Considerations for cryopreservation of semen

Abstract The development of a semen storage program at a zoo will be difficult since the factors involved with freezing semen and insemination procedures that apply to one species will not in all probability apply to another. Animal management influences both the initial quantity and quality of semen. Semen collection methods used on domestic species can be applied to wildlife. Many methods of semen evaluation of fresh or frozen semen are available, but in some species only one may be significant—a live offspring from an insemination of a female. Many variables and their interactions in semen processing must be considered when working with each species: extender, glycerol levels, cell numbers per package, cooling rates, thawing rates, and equilibration time. Periodic communication and cooperation among the people directly involved will be paramount enhancing the advancement of semen cryopreservation in exotic species.