Rhinoceroses are highly endangered, and their future in the wild is uncertain due to poaching and habitat loss. Captive-rhino breeding programs have been fairly successful, but because many of the adults are overly aggressive, only certain individuals can be used to breed. The result is s in offspring that aren’t genetically diverse enough to maintain the captive population. With Foundation funding, Drs.doctors Terri Roth and Monica Stoops at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden developed are a reliable method for collecting and freezing rhino sperm. They used this technique to collect sperm from the most genetically valuable captive males and store it in a genome resource bank for use in the development of a successful artificial artificial-insemination protocol for this species. They also used ultrasonographic imaging to more accurately determine when females are fertile, which will increase the likelihood of a pregnancy. The breakthroughs from this study will boost reproductive efforts and increase genetic diversity among captive rhinos.
