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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Conserv. Sci.
Sec. Animal Conservation
Volume 5 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcosc.2024.1503026
This article is part of the Research Topic New Challenges and Perspectives in Conservation Breeding Programs View all 8 articles

Fecal Microbiota is More Stable During Degradation and More Diverse for Ex Situ Cheetahs in Namibia Compared to the US

Provisionally accepted
Morgan A Maly Morgan A Maly 1,2,3,4*Reade B Roberts Reade B Roberts 3Mia M Keady Mia M Keady 5Anne Schmidt-Küntzel Anne Schmidt-Küntzel 6Meagan Maxwell Meagan Maxwell 3Laurie Marker Laurie Marker 6Matthew Breen Matthew Breen 4Carly Rae Muletz-Wolz Carly Rae Muletz-Wolz 1Adrienne Crosier Adrienne Crosier 2
  • 1 Center for Conservation Genomics, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SI), Washington, DC, United States
  • 2 Department of Animal Care Science, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SI), Front Royal, Virginia, United States
  • 3 Department of Biological Sciences, College of Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
  • 4 Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
  • 5 Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States
  • 6 Cheetah Conservation Fund, Otjiwarongo, Namibia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The relationships between gut microbiota and animal health are an important consideration increasingly influential in the management of wild and ex situ endangered species, such as the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus). To better understand these relationships, fresh fecal samples are currently required as a noninvasive alternative for the gut microbiome. Unfortunately, fresh samples are challenging to collect in the wild. This study had two aims: 1) to determine the optimal collection time point for cheetah feces after deposit in their native environment of Namibia as a guide for wild cheetah fecal microbiome studies; and 2) to compare the fecal microbiota of two ex situ cheetah populations (Front Royal, VA, USA and Otjiwarongo, Namibia), which also consume different diets. We collected eight fresh fecal samples from cheetahs in Namibia and allowed them to decompose for four days, taking subsamples each day. The fresh Namibian samples (n = 8) were also used in objective two for comparison to fresh USA cheetah samples (n = 8). All samples were analyzed for bacterial community diversity and composition using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. First, over a five-day sampling period in Namibia, subsamples 1-3 days post-fresh showed no changes in bacterial diversity or composition compared to fresh subsamples. Second, fresh ex situ cheetah samples under Namibian conditions had increased bacterial taxa, more

    Keywords: ex situ carnivores, Cheetah, non-invasive sampling, Microbial stability, gut microbiome, Namibia

    Received: 27 Sep 2024; Accepted: 12 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Maly, Roberts, Keady, Schmidt-Küntzel, Maxwell, Marker, Breen, Muletz-Wolz and Crosier. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Morgan A Maly, Center for Conservation Genomics, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SI), Washington, DC, 20008, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.