Effects of pharmacological castration on endocrinological and chemical profiles in captive red and fallow deer

Abstract In wildlife captive management, contraception is highly desirable due to inbreeding risk and needed control of intra- and inter-specific aggressions. Deer, for which surgical castration can cause abnormal growth of the antlers, are suitable candidates for pharmacological castration. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of pharmacological castration on the physiological patterns and volatile chemical profiles of two deer species. We placed a subcutaneous implant of deslorelin acetate (4.7 mg) on four male red deer (Cervus elaphus) and two male fallow deer (Dama dama) (N = 6) living together in a mixed-sex and -species group housed at a wildlife rescue centre in Tuscany, Italy. We combined hormone measurements and chemical investigation of metatarsal scent-gland odour secretions to test whether pharmacological castration will influence the volatile chemical profile, potentially modifying the olfactory communication during the rutting season. We used radioimmunoassay technique to determine faecal and plasma testosterone as well as faecal cortisol levels, and solid-phase microextraction coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to analyse the scent-gland odour secretions. We found that deer testosterone levels decreased after the subcutaneous deposition of the implant. However, castrated red deer exhibited more variability in testosterone concentrations throughout the study period compared to fallow deer, whose testosterone levels remained low after the implant. We detected a total of 124 (red deer) and 88 (fallow deer) volatile compounds in male scent-gland odour secretions, including naturally occurring ketones, alcohols, aldehydes, terpenes, carboxylic acids, esters, volatile fatty acids, and hydrocarbons. Odour richness, but not total abundance or ratios of compounds, changed with testosterone levels in red deer. In conclusion, our preliminary findings suggest that deslorelin acetate, causing a decrease of testosterone level and impacting the chemical profile of odour secretions, could work as a non-invasive contraception approach in human-managed populations of deer.