Forty years of assisted reproduction research in non-domestic, wild and endangered mammals / 40 anos de pesquisa em reprodução de mamíferos não-domésticos, selvagens e em extinção

For nearly forty years, at three institutions, our team conducted studies to advance the use of ARTs for propagating threatened and endangered mammalian species. The initial studies began in 1978 in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, moving in the mid-1980s to The Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species (CREW) at the Cincinnati Zoo and lastly at the Audubon Center for Research in Endangered Species (ACRES) in New Orleans from 1996 to 2015. Our collaborative endeavors with more than two dozen zoological and academic institutions resulted in the births of ET offspring in two non-human primate species, four non-domestic bovid species and seven non-domestic felid species, six of which were interspecies transfers (Table 1). Origin of embryos that were successfully transferred ranged from those flushed from the uterus of mated females (baboon and bovids) to those generated by IVF, ICSI, and SCNT (gorilla and non-domestic felids). Additionally, embryos of five species underwent cryopreservation (baboon, common eland, African wildcat, caracal, black-footed cat) before successful transfer.(AU)

Forty years of assisted reproduction research in non-domestic, wild and endangered mammals / 40 anos de pesquisa em reprodução de mamíferos não-domésticos, selvagens e em extinção

For nearly forty years, at three institutions, our team conducted studies to advance the use of ARTs for propagating threatened and endangered mammalian species. The initial studies began in 1978 in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, moving in the mid-1980’s to The Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species (CREW) at the Cincinnati Zoo and lastly at the Audubon Center for Research in Endangered Species (ACRES) in New Orleans from 1996 to 2015. Our collaborative endeavors with more than two dozen zoological and academic institutions resulted in the births of ET offspring in two non-human primate species, four non-domestic bovid species and seven non-domestic felid species, six of which were interspecies transfers (Table 1). Origin of embryos that were successfully transferred ranged from those flushed from the uterus of mated females (baboon and bovids) to those generated by IVF, ICSI, and SCNT (gorilla and non-domestic felids). Additionally, embryos of five species underwent cryopreservation (baboon, common eland, African wildcat, caracal, black-footed cat) before successful transfer.

Fibrous Osteodystrophy in a Captive Common Eland Antelope (Taurotragus oryx)

Fibrous osteodystrophy (FO) is a common condition described mainly in domestic species, with only few cases described in wild ones kept in captivity. Herein we report a case of FO in a 2 yr-old female common eland antelope (Taurotragus oryx) maintained in captivity and fed with a horse pelleted ration plus hays. The animal showed a firm bilateral symmetrical enlargement of upper maxillary bones which was submitted to histological evaluation. Microscopic findings were those related to extensive bone resorption and fibroplasia.(AU)

Parâmetros cinéticos da degradação in vitro de alimentos incubados com inóculo microbiano de diferentes espécies de ruminantes / Kinetic parameters of the ruminal in vitro degradation of feedstuffs given to different ruminant species

Parâmetros cinéticos da degradação ruminal de alguns alimentos utilizados para ruminantes de zoológicos foram estimados mediante incubação in vitro com líquido ruminal de audade (Ammotragus lervia), cervo sambar (Cervus unicolor), elande (Taurotragus oryx), bovino (Bos taurus), bubalino (Bubalus bubalis), caprino (Capra hircus) e ovino (Ovis aries). Os parâmetros cinéticos foram estimados pela técnica da produção de gás, cujos dados foram ajustados pelos modelos de um e de duplo compartimento. Não foram detectadas diferenças nos parâmetros cinéticos que permitissem agrupar os alimentos (fibrosos × não fibrosos) e os animais (domésticos × silvestres). O modelo de duplo compartimento foi o mais adequado para a estimação dos parâmetros cinéticos da degradação ruminal. Inóculo microbiano oriundo de ruminantes domésticos não é recomendado para estimar parâmetros cinéticos da degradação ruminal de alimentos utilizados para ruminantes silvestres de zoológicos.(AU)

The estimation of the ruminal kinetic parameters of pumpkin, potato-sweet, beet, broccoli, carrot, alfalfa hay, alfalfa pellet and bean, currently used for feeding wild and domestic ruminants raised in the Rio de Janeiro Zoo, was made through in vitro incubation of the feedstuffs together with ruminal fluid obtained from aoudad (Ammotragus lervia), sambar deer (Cervus unicolor), eland (Taurotragus oryx), cattle (Bos taurus), buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), goat (Capra hircus) and sheep (Ovis aries). The gas production technique was used to obtain gas profiles, and the data were fitted by the mono or double compartmental model. The kinetic parameters were discrepant among both, animals and feedstuffs, and the double compartmental model gave the best estimation. Ruminal inocula from domestic ruminants can not be used to estimate the kinetic parameters of ruminal degradation of feedstuffs for wild ruminants.(AU)

Fibrous osteodystrophy in a captive common eland antelope (Taurotragus oryx)

Fibrous osteodystrophy (FO) is a common condition described mainly in domestic species, with only few cases described in wild ones kept in captivity. Herein we report a case of FO in a 2 yr-old female common eland antelope (Taurotragus oryx) maintained in captivity and fed with a horse pelleted ration plus hays. The animal showed a firm bilateral symmetrical enlargement of upper maxillary bones which was submitted to histological evaluation. Microscopic findings were those related to extensive bone resorption and fibroplasia