Abstract

Formosan macaque (Macaca cyclopis) is a native primate in Taiwan in the Cercopithecidae family. They are highly adapted to all kinds of environments and habitats.³ As in other countries, human-macaque conflict is also present in Taiwan. Therefore, numerous management strategies have been proposed.^1,4 Among the various contraceptive techniques, one of them is endoscopic tubectomy. This procedure refers to cautery to cut off a segment of the fallopian tube with laparoscopic and bipolar coagulation set-up to occlude the tubes.² The purpose of the study reported here was to record the complications encountered during the surgery and the long-term effects of endoscopic tubectomy to Formosan macaques. Nineteen Formosan macaques were anesthetized for endoscopic tubectomy and complications of the surgeries were recorded. Severity of intraoperative hemorrhage was objectively scored. The pattern of serum sex hormones was evaluated for two ovarian cycles following the surgery. Two to thirteen months later, eight of 19 macaques again underwent endoscopic observation of the surgical sites. During the evaluation, inflammatory scores of the cut ends and reproductive system were objectively scored. The most frequent complications were meso-salphingeal and meso-ovarian bleeding. No serious complications were found in the study. The average hemorrhagic score was 1.21. Little postoperative inflammation was recorded and the average inflammatory score was 1.59. 24 of 32 cut ends were identified with no recanalization. The hormone pattern was not affected by tubectomy. In this study, laparoscopic tubectomy was proved to be a safe, effective, lifetime sterile, technique for wild macaques in many aspects.

Literature Cited

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