Establishment Of Semen Collection Techniques And Study On Semen Characteristics In Alpacas

The reproductive physiology of alpaca differs to that of other domestic animals.lt is difficult to collect semen artificially because of the mating posture,duration of copulation and intrauterine deposition of semen in alpaca. Based on analysis of the techniques used for semen collection of different domestic animals,one consistent and reliable method to collect semen artificially was established.Some new data on the artificial vagina and alpaca dummy were presented and one kind of new way to control the temperature and pressure was developed.Three adult male alpacas were used in this test and their semen was collected successfully.The characteristics of semen and the biochemical index of seminal plasma were tested.the results showed as follews:①Characteristics of alpaca semen collected using AV and dummy were:22.88±4.64min for semen collection time,2.25±0.38ml for ejaculate volume,82.55±3.57% for sperm activity,276.11 ±37.64×10~6sperm/ ml for sperm concentration,7.51±0.15 for PH,28.95±1.80% for abnormal spermatozoa,49.52±2.60μm for sperm long and 2.4±0.6cm for semen viscosity.Liquefaction time of alpaca semen was 6.5-10.5h at 37℃.② The biochemical analysis of alpaca seminal plasma were:0.116±0.024mg/dl for copper, 1.346±0.123mg/dl for zinc,2.383±0.494mg/dl for iron,3.78±0.30g/dl for total protein, 4.62±0.28mg/dl for Citric acid and 5.64±0.27mg/dl for fructose.