Poster Presentation 64th International Conference of the Wildlife Disease Association 2015

Evaluation of semen characteristics of Persian fallow deer ( Dama Dama Mesopotamica) in dasht-e -naz refuge in Iran (#140)

behrang ekrami

Persian fallow deer (Dama dama mesopotamica) is belonging to the family Cervidae and is only found in a few protected areas in the northwest, north, and southwest of Iran. The aims of this study were analysis of inbreeding and morphometric parameters of semen in male Persian fallow deer to investigate the cause of reduced fertility of this endangered species in Dasht-e-Naz National Refuge, Sari, Iran. The Persian fallow deer semen was collected from four adult bucks randomly during the breeding   and non-breeding season from five dehorned and horned deer's BY an artificial vagina. MANY DAG defect abnormalities observed in all samples .The post-mating season collected ejaculates contained abnormal spermatozoa, debris and secretion of accessory glands in horned bucks and accessory glands secretion free of any spermatozoa in dehorned or early velvet budding bucks. Microscopic evaluation in all four bucks during the mating season showed the mean concentration of 9×106 spermatozoa/ml. The mean ± SD of age, testes length and testes width was 4.60 ± 1.52 years, 3.58 ± 0.32 and 1.86 ± 0.09 cm, respectively and the DAG defects   may be the cause of high rate of polymorphism because of small primary herd size of Persian fallow deer that needs more genetically evaluation