Using modern reproductive technologies such as embryo transfer and artificial insemination to improve the reproductive potential of dromedary camels

Abstract

Initial experiments evaluated the optimum extender for camel semen. Ejaculates collected from male camels were diluted 1:1 with green buffer, Laciphos or skim-milk glucose extender. Then a total of 300 x 10^6 live sperm were inseminated into each female camel that had been induced to ovulate with 20 µg of the GnRH analogue buserelin given 24 h previously. Pregnancy was confirmed in 47, 53 and 0% of females inseminated with semen diluted in green buffer, Laciphos and skim-milk extender, respectively. In experiment 2, donor camels were superovulated with a combination of 20 i.u. porcine FSH and 2500 i.u. equine chorionic gonadotrophin, and those that responded were mated to a chosen male when the majority of follicles had reached 1.3-1.8 cm in diameter. Their uteri were flushed non-surgically eight days after mating (day 7 after ovulation). The recovered embryos were either directly transferred singly into recipient camels at different levels of synchrony with respect to the day 7 donor (+1 to -3 days; n = 58), or cooled in embryo flushing media for 24 h in an Equitainer at 4°C before being transferred singly into recipient camels (n = 32) on day 6 after ovulation. The pregnancy rate increased to a maximum of 67% when the recipient was synchronized at one day behind the donor and it fell dramatically when the level of asynchrony increased to +1 (9%) or -3 (10%) days. Of the 32 recipients to which cooled embryos were transferred, 20 (63%) were confirmed pregnant at 18-20 days after ovulation to give a success rate similar to that attained with the control fresh embryos (67%)