Effects of the castration of male llamas (Lama glama) on their behaviour, the testosterone and serum thyroid hormone level

摘要

Llamas are kept in Europe as pets or packers. Sometimes it causes problems to keep sexually mature male llamas in groups together. Therefore breeders often used to separate them from the herd, which can lead to behaviour problems. Castration is a common procedure in many species to reduce aggression. But there have been no studies so far in llamas on the effect of castration on their behaviour. The aim of this study was to prove the effects of castration on social, agonistic and sexual behaviour andfurthermore the thyroid and testosterone plasma levels on male llamas depending on the age the procedure is done.