Zoo in Vienna Succeeds in Impregnating Elephant Using Frozen Sperm

Just recently, spokespersons for the Schoenbrunn Zoo in Vienna made it public news that they have succeeded in getting one of the female elephants they have in their care pregnant, using frozen sperm sent to the zoo all the way from South Africa.

The zoo's staff explains that they had no choice but to resort to this unconventional artificial insemination method because most zoological parks typically care for more female than male elephants, something which often leads to problems when it comes to implementing successful breeding programs.

Thanks to ultrasound images, members of the Schoenbrunn Zoo found that one of the females they tried to impregnate quite a while ago now has a five-month-old elephant embryo inside it.

Although for the time being the embryo only measures 10 centimeters in length, there is hope that it will continue to develop and become the first baby elephant born as a result of the “Operation Frozen Dumbo” project.