[Pharmacological semen collection in cougars (Puma concolor: Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae)]

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to evaluate the pharmacological semen collection method with urethral catheterization (CT) in captive cougar (Puma concolor) males. The pharmacological method (CT; N= 3) was compared to the electroejaculation technique (EE; N= 4). For CT collection, medetomidine was administrated to induce semen release using a tomcat catheter inserted into the urethra to collect by capillarity. The proposed method was efficacious on all animals used. Through the CT method, semen collected yielded smaller volume (106,7±30,5aµL) and higher concentration (524,1±54,3b x 106sperm/mL) compared to EE (450,0±0,1bµL and 205,0±141,8a x 106 sperm /mL). Evaluations of vigor, motility and sperm pathology demonstrated that CT does not affect semen quality when compared to EE (P> 0.05). Thus, the proposed method consists of a more practical and efficient technique for semen collection with good quality, eliminating the need for eletroejaculation.摘要 本研究旨在评估尿道导尿法（urethral catheterization, CT）应用于圈养雄性美洲狮（Puma concolor）的药物采精效果。将药物采精法（CT组，n=3）与电刺激采精法（electroejaculation, EE组，n=4）进行对比。CT采精的操作流程为：先给予美托咪啶（medetomidine）诱导排精，随后将猫用导尿管插入尿道，借助毛细管作用收集精液。该方法对所有受试个体均有效。与EE组相比，CT组采集的精液体积更小（106.7±30.5a µL）、精子浓度更高（524.1±54.3b ×10⁶精子/mL），而EE组的精液体积与精子浓度分别为450.0±0.1b µL与205.0±141.8a ×10⁶精子/mL。对精子活力、运动性及病理形态的评估结果显示，与EE组相比，CT法对精液品质无显著影响（P>0.05）。综上，该方法操作更简便高效，且可获得优质精液，无需再采用电刺激采精技术。