An unusual tactic is being employed more than a thousand miles from the Mexican wolf population’s native territory to help the species survive.
Researchers are hoping that Zana, a female wolf that lives in Brookfield Zoo outside Chicago, Illinois, is expecting a litter of pups, as scientists recently tried using artificial insemination to impregnate her.
Her case marks the first time scientists have attempted to use the reproductive medicine technology on animals in the state of Illinois, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The experts are trying to make the Mexican wolf species more genetically diverse. The wolves used in the recent artificial insemination experiment were paired via complex computer software (file photo)
The research team that conducted the experiment was made up of experts from the St. Louis Zoo’s Reproductive and Behavioral Sciences Department and the Chicago Zoological Society.
The group is trying to help the Mexican wolf species become more genetically diverse.
The species has been considered endangered for 42 years now. When it was put on the endangered species list in 1976, seven were thought to be left in the wilderness, according to experts.
The wolves originate in Mexico and the Southwest US, but scientists outside Chicago have now taken up their cause.
The specialists are creating reproductive tools that can aid in the species’s recovery, hopeful that artificial insemination techniques can help the population thrive.
Now, there are more than 280 Mexican wolves in zoos and similar institutions as well as about 150 in the wild, scientists estimate.
The researchers developing the technology are hopeful that it can help not only the Mexican wolf species but also other populations teetering on the brink of extinction.
The experts used the technology to hopefully impregnate Zana with semen from Redford, a male wolf that lives in Arizona.
Joan Daniels, the Zoological Society’s curator of mammals said the technique was ‘pretty revolutionary’.
The sperm sample used was frozen; experts are now saying using frozen samples are hassle-free compared to the use of samples that aren’t frozen or pairing animals together with the hopes they will mate.
Researchers outside Chicago have tried to impregnate a Mexican wolf using artificial insemination technology. Their hope is that the reproductive medicine development can help strengthen the species, which has been endangered since 1976 (file photo)
Reproductive physiologist Cheryl Asa explained why pairing animals is not a bulletproof strategy.
She told the Chicago Tribune: ‘Many [animals] are really fussy. Using artificial insemination completely gets around that. It’s so much easier if you can ship a semen sample.’
Asa explained that sometimes animals will refuse to mate even if experts have engineered a multi-year courtship between them.
Using Redford’s sample was intentional: scientists did so trying to avoid a ‘genetic bottleneck’, which occurs when a small number of animals of one species are left living.
The decision to pair Redford and Zana was made by complex computer software.
‘Genetic bottleneck’ situations lead to less diverse populations and weaker species, experts explained to the Chicago Tribune.
HOW DOES ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION WORK?
Researchers in Illinois recently used an artificial insemination procedure to, hopefully, impregnate a wolf (file photo)
Scientists outside of Chicago recently tried to use artificial insemination technology to impregnate a wolf.
Their hope is that the technology can revive the species, which has been considered endangered since 1976.
Artificial insemination is among the slew of new reproductive medicine techniques that has come out recently.
Human couples who opt for the technology see specialists who use ultrasounds, blood tests or ovulation kits to check to see if a woman is ovulating at the time of her procedure.
A sample of sperm is then required from the woman’s chosen donor; the doctor puts the sample in a catheter that is threaded through the woman’s vagina and cervix before reaching her uterus.
The success rate for the procedure varies. The following can affect the chances a woman has of becoming pregnant thanks to artificial insemination:
- the woman’s age
- the quality of the sperm and egg
- a condition called endometriosis
- fallopian tube damage
- fallopian tube blockage
They have been closely tracking the mating habits of the Mexican wolves living at Brookfield Zoo.
The three females stay in separate quarters than the males when they ovulate, which happens once a year.
Researchers are leaning toward frozen semen samples instead of fresh semen samples, which have traditionally been used, because they are less difficult to move and store.
But experts are not quite sure about the process’s chances of success.
Daniels told the Chicago Tribune that she is hopeful Zana will display signs of pregnancy soon, including weight gain and a loss of hair on her stomach indicating the development of mammary glands will soon occur.
She explained that the wolves at Brookfield are similar to the humans who visit them in that they aggressively protective of each other.
Additionally, she said sibling dynamics among the wolf families mimic those that can be seen in human family structures.
‘The whole “big bad wolf” thing is really a fallacy. It’s got about as much drama as “This Is Us”,’ Daniels joked, referencing NBC’s prime time drama.