Dataset of wild spotted hyenas from 3 clans in the Serengeti National Park

<p><span><span>Host</span> <span>immune</span> <span>defenses</span> <span>are</span> <span>important</span> <span>components of</span> <span>host-parasite</span> <span>interactions</span> <span>that affect</span> <span>the</span> <span>outcome</span> <span>of</span> <span>infection and may have fitness consequences for hosts when increased allocation of resources to immune responses undermines other essential life processes. Research on host-parasite</span> <span>interactions in large free-ranging wild mammals is currently hampered</span> <span>by</span> <span>a</span> <span>lack of verified non-invasive assays.</span> <span><span>We</span></span> <span>successfully</span> <span>adapted</span> <span>existing</span> <span>assays</span> <span>to measure innate and adaptive immune responses produced by the gastrointestinal mucosa in spotted</span> <span>hyena</span> <span>(</span><i><span>Crocuta</span></i><span><i> </i></span><i><span>crocuta</span></i><span>) faeces, including</span> <span>enzyme-linked immunosorbent</span> <span>assays</span> <span>(ELISAs)</span><span><span>, </span></span><span>to</span> <span>quantify</span><b> </b><span>faecal</span> <span>immunoglobulins (total</span> <span>IgA, total IgG) and</span> <span>total</span> <span>faecal</span> <span>O-linked</span> <span>oligosaccharides</span> <span>(mucin).</span> <span>We investigated the</span> <span><span>effect</span></span> <span>of infection load by an energetically costly hookworm (</span><i><span>Ancylostoma</span></i><span>), parasite richness, host age,</span> <span>sex, year of sampling and clan membership on</span> <span>immune</span> <span>responses</span> <span>and asked</span> <span>whether high investment in immune responses</span> <span>during</span> <span>early</span> <span>life</span> <span>affects longevity</span><span><span> in individually known spotted hyenas in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania.</span></span><span> F</span><span><span>aecal concentrations of IgA, IgG and mucin</span></span> <span>increased with </span><i><span>Ancylostoma</span></i><span> egg load and were higher in juveniles</span> <span>than in</span> <span>adults. Females had higher mucin concentrations than males. Juvenile females had higher IgG concentrations than juvenile males whereas adult females had lower IgG concentrations than males. High</span> <span><span>IgA</span></span><span><span> concentrations </span></span><span>during</span> <span>the</span> <span>first</span> <span>year</span> <span>of</span> <span>life</span> <span>was linked to</span> <span>reduced </span><span><span>longevity</span></span><span><span> after controlling for</span></span> <span>age</span> <span>at</span> <span>sampling</span> <span>and</span> <i><span>Ancylostoma</span></i><span><i> </i></span><span>egg</span><span><span> load</span></span><span>. Our</span> <span>study demonstrates that the use of non-invasive methods can increase knowledge on the complex relationship between gastrointestinal parasites and host local immune responses in wild large mammals and reveal fitness-relevant effects of these responses.</span></span></p>