Zimba, a captive leopard shark at Sydney Aquarium, is one of the first of his species to be inseminated with sperm from wild sharks in a bid to boost populations worldwide.
If the process is successful, Zimba’s baby sharks will be sent to the Raja Ampat region of Indonesia, where the local population is on the brink of extinction due to unsustainable fishing practices and habitat destruction.
Artificial insemination allows sharks that would never normally interact to breed and increase genetic diversity, explained SEA LIFE Australia and New Zealand regional coordinator Laura Simmons.
She hopes that eventually the leopard shark population will be “genetically viable and capable of maintaining a self-sustaining population in the wild.”
It could take years, she told AFP, but “it’s one step closer to what we need to do.”
The procedure is part of a large global leopard shark breeding program, known as StAR, in which more than 60 conservation groups, aquariums and government agencies participate.
Globally, approximately 37% of oceanic shark and ray species, including the leopard shark, are now listed as endangered or critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN), a global database of threatened species.
Leopard shark populations in Australia remain abundant and classified as low-threat, but scientists hope this research can help boost numbers in other, more affected parts of the world.
In the Sydney Aquarium tank, Paolo Martelli, chief veterinarian at Ocean Park Hong Kong, inserts a metal tube containing sperm from wild leopard sharks into the body of Zimba, a black and cream-colored leopard shark.
To perform this procedure, which lasts only a few minutes, the shark remains in a natural state called tonic immobility, a relaxed condition that allows scientists to work safely.
The veterinarian uses a technique that he developed and has used successfully on other species.
But this time “it’s not simple”, he told AFP, because it is the first time he has used it on leopard sharks.
Scientists collected sperm from wild leopard sharks off the Queensland coast – which has a large shark population – and brought the precious cargo back to Sydney. Only three of the four samples taken survived the trip.
“This species should be conserved in outdoor habitats, not in a museum,” Mr Martelli said. Scientists must lend a “helping hand” to protect and conserve this precious species, he added.
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