Caribou Biobanking

Have you ever wondered how a Zoo can help save a wild species? Caribou in Ontario’s boreal forests are facing serious challenges. Conservation efforts focused on preserving habitats often take too long and small isolated populations may not be able to recover. Your Toronto Zoo has partnered with Weenusk First Nation, an Indigenous community in northern Ontario, to develop and test cryobanking methods which involve the freezing and long-term storage of reproductive cells. These cells could be used in the future for conservation breeding through artificial insemination or in-vitro fertilization to help maintain genetic diversity of wild populations.