Thai vets successfully impregnate elephant

September 01 2006 at 12:20PM

Bangkok - Thai veterinarians have for the first time succeeded in impregnating an elephant through artificial insemination, and the procedure was 10 times cheaper in Thailand than it was in Israel, media reports said on Friday.

The baby pachyderm was expected to be born in March, the Thai News Agency said.

The artificial insemination, the first successful such procedure performed in Thailand, cost 200 000 baht (about R38 000), 10 times cheaper than the first artificial insemination of an Asian elephant, which was carried out in Israel by German veterinarians, Thai specialists said.

Dr Sitthidej Mahasawangkul, head of the Elephant Hospital at the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre, said the Thai veterinary team was attempting to develop an artificial-insemination technique using frozen sperm to increase the country's population of elephants. - Sapa-dpa

www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=14&click_id=143&art_id=qw11571037 21779B234

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