Breakthrough in big cat breeding likely

HYDERABAD: The city-based Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES) is on the threshold of a major breakthrough in assisted reproduction of critically imperilled big cats - lions, tigers and panthers.
For the first time since its inauguration in 2007, LaCONES has acquired three panthers, two males and one female, from the Nehru Zoological Park two weeks ago to put them through a procedure that has been honed to ensure the animals achieve pregnancy.
With their numbers dwindling every year, the future of big cat is seriously threatened in India. The LaCONES Big Cat project is aimed at aiding the conservation of the Asiatic Lions, Royal Bengal Tiger and the supple Panther.
"We have been working on the assisted reproduction among big cats for the last eight years. Since panther is the smallest in the big cat category and found in good numbers in many parts of the country, we have selected it for the experiment. This time around the scientists at LaCONES are armed with the latest technology to find out hormonal levels and detect pregnancy in the big cat," project team leader Saintly Shivaji told TOI. His team comprises Sadanand D Sontakke, G Umapathi and U Lakshmikantan.
Sontakke said that the team faced difficulties owing to the fact that the reproductive psychology of the big cat has been poorly studied also do to the absence of required technology.
Shivaji said the scientists worked on the panthers in the zoo. At first they tried to assess the fertility status of 11 panthers by collecting samples of semen. Then they went for assisted reproduction using artificial insemination. Though this failed to achieve pregnancy, the initial study indicated that it could be due to the fact that the panthers were not ovulating despite receiving hormones. To overcome this difficulty, a method of using animals scat was standardised to determine the level of progesterone and oestrogen with a view to identifying the ovulation status.
"The hormone level in humans and cattle is checked through collected blood samples. As you would understand collecting blood sample from a wild panther is difficult, hence, the adoption of scat method," he explained.
Sontakke said the scientists at LaCONES have also standardised protocol for anaesthesia and anathesic reversal. In the present experiment the first step would be to inject exogenous hormones to bring the animal into stress or heat condition. The stress condition in big cats is only for six days. The second step would be to check the hormonal response by ultra-sonogram machines which are also used for humans. If hormonal levels are good, the pre-collected semen is injected in the animal. The process is called artificial insemination.
The keenly monitored animal would be tested for pregnancy again by ultrasound machines. The gestation period among big cats is 95 days. The panther under experiment would be tested again when the pregnancy completes 45 days.
Sontakke said after changing home from zoo to LaCONES the panthers are slowly settling down to new environs. Once they calm down completely the experiment which is expected by July end would begin.
If everything goes as planned, LaCONES will have a litter of at least four cubs by October.