US Zoo Artificially Inseminates Asian Elephant
Date: 06-Mar-06
Country: USA
Author: Patricia Wilson
Shanthi, a 30-year-old 9,000-pound (4,000-kg) Asian elephant stood in a training chute -- a contraption with bars to restrain her gently -- and a keeper fed her treats while the zoo's experts and a team of German veterinary scientists used ultrasound and a catheter for the 45-minute procedure.
It will be four months before they know if it was successful, but the zoo is taking no chances.
"We've got another semen sample that's being flown in from Tulsa (Oklahoma) so we'll be doing another one tonight," spokeswoman Peper Long told Reuters in a telephone interview on Friday.
Hormonal analysis will determine if Shanthi has conceived. The gestation period for elephants is about 22 months.
Toni, a 40-year-old Asian elephant stricken with arthritis was euthanized in late January, about two decades short of the typical expected life span.
Her death set off a debate over whether the species belonged in zoos. Animal rights groups complained that close confinement and hard floors in zoos were unsuitable for elephants and had urged the Smithsonian Institution's National Zoo to move her to a sanctuary in Tennessee.
The zoo has lost dozens of large animals since 1998, including an elephant in 2000, two red pandas mistakenly killed by rat poison, a lion, a zebra, a cheetah and a giraffe.
An investigation by the National Research Council found problems with staff training, workplace culture and strategic planning.
But the zoo has experienced some remarkable successes, most importantly the birth last summer of giant panda Tai Shan who has attracted huge crowds and worldwide media attention.
The flagship institution also has bred nine cheetah cubs in the past two years as well as rare clouded leopards and red pandas.
Shanthi was successfully artificially inseminated once before and gave birth to a male elephant, Kandula, in 2001.
Five other attempts to artificially inseminate an elephant at the National Zoo failed due to poor semen quality and timing.
"A successful artificial insemination depends on accurately predicting the time of ovulation," Long said. "Shanthi's hormone range has told us that we're at the far end."
The procedure was planned before Toni's death.
"We've been wanting to do this for a while," Long said. "One of the reasons is because Shanthi is a natural mother and breeding is a very natural, normal part of an elephant's social fabric."
In addition to Shanthi and Kandula, the zoo has a third elephant, Ambika, a female in her 50s.
