Effects of a Second Freeze-thaw Cycle on Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis) Semen Motility and Membrane Integrity

Only a fraction of a dose of frozen semen is needed when advanced reproductive biotechnologies are used. The ability to refreeze thawed semen would be a valuable tool to save germplasm from rare or endangered species. Big horn sheep are a threatened species that may benefit from these technologies. We hypothesized that refreezing will allow preservation of viability of a significant proportion of previously frozen-thawed big horn epididymal spermatozoa. The objective of this experiment was to study the effect of a second freeze-thaw cycle on big horn sheep epididymal sperm motility and membrane integrity. [...]