Reusable biotelemetric capsules: A convenient and reliable method for measuring core body temperature in large mammals during gut passage

摘要

It is still not fully understood how megaherbivores regulate their body temperature (T-b), particularly with respect to their unfavourable surface to volume ratio. The paucity of information is probably owing to the difficulty obtaining physiological parameters from such animals. We developed a precise and reliable non-invasive method for determining the T-b of large-bodied mammals. We used this method on African and Asian elephants. Small capsules (30 g) containing a temperature-sensitive transmitter and a memory for onboard data storage were hand-fed 71 times to elephants (N=21) and T-b was measured during gut passage. In 64 cases, sensors were successfully retrieved. The operation and reliability of our data loggers was sufficient and compared favourably with any other published method.