Veterinarska stanica, Vol. 49 No. 1, 2018.
Professional paper
Mating properties of male alpacas (Vicugna pacos, L.)
Dražen Đuričić
orcid.org/0000-0002-8013-2091
; Veterinarska stanica Đurđevac d.o.o., Đurđevac, Hrvatska
Hrvoje Valpotić
; Veterinarski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Hrvatska
Marko Samardžija
orcid.org/0000-0003-0402-3173
; Veterinarski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Hrvatska
Abstract
Alpacas are domesticated animals of the camelid family, originating from the South American Andes. The physiology of alpaca breeding is significantly different to that of common domestic animals. The breeding season in South America lasts during the rainy season, from December to March, while in North America, breeding takes place year round. When the male enters the period of sexual maturity, testosterone levels increase and adhesions between the penis and the prepuce (with which the male was born) disappear. The generational interval is relatively long, as males mature later than domestic ruminants of similar size, reaching puberty between the ages of 1 to 3 years. Gestation length is 11.5 months. Behaviour during mating can be divided into two stages: courtship and copulation. Courtship begins when a male shows interest for a female, which lasts on average 4 minutes, though this may range from several seconds to a maximum of 10 minutes if the female is ready to mate. The copulation stage begins when the female
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takes the mating position. Mating is in sternal recumbency, and takes about 20 minutes, during which time the male ejaculates several times. The duration of copulation is dependent on the breed, age, season, frequency of mating, and the presence of other females. The fertility of the alpaca male decreases with the number of consecutive matings. Various methods have been used to collect semen, though the most successful method is using a special artificial vagina and wooden dummy (of a female in sternal recumbency) covered with an alpaca hide. The ejaculate is milky to creamy-white in colour, and has a low volume, is highly viscous, and contains a relatively low sperm concentration. Sperm becomes progressively motile as the ejaculate becomes liquid, on average about 23 hours after collection. Issues in the breeding of male alpacas include the manner of mating, duration of copulation, intrauterine deposits of semen and ejaculate properties.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
222793
URI
Publication date:
11.2.2018.
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