Animal well being groups helped carry out the procedures on the 2 bears, Anana and Aurora in hopes they are going to produce cubs.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two feminine polar bears on the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium have been artificially inseminated as a part of the zoo’s effort to guard the way forward for the at-risk species.
The procedures came about on the zoo in March after planning with a physician from the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Backyard. The zoo mentioned they made the announcement along with Arctic Sea Ice Day, July 15, to assist increase consciousness to guard the bears.
Animal well being groups helped carry out the procedures on the 2 bears, Anana and Aurora in hopes they are going to produce cubs.
Anana and Aurora have been artificially inseminated with semen Lee, a male polar bear on the Louisville Zoo. Lee used to stay on the Columbus Zoo from November 2018 to August 2020.
Whereas Lee was on the zoo, he fathered a male cub, Kulu, with Aurora.
The zoo says each Aurora and Anana are confirmed breeders and are on the prime of their reproductive years at almost 16 years previous, which made them good candidates for synthetic insemination.
The procedures went as deliberate, however the zoo won’t know in the event that they have been profitable till November or December when the cubs are sometimes born.
The zoo mentioned synthetic insemination provides extra conservation choices resembling doubtlessly decreasing the necessity to transfer bears to totally different amenities to make sure genetic variety for breeding, in addition to serving to to offer information that may profit polar bears of their native ranges.
Synthetic insemination is a more moderen reproductive know-how in polar bears that has been tried with the Cincinnati zoo’s group a complete of 14 instances in North America and an estimated 20 makes an attempt worldwide. Thus far, not one of the makes an attempt have been profitable.
Aurora has given beginning to 3 litters consisting of 4 surviving cubs whereas her sister, Anana, has produced one surviving cub. All 5 cubs are actually grownup bears who stay at different zoos all through the nation.
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