AI of A Elephant » Taronga Zoo

AI of A Elephant
30-05-2008

Taronga Zoo's media file released a report on thursday to say they have commenced artificial insemination on Porntip, the herds 16 year old matriach, using semen from a bull in Singapore Zoo.
The same team of German AI experts who have worked closely with Taronga Western Plains Zoo's Black Rhino breeding program were involved in this procedure which aims to widen, early on, the genetic base-stock of the Australian elephant program.

31-05-2008

Why have they done that, when Taronga has it's own bull?

31-05-2008

"........to widen, early on, the genetic base-stock of the Australian elephant program."

(Thanks glyn.)

31-05-2008

Ah I see lol.
Sure the activists will be happy about that...

31-05-2008

Hope they get a male! (Wow I think that's the first time I could say that!)

31-05-2008

A good move for them and the National herd, hope they get a bubber

31-05-2008

Gung is not mature enough to mate the older females.

I wonder if they will manage to get her pregnant with semen form Singapore - elephant semen is very fragile and the quality decreases with each hour after collection. The Berlin team is working to establish a method to freeze it but after my knowlegde no female fell pregnant with frozen sperm yet. Singapore is at least 8 hours flight time from Sydney and the "total" until the female can be imseminated will be a lot more, so I am not too optimistic about the results.

I am not a friend of AI either but that is a totally different topic.......

31-05-2008

While it may not be the ideal situation to AI an elephant, I think it is valuable to create as wide a genetic base as possible. So impreganting with another bull from outside Australia is good. I too hope that it is a bull, thus creating another male line in the country.

31-05-2008

Yassa, A female Asian elephant was AI-ed using chilled semen from a bull at the UKs Whipsnade zoo to a female in a zoo in Israel with success and that would of taken a while to transport to there so it should work ok

31-05-2008

The semen was from melbourne bull, and the media relese said singapore semen- excellent.

31-05-2008

No need to slag off the zoo for AI on Porntip.

I always questioned why the bull was a pubescent male and the females were much older. In the more experienced breeding arena in Europe the older females are dominant over any pubescent males and simply ignore them.

AI is thus a relevant method to increase the breeding potential of the ARAZPA Asian elephant programme.

The more elephant AI (and f.i. also rhino AI) are performed the more experienced the vet technical staff become at this procedure and - in the end what counts for the most - will eventually increase the success rate of any AI attempts in Elephas, Loxodonta (and Diceros, Rhinoceros and Ceratotherium). No wrong in that, mate!

For pointers: just think of giant panda breeding anno 1988 and 2008, a 20 year stop gap. Nowadays, AI in P.R. of China is 80% successful (in 1988 it was non-existent) and also 30% of successful natural matings lead to births of surviving newborns. As we become adept at AI, we also more and more understand the basics of their natural reproductive biology. So, it is a win-win situation!

31-05-2008

Could not agree more with you on that Jelle

31-05-2008

perfecting assistd reproduction for mega-fauna species using zoo stock represents for me one of the most vital outcomes of these ex-situ programs. their potential for in-situ application is enormous, and in areas of south-east asia where the elephants range has become highly fragmented AI could become a vital tool in the fight for this species' survival.
as Jelle pointed out, the more its done, the better zoos get at it. when AI is completely down patt, then we might see wildlife agencies in Asia using it on wild elephants.

02-06-2008

Could any here explain to me why Chawang's (Singapore's mature bull) 7 year old son Sang Wira also donated sperm? Heard this off Zoosih can anyone clear this up?

Jelle, i also agree with you completely, older cows can be very dominant over young bulls, There has been all this talk about that Tong Dee is too young and over things, why not get a more mature bull to mate with the older cows (Pornthip and Pak Boon)? Perhaps transport trouble?

02-06-2008

dont discuss it here because it has its own thread (http://www.zoobeat.com/51/dokkoon-pregnant-18678/) but it is relevant to this conversation, they have successgully used AI on an elephant in melbourne so they do have the skills to preform the process. now they just have to work out how to transport seman and the breeding program lines could be opened up from just the two males in Sydney and Melbourne.