BIRTH OF A SIBERIAN TIGER CUB (PANTHERA-TIGRIS-ALTAICA) FOLLOWING LAPAROSCOPIC INTRAUTERINE ARTIFICIAL-INSEMINATION

A 7-yr-old female Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) was treated with equine chorionic gonadotropin followed 80 hr later by human chor ionic gonadotropin (hCG) to stimulate follicular development and ovula tion, respectively. Laparoscopy 46 hr after hCG revealed that the ovar ies contained eight fresh corpora lutea and six preovulatory follicles . A 16-gauge catheter was inserted transabdominally into each uterine horn, and 16.8 x 10(6) motile spermatozoa (from a male designated by t he Siberian Tiger Species Survival Plan [SSP]) were inseminated. Pregn ancy was confirmed 45 days after insemination by ultrasound, and a sin gle healthy male cub was born at 111 days of gestation. These results demonstrate for the first time that assisted reproductive technology c an be used to produce genetically valuable offspring from parents iden tified and recommended by an SSP program.