Evaluation of Extenders for the Liquid Storage of Ring-Necked Pheasant (Phasianuscolchicus) Semen

Abstract

Introduction: Ring-necked pheasant (Phasianuscolchicus) is a famous game bird and has ecological, marketable, aesthetic, sport and nutritive values. It is native to Eastern central Asia, China, Japan and is introduced as game bird to other regions of the world. Population of this species is continuously declining due to hunting pressure, habitat fragmentation, meat purpose and increased urbanization. There is need to conserve the species through techniques of semen banking as may provide a protected net against extinction. Objective/Aim: The current study was designed to asses range of extenders (Red fowl, Tselutin Poultry, Beltsville Poultry, Chicken semen, Lake and EK extenders) for storage of ring-necked pheasant semen at 5 °C in refrigerator for 48 hours. Methodology: Short-term semen storage method used for avian semen, as avian sperms are sensitive to higher 11temperature fluctuations during the cryopreservation process. Semen collection was made from trained and mature cocks and diluted in the Beltsville Poultry, Red fowl, Lake, EK, Tselutin Poultry and Chicken semen extenders, stored at 5°C and evaluated for sperm motility (%), plasma membrane integrity (%), viability (%), acrosome integrity (%) and DNA fragmentation at 0h, 3h, 6h, 24h and 48 h of storage. Results: The spermatozoa motility was higher (p<0.05) in RFE (72.50±3.23) and Tselutin poultry extender (53.75±2.39) as compared to other diluents; Beltsville poultry (41.25±1.25) and Lake (30.00 ± 2.04) whereas Membrane integrity was also higher (P<0.05) in RFE (80.50±2.1) and Tselutin poultry extender (63.75±2.39). However, RFE (67.00±1.22) maintained sperm viability (P<0.05) higher at all storage hours (0, 3, 6, 24 and 48) as compared to TPE (63.75±1.49). Data obtained from the current study were analyzed by using ANOVA and LSD. Conclusion: Hence, it is concluded that ring-necked pheasant semen can be stored at 5ºC for 48 hours in Red fowl extender for captive propagation of the species.