Effect of alternate day collection on semen quality of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) with poor initial fresh semen quality

• Main Authors: Imrat P., Mahasawangkul S., Thitaram C., Suthanmapinanth P., Kornkaewrat K., Sombutputorn P., Jansittiwate S., Thongtip N., Pinyopummin A., Colenbrander B., Holt W.V., Stout T.A.E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2014
• Online Access: http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84901623807&partnerID=40&md5=8059e87b6bae739be0bd1e924f1ef13c; http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/handle/6653943832/7444
• Institution: Chiang Mai University

In captivity, male Asian elephants often yield poor quality semen after transrectal manually assisted semen collection; however, the reasons for the disappointing semen quality are not clear. Here we test the hypothesis that accumulation of senescent spermatozoa is a contributory factor, and that semen quality can therefore be improved by more frequent ejaculation. To this end we investigated the effect of collecting semen five times on alternate days, after a long period of sexual rest, on semen quality in Asian elephants known to deliver poor semen during infrequent single collections. All eight bulls initially displayed a high incidence of detached sperm heads and low percentages of motile (close to 0%) spermatozoa. After semen collection on alternate days, the percentages of detached sperm heads, and head and mid-piece abnormalities, were reduced significantly (p<. 0.05). In particular, one bull showed markedly improved sperm motility (increased from 0% to 60%) and membrane integrity (increased from 5% to 75%). In addition, advancing age significantly (p<. 0.01) correlated with lower percentages of sperm with intact membranes and a higher frequency of detached sperm heads. In contrast to sperm accumulation problems in other species, a small ampullary diameter correlated significantly (p<. 0.05) with reduced semen quality. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.