According To A Study, Female Mouse Deer Mate Within 4-6 Hours Of Giving Birth
Since mouse deer live alone in the wild, pheromones help them reproduce by attracting the opposing sexes for mating.
The female mouse deer exhibits estrus and mates within 4 to 6 hours of giving birth, which is the quickest post-partum estrus seen so far in large mammals, according to research from the city’s Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES)-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB).
This discovery prompted Dr. G. Umapathy’s team at LaCONES-CCMB to conduct additional research on understanding the reproductive system of the mouse deer utilizing non-invasive techniques. The researchers discovered that during birth, post-partum estrus, and mating, pheromone levels were substantially higher in the female mouse deer.
According to him, these discoveries would also be helpful to other Indian zoos and other places. They have already aided in the reproduction of mouse deer at the Nehru Zoological Park. The LaCONES and Nehru Zoological Park are both a part of the mouse deer conservation breeding and species recovery effort, which was started in 2010.
The Indian chevrotain, also known as the mouse deer, is a key seed disperser in the forest ecosystem and serves as important prey for numerous small and large animals. Despite being frequently encountered in most forested areas, it has been designated in Schedule I and as endangered under the Wildlife Protection Act (1972) as a result of the frequent killing of its bushmeat.
Dr. Umapathy’s team researched the reproductive behavior of mouse deer in captivity as part of the zoo’s conservation breeding program, and they uncovered the presence of unique post-partum estrus (the phase where the animal is ready to mate). They discovered that within 4-6 hours of giving birth, the female mouse deer exhibits estrus and mates.
They identified 16 androstene sex pheromones (androstenone and androstanol) in mouse deer while analyzing the hormone profiles. These compounds have been known to be important in pig reproduction. The molecular properties of these pheromones, their mode of synthesis, and their roles in mouse-deer reproduction were studied by the researchers.
Authors of the study include Vinod Kumar, Manu Shivakumara, Caroline Karunakaran, Anupama Sekhar, Mamta Sajwan-Khatri, Sandeep Mushkam, Wasimuddin, Senthilkumaran Balasubramanian, and Govindhaswamy Umapathy. These findings were recently published in the journal Cells.
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