Tag Archives: reproduction

Conserving Imperiled Wild Cats through Reproductive Research

  By Rimsha Malik • June 14, 2024 , ,

Last year at the special species symposium, I had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Bill Swanson speak about his work at CREW, the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden’s Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife. CREW applies assisted reproductive technologies for the conservation and propagation of wild animals, especially rhinos, bears and felids. One of their major priorities is to collect and cryopreserve sperm from all the males within zoo-housed populations. The frozen sperm is stored in CREW’s CryoBioBank, which can provide samples for future artificial insemination procedures and serve as a safeguard against the loss of genetic diversity.

At the symposium, Dr. Swanson discussed the artificial insemination surgeries and new technologies that were being used in the veterinary field for conservation and research purposes, and I truly fell in love with the idea of wildlife theriogenology. Upon completion of the symposium, I reached out to Dr. Swanson, who then put me in contact with Dr. Lindsey Vasandt, the Director of the Imperiled Cat Signature Program. She was quick to respond, and suggested a zoom meeting, one in which we ended up discussing my career interests, plans for the future, etc. Not only was she very reassuring when it came to my newer interest in reproduction, but also gave quite a bit of advice and ideas for my future career path. During our talk, she mentioned that CREW frequently hosts student externs that are interested in wildlife theriogenology, and I expressed my interest in doing such during a break in vet school. Once we lined up our schedules, we decided on a two-week externship during winter break.

While externing at CREW, I had the opportunity to travel to the Chattanooga Zoo, TN and Toledo Zoo, OH, where three snow leopards and one jaguar were scheduled to be anesthetized for their annual physical examinations and we opportunistically decided to perform reproductive exams (and semen collection in the males). In the female snow leopard, we performed a reproductive exam along with an endoscopy to investigate a potential muco/hydrometra that had previously been found on diagnostic imaging. In the two male snow leopards and one male jaguar, we performed reproductive examinations as well as semen collection via electroejaculation. I had the amazing opportunity to take an active part in the process by helping with the examinations as well as running the machine for the electroejaculations. I then aided in the process of semen freezing via cryopreservation for storage in the “frozen zoo” held at the CREW facility, working on a step-by-step basis set by protocols for ensuring proper additive amounts and hopefully, freezing success. Once we returned to the CREW facility, I helped in the preparation of a genetic study in their domestic cat population by performing castrations, assisting with semen collections via electroejaculation and urinary catheter placement, and blood work on four males. My first ever neuters!

 

My favorite memory would have to be my first semen collection. Not only was it on a jaguar, which is a truly remarkable species, but we collected over a billion sperm total from him (that is quite a lot, especially for a feline). This is something I will never forget, no matter how silly it might sound. Knowing how important it is for preserving genetics for generations to come, it felt so good to know that we collected and stored so many chances for future jaguar conceptions. This is huge in the field of conservation, and who doesn’t love the idea of baby jaguars!

I went into the externship most excited to work with snow leopards, a species that I have always idolized and dreamed of working with. It was so rewarding to not only see these animals up close and personal, but contributing to their future successes in reproduction made me feel like I was truly making a difference. I have to say they were a lot fluffier then they even look, and I was in complete awe of their huge tail, which was both long and thick with fur. This experience truly made me fall in love snow leopards, making their way towards the top of my list when it comes to favorite animals. I was so lucky to get the chance to work with them, and have since heard and seen so many success stories in snow leopard breeding across the country, making my time with them just that much more memorable.

During this experience, I truly found a path in veterinary medicine that I am confident in and proud of pursuing. I learned so much about myself, my aspirations, and the veterinary community, and I feel like I gained such a higher appreciation for conservation medicine and all of the factors that go into to ensuring the safety of animals for generations to come. I also found such a great mentor in Dr. Vansandt, and she is someone I feel as though I can always turn to for career and professional advice, questions, and concerns. I look forward to staying in contact with her for the rest of my veterinary school experience and beyond.

