Hurdles, hope for breeding program

Oct. 9, 2011
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The Indian rhino, also known as the greater one-horned rhino, nearly became extinct in the early 1900s.

Captive breeding offers insurance of sorts should a catastrophe befall the wild population, which now numbers above 2,500 thanks to conservation efforts. But breeding the rhinos in captivity is difficult; the aggressive animals often injure each other.

What's more, mating closely related zoo animals leads to problems such as greater susceptibility to disease and higher rates of infant mortality.

So when reproductive physiologist Monica Stoops arrived at CREW in 2002, this was her challenge: Develop artificial insemination techniques that would broaden the gene pool of captive Indian rhinos.

Stoops, 39, became a leading expert on the rhino's reproductive system. She also determined how to collect sperm from males and freeze it so it could be collected from animals in other states or countries.Five years ago, she successfully inseminated a rhino named Nikki, and the zoo anxiously awaited the birth of the world's first Indian rhino calf conceived by artificial insemination, and the first such rhino produced with frozen-thawed sperm.

But in January 2008, Nikki delivered a stillborn calf.

Nikki became pregnant again using the same procedure, but the calf born last October lived only about 13 hours.

Those disappointments notwithstanding, Stoops' work has shown "there is hope for the future of Indian rhinos," she said.

Zoos in Oklahoma, the Bronx and Texas have sought her help in determining when to put mating pairs together. "It's really cool that the science we developed for an artificial insemination procedure is helping places that need to breed naturally," she said.

John Johnston


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