Evaluation of membrane integrity of frozen/thawed deer spermatozoa: Short communication

A simultaneous live/dead and acrosome staining, originally described for do mestic mammals, was successfully applied on red deer (Cervus elaphus) and f allow deer (Dama dama) spermatozoa collected from the cauda epididymidis an d vas deferens of shot stags. The staining is simple enough for routine app lication. Seven classes of spermatozoa were distinguished in the smears of frozen/thawed semen samples. Morphology, including cytoplasmic droplets, wa s evaluated as well. Percentage of live cells with intact acrosomes and wit h no other morphological aberrations might be a practical index of semen qu ality.