Columbus Zoo and Aquarium Columbus Zoo News 2020

Two Cheetah cubs were born 19/02/2020 as a result of a ground breaking embryo transfer procedure in collaboration with scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI):

For the embryo-transfer procedure, scientists collected semen from a male cheetah living at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Texas in February 2019 and froze it. They then harvested eggs from Kibibi at the Columbus Zoo Nov. 19, 2019, and performed in vitro fertilization, fertilizing them in a laboratory with the sperm collected in Texas earlier that year. The fertilized embryos were then transferred to Izzy’s oviduct Nov. 21, 2019. It was only the third time scientists had ever attempted the procedure. Kibibi had never given birth to a cub and is genetically valuable, but she is unlikely to ever reproduce on her own. Her valuable genes were at risk of never being passed on. Izzy, the surrogate, is less genetically valuable and is not currently recommended to breed, but she was hand-raised as a cub and very comfortable with keepers, which made her a good candidate as a surrogate cheetah mom.

Read the rest of the article here: First Cheetah Cubs Born as Result of Embryo Transfer
 
Zoofan15 said:
Two Cheetah cubs were born 19/02/2020 as a result of a ground breaking embryo transfer procedure in collaboration with scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI):

For the embryo-transfer procedure, scientists collected semen from a male cheetah living at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Texas in February 2019 and froze it. They then harvested eggs from Kibibi at the Columbus Zoo Nov. 19, 2019, and performed in vitro fertilization, fertilizing them in a laboratory with the sperm collected in Texas earlier that year. The fertilized embryos were then transferred to Izzy’s oviduct Nov. 21, 2019. It was only the third time scientists had ever attempted the procedure. Kibibi had never given birth to a cub and is genetically valuable, but she is unlikely to ever reproduce on her own. Her valuable genes were at risk of never being passed on. Izzy, the surrogate, is less genetically valuable and is not currently recommended to breed, but she was hand-raised as a cub and very comfortable with keepers, which made her a good candidate as a surrogate cheetah mom.

Read the rest of the article here: First Cheetah Cubs Born as Result of Embryo Transfer
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Possibly, a break-through and preserves valuable unrepresented genes within the SSP!
 
Moebelle said:
I'm sorry, you are correct - Greater*
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Thanks for the clarification.

birdsandbats said:
How many other US zoo keep that species?
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Greater Chevrotain is held by a few zoos, but it doesn't seem to be very common. I remember them being at Smithsonian but have since departed; Los Angeles also held the species when I visited last year. Boise, Bronx, Topeka, Cleveland, and Palm Beach come up on Internet search.
 
Coelacanth18 said:
Greater Chevrotain is held by a few zoos, but it doesn't seem to be very common. I remember them being at Smithsonian but have since departed; Los Angeles also held the species when I visited last year. Boise, Bronx, Topeka, Cleveland, and Palm Beach come up on Internet search.
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Milwaukee also has them.
 
Hyak_II said:
From photos posted on social media they have been on public display for at least 2-3 weeks indoors.

Hopefully Hank and/or Beco will give the girls a "proper welcome" soon enough.
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When I was their last winter I saw Beco and Rudy mate though I don’t know if it was successful but i’m hoping for a baby Rudy has great mom potential
 
Micah Satvedi said:
When I was their last winter I saw Beco and Rudy mate though I don’t know if it was successful but i’m hoping for a baby Rudy has great mom potential
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This is not what I was expecting. They have the perfect set-up to breed Phoebe, Rudy, and Sunny to Hank and then when Sunny and Rudy's daughters are ready to be bred, they can be bred to Beco. Both Beco and Hank have genes that are well-represented in the US--Beco from the European Motek line and Hank from Ringling--but Hank is older. By the time Rudy and Sunny's daughters are still breeding in their 20s and 30s, Hank won't be around. It would seem to make more sense to utilize Hank first, and then Beco for the next generation.
 
AmbikaFan said:
This is not what I was expecting. They have the perfect set-up to breed Phoebe, Rudy, and Sunny to Hank and then when Sunny and Rudy's daughters are ready to be bred, they can be bred to Beco. Both Beco and Hank have genes that are well-represented in the US--Beco from the European Motek line and Hank from Ringling--but Hank is older. By the time Rudy and Sunny's daughters are still breeding in their 20s and 30s, Hank won't be around. It would seem to make more sense to utilize Hank first, and then Beco for the next generation.
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I don’t know for sure but all the keepers where watching and Beco was getting up there and I would think he would to breed the next generation because males mature slower then females but Rudy is quite older then him but I saw him up there a few times but yes it is weird that they might have been trying to breed Beco and Rudy?
 
Micah Satvedi said:
I don’t know for sure but all the keepers where watching and Beco was getting up there and I would think he would to breed the next generation because males mature slower then females but Rudy is quite older then him but I saw him up there a few times but yes it is weird that they might have been trying to breed Beco and Rudy?
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Yes, if it weren't intentional, they wouldn't have been given access to one another. Breeding recommendations come from the AZA's Species Survival Plan, so this must be the plan. I'm just not sure I understand the logic, as it would underutilize Hank. There aren't a lot of bulls who aren't genetically over-represented, so I'm surprised they're not trying to get the full benefit of having studs for two whole generations lined up. I think I may have heard somewhere that the sisters would not breed with Hank, but that still wouldn't preclude his contribution via AI. Perhaps his weight has affected his fertility?
 
Micah Satvedi said:
I don’t know for sure but all the keepers where watching and Beco was getting up there and I would think he would to breed the next generation because males mature slower then females but Rudy is quite older then him but I saw him up there a few times but yes it is weird that they might have been trying to breed Beco and Rudy?
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AmbikaFan said:
Yes, if it weren't intentional, they wouldn't have been given access to one another. Breeding recommendations come from the AZA's Species Survival Plan, so this must be the plan. I'm just not sure I understand the logic, as it would underutilize Hank. There aren't a lot of bulls who aren't genetically over-represented, so I'm surprised they're not trying to get the full benefit of having studs for two whole generations lined up. I think I may have heard somewhere that the sisters would not breed with Hank, but that still wouldn't preclude his contribution via AI. Perhaps his weight has affected his fertility?
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also last summer I did see sunny Beco and Rudy in the yard and the others in the other exhibit. I think they are trying to plan a herd for the future but I would Think everyone except Connie would be part of the future plan but it is weird but any news of more Asian elephants to support the population is exciting with what happened to the last calf born their
 
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