Enrique “Hank” Hinojosa

Education: Bachelor of Science in Wildlife and Enterprise Management, 2025
Mentor: Logan Thomas, Ph.D.
Project: Javelina Physiology

Collared peccaries (Pecari tajacu) are ecologically important ungulates native to arid and semi-arid regions of the Americas. Their health reflects broader patterns of environmental stress, nutritional condition, and disease ecology, making them valuable indicators of ecosystem well-being. This study develops and applies a non-invasive hair hormone extraction protocol to establish an integrated physiological health baseline for a wild peccary population in South Texas. Sixteen peccaries were opportunistically sampled through state-regulated harvests. From each animal, hair was collected from the shoulder region, a site chosen for consistent hormone deposition, and processed using a series of laboratory steps. These steps included methanol-based washing to remove contaminants, ball-mill grinding to finely pulverize the hair, and phosphate-buffered saline reconstitution to prepare the sample for hormone analysis. Final assays targeted key hormone groups, including glucocorticoids as stress markers, most specifically cortisol, as well as reproductive hormones and thyroid hormones that reflect metabolic rate and nutritional status. These hormones represent chronic physiological signals stored over time in hair, allowing thoughtful insight into the animals’ health. To complement the hair hormone data, blood diagnostic information was collected from thirty-one individuals. This encompassed one hundred and two health variables, including anatomical fat indices and evidence of pathogen exposure, particularly to Brucella suis, a significant bacterial pathogen. Integrating these data sources created a multi-dimensional view of individual condition and population-level dynamics. This protocol is grounded in and expands upon established research such as Lochmiller et al. (1985 to 1988), Gallagher et al. (1984), and Zwahlen et al. (2022), blending endocrine ecology with disease surveillance and nutritional physiology. The methodology is both replicable for future wildlife health assessments and scalable as a teaching tool in animal science and wildlife management programs.