In this study we monitored the urinary levels of progesterone (P), estradiol (E2) , estriol (E3) and chorion-ic gonadotropin (CG) of a female African elephant (Loxodonta africana) during pregnancy using radioimmunoassay. It was shown that progesterone levels increased gradually during early pregnancy, peaking at the 4th - 6th month of pregnancy and then dropping to the basal level at delivery. The estriol concentration decreased slowly during gestation, whereas the estradiol level did not change significantly during pregnancy. This is the first report of CG during gestation of African elephant. CG level was almost undetectable in the first three month of pregnancy, and it began to rise slowly after the progesterone peak (4-6 month of gestation). These results provide references for changes of P and CG in pregnancy.
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