Fertility Techniques Save Endangered Species
Date: 29-Jun-04
Country: GERMANY
From killer whales and giant pandas to cheetahs and black-footed ferrets, assisted reproductive technology (ART) has allowed scientists to breed wild animals in captivity and learn more about how they reproduce.
"We have used ART to understand the reproductive biology of cheetahs, and have learned, for example, that they produce more than 70 percent abnormally shaped sperm per ejaculate," Dr David Wildt will tell a fertility meeting yesterday.
The head of the Department of Reproductive Sciences at the Smithsonian's National Zoological Park in the United States also said killer whales can be trained to provide daily urine samples to test their hormone levels before artificial insemination (AI).
"In the case of the black-footed ferret, which used to range across America's Great Plain and which was reduced to only 18 individuals, we have used AI to produce offspring that have been used for reintroduction of this species back into nature," he said in a statement released ahead of the start of the European Society of Human Reproduction & Embryology meeting.
Pandas, which are poor breeders in captivity and are only fertile for three days each year, are also having fertility treatments.
Wildt's 10-year-plan for giant pandas includes collecting sperm from wild giant pandas and using it to infuse new genes into the captive panda population so more offspring can be reintroduced into the wild.
But while ART has a major role to play, Wildt believes cloning will be of little use in conserving endangered species because of the need to maintain genetic diversity. It could help to save a species that is nearly extinct but he fears it could also distract people from the need to preserve natural habitats.
About 2,000 scientists, doctors and fertility experts are attending the four-day meeting.
