SCIENTISTS AT the University of Abertay in Dundee have become the first in the world to use frozen sperm to breed a golden eagle.

Crystal, the three-week-old chick, has been bred by internationally-renowned eagle breeder Andrew Knowles-Brown and biologist and bird reproduction expert Dr Graham Wishart at the university.

The achievement could help develop techniques that could safeguard some of the world’s most endangered birds of prey.

Dr Wishart said, “There are all sorts of obstacles to breeding raptors in captivity through natural methods. The birds may not be ready to breed at the same time, and in the case of endangered species it might be difficult to match up a breeding pair if the few remaining individuals are scattered across continents.

“Freezing sperm allows us to store it for perpetuity, so that not only can we wait for optimum breeding conditions but it also opens up the possibility of trans-national breeding programmes for extremely rare birds.”

In May 2001 Dr Wishart and Mr Knowles-Brown produced the world’s first eagle born with cryo- preserved sperm.

Thor, a cross between a golden and steppe eagle, was the first eagle to be bred using a slow-freeze system.

Following discussions in Spain with one of the world’s foremost experts in the field, Dr Juan Blanco at the Centre For The Study Of Iberian Raptors, Dr Wishart and Mr Knowles-Brown have been able to establish an alternative combination of freezing rate and cryo-preservative that improves the survival of golden eagle sperm, resulting in Crystal.

Dr Wishart said, “Our earlier research enabled us to show that an eagle could be bred from frozen sperm.

“Our later work, resulting in Crystal, has shown that different birds may be less easy to breed with frozen sperm but that the sperm cryo-preservation technology can be improved to overcome such problems.”

However, Dr Wishart warned that this new technique shouldn’t be relied on as a cure for the problems facing endangered species.