Improvement of male fertility by long-term beta-carotene supplementation in white rhinoceroses (Ceratotherium simum)

Citation

Hermes R, Goerit F, Walzer C, Blottner S, Siliniski S, Schwarzenberger F, Joechle W, Cordes M, Hildebrandt TB. 2003. Improvement of male fertility by long-term beta-carotene supplementation in white rhinoceroses (Ceratotherium simum). In Ward A, Brooks M, Maslanka M, Eds. Proceedings of the Fifth Conference on Zoo and Wildlife Nutrition, AZA Nutrition Advisory Group, Minneapolis, MN.

Abstract

Substantial knowledge on the reproductive physiology of the female white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) has been gathered over the past years. However, little emphasis has been put on the evaluation of male fertility as a possible contributing factor to the demographic crisis of the captive population considering that 81% of male captive white rhinoceros have not sired offspring. Objective of this study was the reproductive assessment of male white rhinoceros to determine their semen characteristics.

AAZV_Hermes.pdf     91 KB