I have always been interested in pursuing a career in zoological medicine, a field that I find intriguing and necessary for ensuring the protection of wildlife and educating people around the world. However, my interest in reproductive medicine/theriogenology has grown over the years, especially considering its impact on conservation. Growing up, conservation was always the number one factor I had on my mind when it came to my career, and knowing that I can tie my passion for both zoological medicine and reproduction brings me nothing but excitement. This externship allowed me to explore what a career in this field can look like, and how I can tie these two loves together in a practical and achievable way. My time at CREW also allowed me to grow my understanding of the impact and importance of research on conservation, highlighting how much I would like to incorporate it into my future career.

My best recommendations to students interested in pursuing a career in the wildlife/zoo field would be to take every opportunity you get and run with it. Whether it aligns with your career path or not, you never know how much an experience can influence your clinical skills, professionalism, or even your growth as an individual. I have experience in lab animal medicine, wildlife rehabilitation, and production animal medicine to name a few, all of which have shaped me into the person I am today. As a future vet, it is so important to value every animal, no matter how big or small, scaly or furry. Every animal, every experience and every moment matters when it comes to becoming your best self as a professional and individual, so that one day you can make valuable contributions to the field of veterinary medicine.

 

 

My name is Natalie Smith and I am in the class of 2027. I am originally from Youngstown, NY and I obtained my BS in Biomedical Science: Medical and Veterinary Sciences from the University of New Hampshire in May 2022. I am interested in pursuing a career in zoological/wildlife conservation medicine with a focus in theriogenology for conservation purposes. I also am very passionate about travel, so I would love to incorporate it in my future career. I am a huge proponent of mental health and love to share my experiences and advice for vet school via social media @natalie.vet !!

Conversations with Classmates: Carolina Baquerizo’s Summer with SEZARC

  By Carolina Baquerizo • January 27, 2022

Q: Where was your internship this summer?!

A: In pursuit of a career in zoological medicine, my life has made twists and turns that I could have never imagined. As a Florida girl at heart, I knew I wanted to return to my home state for a summer internship involving wildlife medicine. With the help of my mentor, Dr. Osofsky, Director of the Cornell Wildlife Health Center, I became acquainted with a gem in Northeast Florida: the South-East Zoo Alliance for Reproduction and Conservation (SEZARC). Directed by Dr. Linda Penfold, SEZARC works on reproduction challenges in several US zoos and aquariums across the country. Some of their work involves fertility checks, assisted reproduction, and contraception in wildlife. 

Q: What work did you participate in at your internship?

A: The internship involved many hands-on opportunities. In the lab, I learned how to examine semen characteristics microscopically from stingrays, sharks, tigers, okapis, and many other species! I learned how to utilize ELISA to detect hormone concentrations in elephant stool samples. In the field, I learned how to collect and cryopreserve semen samples from tigers and cheetahs for genome banking purposes. I conducted literature searches on reproduction information for various zoo animals in the office.

In addition to interning at SEZARC, the organization’s connections with other conservation/zoological facilities in North Florida opened up some unexpected doors. I shadowed zoo veterinarians from White Oak Conservation and the Jacksonville Zoo! Under the supervision of White Oak vets, I vaccinated a rhino calf and attended an okapi echocardiogram. At the Jacksonville Zoo, I attended routine elephant health checks and shadowed roseate spoonbill pre-shipment exams. 

Q: What did you gain from this experience?

A: Before this internship, I lacked actual research experience. SEZARC allowed me to explore research with the ability to ask lots of questions! From literature searches, data collection and entry, lab work, and paper writing, I feel I left with a well-rounded understanding of the purpose of wildlife reproduction research for conservation. SEZARC combined my passions for zoological medicine and theriogenology in ways I could have never imagined. I hope to continue working in research as a veterinary student and a zoo veterinarian hopeful.

Carolina Baquerizo, Class of 2024, received her BS in Biological Science from Florida State University. She began volunteering at Zoo Miami when she was 15 and has held multiple zoological internships since then. She aspires to become a zoo veterinarian as a way to participate in ex situ conservation work.

