The scent of love: Unlocking the power of fertile odour to boost ruffed lemur conservation

The scent of love: Unlocking the power of fertile odour to boost ruffed lemur conservation | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article The scent of love: Unlocking the power of fertile odour to boost ruffed lemur conservation Emily Elwell, Christopher Young, Stefano Kaburu, Matthew Palframan, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8959629/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Zoos play a crucial role in contributing to lemur conservation via ex situ conservation breeding programmes, but mismatches between captive and wild environments can impact upon breeding success. We aimed to develop a novel scent enrichment based on female fertile odours to enhance welfare and breeding success of captive ruffed lemurs (Varecia spp.). We identified 12 volatile compounds from the anogenital odour secretions of a female red ruffed lemur (V. rubra) distinguishing the fertile chemical profile, using solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry techniques as well as simultaneous choice bioassays, which we used to develop a biologically-relevant scent enrichment. We presented this enrichment to four zoo-housed groups of red ruffed and black-and-white ruffed (V. variegata) lemurs. We assessed the effects of the scent enrichment by combining behavioural observations with faecal endocrinology (measuring cortisol and testosterone). We found a significant increase of olfactory behaviours and a significant decrease of inactivity after presenting the enrichment. Faecal cortisol concentration also increased significantly, which could be indicative of sexual arousal rather than stress. We also found that sexual behaviours significantly increased and, crucially, mounting was triggered in males and two females became unexpectedly pregnant following our study. Faecal testosterone concentration increased but not significantly. Overall, we therefore argue that our newly designed scent enrichment has the potential to improve conservation breeding practices and success in zoo-housed ruffed lemurs. Varecia environmental enrichment fertile odours sexual behaviour Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviews received at journal 19 May, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 16 May, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 13 May, 2026 Reviews received at journal 02 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 23 Mar, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 04 Mar, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 03 Mar, 2026 Editor invited by journal 02 Mar, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 28 Feb, 2026 First submitted to journal 28 Feb, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8959629","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":602053033,"identity":"93ce1949-7ee6-4331-b2d7-56a8be526e43","order_by":0,"name":"Emily Elwell","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Wolverhampton","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Emily","middleName":"","lastName":"Elwell","suffix":""},{"id":602053034,"identity":"407c60cd-ab7d-4e57-a29a-af481dcf28de","order_by":1,"name":"Christopher Young","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Wolverhampton","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Christopher","middleName":"","lastName":"Young","suffix":""},{"id":602053035,"identity":"51f3c9f6-1045-4472-a24c-17d912206843","order_by":2,"name":"Stefano Kaburu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Nottingham Trent University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Stefano","middleName":"","lastName":"Kaburu","suffix":""},{"id":602053040,"identity":"134aed5f-43dd-44bc-9cbd-948258a86fcd","order_by":3,"name":"Matthew Palframan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Wolverhampton","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Matthew","middleName":"","lastName":"Palframan","suffix":""},{"id":602053042,"identity":"32531fdb-ea16-4147-90db-11e5446acda6","order_by":4,"name":"Stefano Vaglio","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA2ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBAC+QYeAwaGAgkGfgbmBogQDwEtBgdAWgwkGCQbGInVwgDWAtJLvBa2xI9fDCzkjG8ktkkw1NgxGJw5gF+LfANbsrSMgYSxGVjLsWQGg7MNBKw5wJYgLWEgkbjtdmIz0MoDDAbnCehgOMB8+DdIy+bZIC3/iNNyTPIDUMsG6cTGB4xtBwg7zOAwY5s1MJCNJe4/bHyQ2JfMI0nQ++2NzTd/VNTJ8fccPnDgwzc7Ob4zCQQcxgxE8JhIIBwrEMD4gyhlo2AUjIJRMGIBAC7zQMlVjxllAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"University of Wolverhampton","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Stefano","middleName":"","lastName":"Vaglio","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-02-24 16:38:48","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8959629/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8959629/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":104405224,"identity":"a1b6991d-6821-4260-bd83-f354eb07f637","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-11 12:22:10","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1119081,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscripttextfiguresElwelletal.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8959629/v1_covered_66a14d12-5088-45c6-9c83-2cc0699d227d.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"The scent of love: Unlocking the power of fertile odour to boost ruffed lemur conservation","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-zoology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"bzoo","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Zoology](http://bmczool.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/bzoo/default.aspx","title":"BMC Zoology","twitterHandle":"@BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Varecia, environmental enrichment, fertile odours, sexual behaviour","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8959629/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8959629/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Zoos play a crucial role in contributing to lemur conservation via ex situ conservation breeding programmes, but mismatches between captive and wild environments can impact upon breeding success. 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