucida (PZP) change social groups (bands) more often than unimmunized females, disrupting the social stability within the population. We assessed the effects of increased female group changing behavior (or female turnover) on individual male stress by comparing fecal cortisol metabolite (FCM) concentrations among stallions experiencing varying amounts of female group changing behavior. FCM concentrations did not significantly correlate with female turnover. Similarly, FCM concentrations were not dependent upon the timing of female group changing behavior. These findings suggest that female turnover rate has little influence on physiological measures of stress in associated stallions. That said, Shackleford stallions experiencing increased female turnover do engage in behaviors typically associated with stress (increased vigilance, highly escalated male-male conflicts). Future work should compare FCM concentrations across time within populations and among populations managed under different strategies to better isolate factors influencing stallion stress physiology. Such studies are especially important if we are to determine how changes in female behavior related to immunocontraception impact physiological and behavioral indicators of stress for non-target animals. Finally, our study highlights the importance of considering both physiological and behavioral measures when investigating animal responses to potentially challenging situations.

Automated summary

Stress levels in male feral horses were investigated under increased social instability caused by female group changes. Surprisingly, the study found that increased social instability did not significantly affect male stress levels, as indicated by cortisol metabolite concentrations in their fecal samples. The findings suggest that feral horses may have some adaptive abilities to cope with such stress.