Thai scientists are one step closer to being able to breed elephants from frozen sperm, and if an artificial insemination project continues its success, the Thai elephant will be saved from possible extinction, a researcher said yesterday.

The artificial breeding programme for Thai elephants is a cooperative project between Chiang Mai's Mae Sa Elephant Camp, Kasetsart University (KU) and Lampang's Thai Elephant Conservation Centre (TECC). The programme began in 2000.

"We are now having success with artificial breeding using fresh sperm," said Anchalee Kalamaphijit, a site director of the Mae Sa Elephant Camp in Chiang Mai.

A pregnant mother, the first to be artificially inseminated in Thailand, is now 13 months into gestation at the conservation centre in Lampang, she said.

"The next step in the laboratory process is to freeze the sperm in a certain condition to ensure it will still work in 50 years," Anchalee said.

Apart from the success with artificial insemination using fresh sperm, the project has made some headway towards its goal of breeding elephants from frozen sperm, said KU veterinarian Nikorn Thongthip.

"We found that sperm could remain active if frozen in a nitrogen tank at a temperature of minus 196 degrees Celsius," he said.

"This might keep sperm active for as long as 50 years. Later we may be able to heat the sperm to the proper temperature for artificial breeding," he said.

However, the veterinarian admitted that more tests to create the right conditions for frozen sperm to survive were still necessary. Six experiments had been tried so far.

"If we are successful, Thailand will be the first country ever do artificial breeding from frozen sperm," he said.

Meanwhile, a prominent elephant conservationist was sceptical about the long-term validity and real intent of the project.

Soraida Salwala, secretary-general of Friends of the Asian Elephant, said she did not believe the project was aimed only at conservation, as the scientists claimed. She said there could be a more sinister agenda to promote trade in Thai elephants to foreign countries.

"On past experience we have found that money is the driving force behind such activities. If this research is successful, trade in Thai elephant sperm will be easy," she said.

Phichaiyong Mayerkoo

The Nation

Chiang Mai