Dinner lecture: Reproductive Aging in Female Cheetahs and Naked Mole Rats

  By Jonathan Gorman • April 12, 2018 Uncategorized

What: ZAWS will be hosting a dinner lecture with Dr. Ned Place! Dr. Place’s lab focuses on comparative mammalian reproductive endocrinology/physiology, aging, and behavior. Female Naked Mole Rats and Cheetahs are both unique in the animal world for their pattern of reproductive aging. Come learn more about this topic from Dr. Place himself as he discusses his work with these two amazing species!

Sign up for dinner here.  Please remember to bring your own plates and utensils.

When: Tuesday, April 17, 5-6pm

Where: Lecture Hall 1, the vet school

Breeding Livestock Guard Dogs and Protecting Cheetahs

  By Wildlife Blog Editor • January 10, 2018

My name is Zachary Dvornicky-Raymond, and I’m a member of the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine’s class of 2019. As far back as I can remember, I have dreamed of working with wildlife and having a lasting impact on global conservation. The Expanding Horizons program gave me the opportunity to take my first steps toward fulfilling my dream.

I spent the summer of 2016 at the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), based outside of Otjiwarongo, Namibia. The CCF was founded by Dr. Laurie Marker in 1990, with the goal of saving the cheetah from extinction through a multifaceted approach to conservation. Habitat loss and fragmentation, and declining prey availability, have resulted in cheetahs predating on livestock and entering into human-wildlife conflict situations with farmers.

The Livestock Guard Dog Project is a unique approach to human-wildlife conflict mitigation, whereby Anatolian Shepherd/Kangal dogs are bred and raised amongst livestock, and then placed at farms throughout Namibia. Through their presence and loud bark, the dogs reduce livestock predation by 80-100% in the herds where they are placed. By reducing predation, the program provides security for the farmer’s livestock herd, and reduces retaliatory killings, mostly against cheetahs.

The Livestock Guard Dog Project has been extremely successful in the past, not only in reducing cheetah mortalities, but also in improving the outlook that local communities have toward cheetahs. Since 1994, over 450 dogs have been placed in farms throughout Namibia. However, the program has also encountered reproductive setbacks within the breeding colony. In short, they experienced multiple failed breeding attempts and whelping complications. The goal of my project was to try to identify and solve those problems using what I learned through the DVM curriculum, combined with knowledge I had gained from working on canine reproductive research at Cornell.

Throughout my time in Namibia, I gained first-hand experience working in conservation. I worked and talked with local farmers to learn about their lives, experiences, and concerns; I observed, assisted with, and conducted veterinary procedures on numerous wild and domestic species; I learned about aspects of the veterinary medical profession that I had no idea even existed. And, as part of a team, I produced results that have truly made a difference. Our work solved many of the problems that the LSGD program was encountering and, as a testament to our success, multiple litters have been born since I left.  We truly made a difference that summer, and the effects of my work will far outlast my time at CCF – and that fact alone makes my experience worthwhile. I came in expecting the problem to be solely due to medical anomalies, but what I quickly realized is that we also had to make management and communication adjustments to truly benefit the program. We not only pinpointed the root of many of the medical problems that they were encountering, but through a collaborative effort, we created new management protocols for the breeding colony.

Looking back on that summer, specifically to the very beginning, I realize that I had high aspirations for the outcome of my trip. I am beyond pleased to write that my expectations were far exceeded. Seeing the research center and meeting the staff for the first time was nothing short of surreal. Although I had seen plenty of photos and read extensively about the work being done there, it paled in comparison to the reality. I quickly came to realize that the staff and veterinarians working with the Livestock Guard Dog Project were as excited for my project as I was, and that we had so much to teach each other. So we did.

Much of my time in the first few weeks was spent learning the ins and outs of operations at CCF. I worked extensively with the veterinarians on all of the animals at the center, from big cats to guard dogs, from goat kids to horses. The Livestock Guard Dog manager and I spent hours going through the history of the program, the setbacks they had encountered, the improvements that have been made to the program, and what we needed to accomplish together. It was a big task, but we were up to the challenge.

