![]() ![]() ![]() Scientists at the National Zoo used a “telemetric” egg placed under the bird to learn more about how this species incubates its eggs. The kori bustard, a large African bird, requires flat, savanna-like terrain, secluded “hiding” spots and a proper male-to-female ratio to adequately perform during breeding season. National Zoo scientists have also monitored cheetah breeding based on age, weight and artificial insemination. In order to create suitable breeding conditions, the Zoo has housed its female cheetahs separately since the opening of the Cheetah Conservation Station in 1992. Scientists at the Zoo’s Cheetah Conservation Station found that when two females are housed together, either one or both females will shut down ovulation, making it difficult to breed them with the male cheetahs. The Zoo’s cheetah population requires strategic planning prior to breeding times due to their notorious resistance to reproduce. National Zoo animal care staff are experts in ensuring quality habitat and have had numerous successes during the past years in captive breeding. The science of managing the animals and ensuring they have the right habitat for their needs are also essential to successful reproduction. ![]() The plan ensures both a good genetic match and an environment that enables optimal breeding conditions for the animal, such as healthy diets and environmental control.Īt the National Zoo, having a pair of animals with the right genetics is only half the battle in successful breeding. Without a Species Survival Plan, animal populations are at risk of stagnation and eventual extinction. Species Survival Plans maintain the pedigree of each animal in a particular program and make breeding recommendations for those animals based on which is most genetically important, as well as taking into account whether the facility has space for potential offspring. The National Zoo facilitates this controlled and strategic breeding through its participation in the Species Survival Plan, a cooperative population management program among the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Animals in captivity need to be managed carefully to ensure the most genetically diverse population-which leads to healthier animals and a sustainable population that can safeguard a species from extinction. Successful breeding is often much more complicated than putting a male and female together and expecting nature to take its course. ![]()
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