Affiliations 

  • 1 Borneo Rhino Alliance, c/o Faculty of Science and Natural Resources, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu 88400, Sabah, Malaysia
  • 2 Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute National Zoological Park, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 5502, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA
  • 3 Sabah Wildlife Department, Tingkat 4, Blok B, Wisma MUIS, Kota Kinabalu 88100, Sabah, Malaysia
Animals (Basel), 2020 06 22;10(6).
PMID: 32580372 DOI: 10.3390/ani10061072

Abstract

A better understanding of semen characteristics and resilience to freezing temperatures is necessary before developing assisted reproductive techniques and systematic biobanking for the Sunda clouded leopard. The objective of this study was to evaluate for the first time the semen and sperm quality (in fresh and frozen samples) of two captive Sunda clouded leopards in Malaysia. A total of 17 examinations of the reproductive tract (using ultrasonography) and electro-ejaculations were performed on the two leopards over a 2-year period. Samples obtained from Leopard 1 (8 years old) varied in terms of volume (402 ± 92 µL), pH (7.9 ± 0.9), sperm motility (54.5 ± 24.2%), sperm concentration (122.4 ± 84.7 × 106 sperm/mL), normal morphology (23.9 ± 12.3%), and viability (55.2 ± 18.2%). Midpiece defects represented the most common structural abnormality followed by abnormal tail and head defects. Samples from Leopard 2 (11 year old with abnormal testicular tissue) were of lesser quality. Two frozen semen samples from Leopard 1 were thawed and examined for acrosome integrity. Post-thawed samples contained <10% of motile spermatozoa but almost 50% of abnormal acrosomes. The present results emphasized the high incidence of structurally-abnormal spermatozoa, similar to the mainland clouded leopard. Post-thaw evaluations showed that the few surviving spermatozoa could potentially be used for in vitro fertilization or sperm injection. However, more individuals must be studied to validate those first findings that are exciting but still preliminary.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.