One of my favorite lessons from this experience was learning the role of a veterinarian within a team. All of the care provided to the animals, whether goats, dogs, or cheetahs, required collaboration between husbandry staff, veterinarians, and administration. The veterinarians relied on the husbandry staff for surveillance, monitoring, and history. After all, the husbandry staff knew these animals more than anyone else at the center. I learned quickly how important it was to listen to the team, given how diverse the areas of expertise were within the group.

When I visited local farms, where human-wildlife conflict was a reality, my primary role was again to listen and learn. By doing so, I gained a much better idea of how to approach these issues than I would have if I had just rushed in and tried to fix them alone. Even then, it took creativity and persistence to find answers and every person played a part, which was especially important when theory did not match practice.

This is perhaps the most important thing that I took from my experience: that any initiative in conservation, community outreach, conflict-remediation, or whatever the task may be, requires full buy-in, understanding, and effort from every person involved. A program achieves the greatest success only through the combined expertise of the farmers, the researchers/staff, the management, and the veterinarians. After all, conservation is just as much about improving human lives as it is about protecting and preserving the lives of animals.

My experience in Namibia came at the perfect time in my life, and was without a doubt the most personally fulfilling and inspiring journey I have been on. This opportunity solidified my resolve to pursue conservation medicine as a lifelong career. There are many problems that face our world and, although few of them can be easily solved, I believe that change can occur through collaboration and multifaceted approaches aimed at improving the lives of humans and animals together. Thank you to the Expanding Horizons program, to Cornell University, to the Cheetah Conservation Fund, to the Silent Heroes Foundation, and to everyone who supported me in making this trip possible. I look forward to completing veterinary school, and to the long journey that follows thereafter.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Zack is a third-year veterinary student from Watkins Glen, NY. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 2015, with a double major in Biology and Animal Science. He is interested in the One Health approach to conservation medicine. In his future, he plans to use his veterinary training to find multidisciplinary approaches to international conservation that are sustainable and impactful. He is passionate about finding ways to preserve, protect, and promote our natural world by improving the health of humans and animals alike.

Event: Spotted Hyena Reproduction

  By Wildlife Blog Editor • February 4, 2017 Uncategorized

Dr. Place was in private practice as a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist (OB-GYN) for 4 years in Waynesboro, Virginia before earning a Ph.D. in zoology at the University of Washington.  He came to the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2004 as an Associate Professor in the Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Statistics and Director of the Endocrinology Laboratory at the Animal Health Diagnostic Center.  Dr. Place often refers to himself as a “rehabilitated” gynecologist, focusing his research on mammalian reproductive biology, eco-immunology, and aging.

From the Ned J. Place Lab website:

Dr. Place has studied reproductive aging in naked mole-rats, Siberian hamsters and cheetahs, seasonal reproductive biology in free-ranging yellow-pine chipmunks, and sexual differentiation and behavior in spotted hyenas under semi-natural conditions. Each animal model has provided an interesting perspective into the life history trade-offs that are associated with the timing of hormone secretion and reproductive effort. Dr. Place takes an integrative approach to his research, which is often relevant from both an ecological and a biomedical perspective.

Graduate and undergraduate students interested in comparative endocrinology and reproductive physiology and behavior are encouraged to apply. Our current model organisms are naked mole-rats and cheetahs – refer to research tab for details. However, students are encouraged to consider other systems that might better address their area(s) of interest. Trainees in my lab learn and use a variety of techniques to research questions at multiple levels of investigation (e.g. qRT-PCR, microarray, measures of immune function, immunohistochemistry, behavioral studies, mating tests).

Students interested in pursuing graduate work in my lab should contact me directly after they have read the statement of my current research interests and some of the papers that are listed on my publication page. If you decide our interests are well matched, please send a letter and c.v. via email (njp27@cornell.edu), and describe why you think my lab would be a good fit for you. I usually reply promptly, but send a follow-up email in a couple of weeks if you’ve not heard back from me.