Development of artificial insemination and semen preservation for elephants requires an improved understanding of sperm biology. In most mammalian species, fertilizing potential of spermatozoa is determined by its morphology, motility characteristics (i.e. mitochondrial activity) and acrosomal integrity (i.e. ability to penetrate the outer covering of the oocyte, the zona pellucida). Therefore, it is important to develop reliable methods for assessing sperm structural integrity as a means of determining fertilizing ability.

However, there currently are no standardized methods available to assess structural integrity for elephant spermatozoa.

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