Abstract
Young females of local one humped camels were stimulated to initiate oestrus and ovulation when the females were in the interface between anoestrus and cyclic periods. Eighteen young females, approximately 3 years old, were randomly allotted to three equal groups: Group I : treated with Controlled Internal Drug Release (CIDR) device for 17 days plus one intra-muscular injection of 3000 i.u. Pregnant mare's serum gonadotropin (PMSG) at the time of removing the CIDR; Group 2: CIDR for 17 days plus an injection of prostaglandin f(2)alpha(PGf(2)alpha) at the time of CIDR withdrawal and Group 3: untreated animals (the control). All the females in the first group showed oestrus approximately 48 hours Post PMSG injection. Only two females of the second group showed oestrus 3 days post PGf(2)alpha injection and no one showed oestrus from the third group. All the females that showed oestrus were naturally bred by a breeding male. The pregnancy rate was tested by observing the female raising tail behaviour about 25 days post male introduction and confirmed by both measuring blood progesterone concentration and also diagnosed by using real-time ultrasonography technique. There was a significant difference (p < 0.01) between the females in the three groups in terms of showing oestrus and pregnancy rates. The pregnancy rate was 50, 17 and 0% in the first, second and third groups, respectively.