Twenty year old Scimitar-horned Oryx Sperm used for AI

Orana Wildlife Park MEDIA RELEASE – For Immediate Release

Twenty year old Scimitar-horned Oryx Sperm used for AI at Orana

Canadian sperm that has been in cold storage for over twenty years will be used tomorrow in an attempt to artificially inseminate a female scimitar-horned oryx at Orana Wildlife Park. The sperm was last used in the early 1990’s when Orana was the first institution in the world to breed scimitar-horned oryx by artificial insemination!

Orana’s Zoological Manager, Rob Hall, says: “the reason we are performing AI on our female, Bon, is that scimitar-horned oryx are a high value conservation species - they are extinct in the wild! Captive management programmes have enabled them to be re-populated in some protected areas in Africa as well as zoos throughout the world.”

“Bon shared an exhibit with a male (Bert) but sadly he was too old to breed as Bon has not produced a calf in five years. It has not been possible to source new bloodlines; at 16 years of age Bon is too old to be transferred to Australia to be paired with another male, hence the reason we are bringing the sperm out of storage. The sperm has been tested and it is still viable; experts have given a 30% chance of Bon conceiving from the procedure.”

Orana’s remaining entire male, Bon’s son, will soon be electro-ejaculated and his sperm will be sent to Australia to be used to increase their population of oryx.

Since 1978 when the first four scimitar-horned oryx were transferred from Marwell Zoo, England, Orana Wildlife Park has bred more than 70 animals! We are very hopeful that the stored sperm will help produce more of this magnificent species.

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About Scimitar-horned Oryx

• Scimitar-horned Oryx are classified as Extinct in the Wild (IUCN). Captive herds are kept in fenced protected areas in Tunisia, Senegal and Morocco as part of long-term reintroduction programmes.

• Overhunting and habitat loss, including competition with domestic livestock, have been reported as the main reasons for the extinction of the wild population.

• Over 70 oryx have been bred at Orana and offspring have been sent to many parts of the world to help other breeding centres.

• Scimitar–horned oryx used to live throughout much of northern Africa in the desert regions bordering the Sahara. Reports of early explorers suggest that the population then numbered in the hundreds of thousands. With the advent of modern guns and off road vehicles they fell easy prey to “hunters” and by the 1950s there were only a few thousand left.

• In mid–1984 civil war in Chad eliminated the last of the wild population. Subsequently a worldwide breeding programme was instituted to which Orana has made a highly significant contribution.

• Some people believe that oryx were responsible for the legend of the unicorn. Viewed from the side, oryx look as if they have only one horn.

About Orana Wildlife Park

Orana Wildlife Park is NZ’s only open range zoo and is home to over 400 animals from more than 70 different species. The Park is owned and operated by Orana Wildlife Trust, a registered charitable trust, which also runs Natureland Zoo in Nelson. The Trust also owned Southern Encounter Aquarium & Kiwi House (Cathedral Square) until February 2011 when it was closed indefinitely after a devastating 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck Christchurch. The Trust is committed to the conservation of wildlife diversity on this planet. Our aims, along with being dedicated to the conservation of endangered species and the welfare of our animals, are to provide education, recreation and enjoyment to the public and to support research relating to endangered animals. The Trust is a member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), the Zoo and Aquarium Association Australasia (ZAA) and ZAA NZ.

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