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Our Bureau

The technique of artificial insemination, although routinely practiced in domestic animals, has not been commonly applied to wild animals.

Hyderabad , March 29

In efforts to save some of the most beautiful, but endangered species of Indian deer, scientists at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), here have achieved a significant breakthrough.

Using the established artificial insemination method, they have aided in the birth of a live fawn of the spotted deer. The conceived animal delivered a live fawn on March 14, after 8 months of pregnancy.

This is the first successful, non-surgical intra-vaginal insemination in the country in the spotted deer. India joins Australia and the US, the only other countries to have achieved the birth of a live fawn in deers using the same procedure, explained, Dr Lalji Singh, Director, CCMB.

Isolation

Exploitation of forests and loss of habitats due to human intervention have threatened the very survival of various endangered species including deers such as the Manipur brow-antlered deer, swamp deer, Kashmir musk deer and mouse deer in the wild and their populations have become isolated and fragmented.

Such fragmented populations are prone to loss of genetic variability and become vulnerable to environmental factors. Therefore, there was an urgent need to augment efforts to preserve habitats and simultaneously develop methods to boost their numbers, he told newspersons here.

The CCMB has undertaken studies to standardise techniques for assisted reproduction at the Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad, using the spotted deer as a model for the other critically endangered deers of the country.

A group of scientists Dr G. Umapathy, Dr S.D. Sontakke and Dr A. Reddy at the CCMB, led by Dr S. Shivaji, Deputy Director, has been working as part of a long-term project of the Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species (Lacones).

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Non-surgical method to aid deers reproduction

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