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“Berani,” a 13-year-old Sumatran tiger, was immobilized recently so that he could receive an examination to evaluate his fertility.
Though Berani is the father of N’dari, the zoo’s 6-month-old cub presently on display and he also successfully sired an offspring in 2015, previous fertility exams indicated a very low sperm count and many of his previous attempts to sire an offspring have been unsuccessful. The main purpose of this immobilization was to determine the present status of his fertility.
Reproductive specialists from the Henry Doorly Zoo in Nebraska and the Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio, partnered with the Zoo Miami Animal Health team, led by chief veterinarian Dr. Gwen Myers, to collect sperm from Berani via electro-ejaculation so that it could be evaluated.
Though Berani is producing viable sperm, the density in the collected samples was low and highly diluted which could be the reason that many of his breeding attempts have been unsuccessful. Despite having a low sperm count, the team was successful in collecting eight straws of semen which were frozen, helping to preserve Berani’s important genetic material for use in future artificial insemination procedures.
While Berani was immobilized, the Animal Health Team also performed a general health exam that included a dental cleaning, blood collection, urine collection and a vaccination for rabies as part of an overall preventative medicine program.
Sumatran tigers are critically endangered and there are believed to be less than 500 left in the wild where they are found in forested areas on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia.
Their biggest threats are habitat loss to palm oil plantations and poaching. They are the smallest subspecies of tiger with males reaching up to 300 pounds and females closer to 200 pounds. Berani represents a very valuable bloodline in the population that is under human care which is why every effort is being made to maintain his ability to contribute to that population.
