Minnesota, a Przewalski horse, underwent a reverse vasectomy as part of a bid to save his species. Native to China and Mongolia, the species was declared extinct in the wild in 1970. Since then, several hundred have been bred and reintroduced to the wild.
Minnesota had a vasectomy in 1999 at his previous home at the Minnesota Zoo, perhaps because of space constraints. But veterinarians at the National Zoo in Washington decided to try reversing the procedure. They said June 16 the surgery was successful. Zookeepers hope to find a suitable female for Minnesota soon.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The saving from extiction ow the Przewalski horse is as colorful as that of the American Bison
Posted by
Wade G. Burck
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3 comments:
Wade, the Detroit Zoo has Przewalski horses. Also, this particular incident makes a case for vasectomy vs. castration. Supposedly the new director of my favorite zoo, upon taking office last summer asked "Is this reversible?" He was referring to the incident that had caused my rift with them. He apparently thought it was a vasectomy, not a castration.
Mary Ann
Mary Ann,
I knew this one would make your day. But before you get too excited, lets get Minnesota laid, see if the lucky mare foals, do a lot more of the reversals, and then you can slap the director. LOL But you are talking white tigers in your case and castration is totally acceptable.
Wade
I'd actually call this one a non-story. Why was the animal originally given a vasectomy? Because for a long time there was a surplus of Przewalski horses in a number of parks. Without looking at the studbook, I'd reckon there's still no shortage once you factor in European zoos. Suggesting that this operation was about "saving species" is a stretch. MN wants a horse herd, that's what it's really about. The Mongolians claim the horses reintroduced to the wild are doing pretty well, though I haven't seen any citations on numbers. The Przewalski horse was a bit like the Pere David Deer, early examples of animals that zoos touted to gone from the wild but thriving in captivity.
Ben
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