Camel semen collection, viscosity, and cryopreservation: a review

Artificial insemination in camels remains undeveloped due to the difficulties in semen collection, semen viscosity, and semen cryopreservation. The semen collection procedure has been facilitated to some extent using camel phantom and/or possibly an intravaginal condom. Main reasons for semen viscosity in camelids have been unraveled and different mechanical and enzymatic approaches were used to alleviate this problem; however, there is still no conclusive protocol to safely remove semen viscosity completely. It seems that along with the problem of semen viscosity, semen cryopreservation in camels remains unresolved. As a result, there is no convincing report on successful and repeatable pregnancies following insemination with frozen semen in camel. This review gathered most of the information that appeared in the peer reviewed journals to highlight major problems in camel semen technology, including semen collection, semen viscosity, and semen cryopreservation.