African wild dogs will soon have their own sperm bank

Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.. They have now decided to freeze sperm from as many genetically diverse male African wild dogs as possible and use this to artificially inseminate female African wild dogs for the first time.

But the drawback to this method is that the new pack is junior and only able to colonise the limited habitat on the periphery of an established pack’s territory. So it can take about 150 generations for genes from the new pack to spread through the existing population via the formation of subsequent packs and natural breeding.

Our back-up plan against disease outbreaks is to create a bank of African wild dog sperm from multiple males. Sperm frozen in liquid nitrogen tanks at very cold temperatures can last 50 or 100 years and still produce offspring. This method is very successful . We were not able to do this until now because African wild dog sperm only lived for 30 minutes after it was thawed, but to inseminate a female dog, the sperm has to survive for at least four to six hours.

With fewer animals needed, the total cost to conserve the species is lower. This hybrid approach could save money and alleviate the carrying capacity of reserves without reducing genetic diversity of wild dogs – something most wildlife managers and politicians will greatly appreciate.

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