Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate if there is any correlation between fibre quality and male mating behaviour (as a marker of fertility) in alpacas. The theory was that the more masculine males would have coarser fibres with a larger diameter because of higher testosterone levels. The higher testosterone could result in them be able to mate with more females than males with finer fibres, thus passing on their genes for poor fibre quality. No studies on this subject or articles discussing the relationship between mating behaviour and fibre quality in this particular species have been found in the literature. The animals used in the study were 189 adult male alpacas in the Cusco region of Peru. The animals belong to two different universities, the National University of San Marcos in Lima (UNMSM) and the National University of San Antonio Abad of Cusco (UNSAAC). The fertility data included only the animals belonging to the San Marcos University and consisted of hand-written records from the breeding season January – April 2015. The data were converted into individual quotients for each male. Fibre samples were taken from all males in September 2015. The samples were washed and analysed using the OFDA 2000 fibre quality analyser. No significant correlation between fertility quotient and any of the fibre quality parameters was observed (p-value for quotient and fibre diameter correlation = 0.9590). The alpacas’ body condition score (BCS) was graded in a parallel study, and the results were used to evaluate the correlation between BCS and fibre quality. There was no significant difference in fibre diameter between animals with different BCS (p=0.1953). It is known that young alpacas have the finest fibres, which was also the case in this study. This result was significant (p < 0.0001). Fibre samples were taken from both white (n=137) and coloured (n=57) alpacas. The white alpacas had significantly longer (p=0.0093) and thinner (p=0.0001) fibres.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka om det finns något samband mellan fertilitet och fiberkvalitet hos alpackahannar. Inga studier eller artiklar som diskuterar sambandet hos denna art har hittats i litteraturen. Djuren som ingick i studien bestod av 189 vuxna alpackahannar i Cuscoregionen i Peru. Djuren tillhörde två olika universitet, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos i Lima och Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco. Fertilitetsdatan inkluderade endast djuren tillhörande San Marcos-universitetet och baserads på handskrivna journaler från avelssäsongen januari – april 2015. Datan omvandlades till individuella kvoter för varje hanne. Fiberprover togs från samtliga hannar i september 2015. Proverna tvättades och analyserades med hjälp av fiberkvalitetanalysatorn OFDA 2000. Ingen signifikant korrelation mellan fertilitetskvot och fiberkvalitet kunde ses (p-värde för korrelation mellan fertilitetskvot och fiberdiameter = 0,9590). Alpackornas hull - body condition score, BCS - bedömdes i en studie som utfördes parallellt med denna. Denna information användes för att undersöka korrelationen mellan BCS och fiberkvalitet. Det var ingen signifikant skillnad i fiberdiameter mellan alpackor med olika BCS (p=0,1953). Det är välkänt att unga alpackor har de finaste fibrerna, vilket också visade sig vara fallet i denna studie. Detta resultat var signifikant (p<0,0001). Fiberprover togs från både vita (n=137) och färgade (n=57) alpackor. De vita alpackorna hade signifikant längre (p=0,0093) och tunnare (p=0,0001) fibrer.