Castration or sterilisation: a basic research oriented study to the effects of animal welfare and mate choice in guinea pigs

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Castration or sterilisation: a basic research oriented study to the effects of ani-mal welfare and mate choice in guinea pigsAn uncontrolled reproduction of animals kept in captivity should be avoided. To meet this goal generally animals are castrated, i.e. the gonads are completely removed. Because of this procedure, sometimes also undesirable aggressive as well as courtship and sexual behaviour displayed by the animals can be reduced. These behavioural changes are in human interest. From the animal´s point of view, the question arises, however, whether sterilisation (a much less intense procedure, since gonads not removed, but only the transport of egg and sperm cells are prevented) could be better than a castration: in contrast to a sterilisation, a castration reduced the display of natural behavioural patterns. The project is part of basic research regarding animal welfare. The overall aim is to analyse the different effects of the two operations, castration and sterilisation on animal welfare. This is investigated in guinea pigs, a very well suitable animal model because of comprehensive studies in social behaviour, social organisation and animal welfare. We will work with the following basic experimental strategy: Groups consisting of one male and two intact females will be established and four different groups of males will be compared: castrated, sterilized, sham-operated and intact males. Furthermore, we will investigate the females, living together with the different treated males. As indicator for animal welfare of males and females, we will investigate socio-positive, agonistic and play behaviour as well as plasma cortisol concentrations. Additionally we will investigate whether females prefer sterilized or castrated males. In this project data are generated, which allow evidence based decisions regarding the question which operation (castration or sterilisation) should be conducted. Thus, the results of this project will contribute crucially to the question how to handle animals in captivity.