Meiotic maturation of vitrified immature chousingha (Tetracerus quadricornis) oocytes recovered postmortem

The ability to recover and cryopreserve oocytes from postmortem ovaries of endangered or wildlife species holds tremendous potential for conservation using assisted reproductive technologies. The objective of this study was to assess the in vitro meiotic maturation of chousingha (four-horned antelope) oocytes following vitrification using open pulled straw (OPS) method. The average number of oocytes recovered per ovary was 65.6. The proportion of oocytes that matured was significantly lower in vitrified oocytes (29.4%) when compared with fresh oocytes (69.3%). The study provides evidence that it is possible to cryopreserve immature oocytes by vitrification collected from the ovaries of chousingha at postmortem and also demonstrates that these cryopreserved oocytes retain their potential to undergo in vitro meiotic maturation.