Artificial Insemination Trials with White-Tailed Deer
1989; Wiley; Volume: 53; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/3801338
ISSN1937-2817
AutoresHarry A. Jacobson, H.J. Bearden, David Whitehouse,
Tópico(s)Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock
ResumoWe used frozen semen from 8 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in 53 artificial insemination trials. The resulting pregnancy rate was 75% and a mean of 1.48 fawns/pregnant female was produced. Semen was frozen in tris-yolk diluter of 0.2 M, 6.8 pH, and 7% glycerol solution at final dilution. Semen was collected by electroejaculation from 6 males and at 1 and 5 hours postmortem from 2 males. Pregnancies were obtained from semen from all males. Semen with post-thaw progressive motility >70% resulted in 100% conception (n = 15) compared to conception rates of 66% (n = 38) for semen with <60% progressive motility. High conception rates demonstrated artificial insemination can be a useful tool for introduction of new genetic material or preservation and long term storage of rare genetic material of wild ruminants. J. WILDL. MANAGE. 53(1):224-227 Genetic manipulation of wild and captive populations of wildlife will become important in the future. Genetic introduction has been recommended to reduce inbreeding depression of ungulates in reserves and in geographically isolated populations (Allendorf 1983, Chesser 1983). Artificial insemination eliminates high costs associated with animal transport and reduces risks of potential introduction of diseases or parasites. Preservation and propagation of endangered species are other reasons for developing procedures for artificial breeding of wild ungulates. Semen has been collected from cervids (Bierschwal et al. 1970, Dott and Utsi 1971, Lambiase et al. 1972, Jaczewski and Morstin 1973, Krzywinski 1976, Graham et al. 1978, Krzywinski and Jaczewski 1978, Seager et al. 1978, Bearden et al. 1980, Haigh et al. 1983), frozen (Graham et al.1978, Krzywinski and Jaczewski 1978, Seager et al. 1978, Krzywinski 1981, Haigh et al. 1983), and fawns have been produced from artificial insemination of cervids (Krzywinski and Jaczewski 1978, Haigh 1984). However, quantitative data are lacking on the effectiveness of artificial insemination for cervids. These data are needed before artificial insemination becomes a routine research and management tool. We document a procedure for artificial insemination of white-tailed deer and the success we have had producing fawns from the procedure. We thank R. E. Zaiglin and K. R. Herriman for their assistance in conducting insemination trials. This study was financed by the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station and by E. L. Cox, Jr. and E. L. Cox, Sr., Athens,
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