Assisted breeding programme for endangered sand tiger sharks launched in Dubai. Dubai Aquarium to save endangered sand tiger sharks through artificial insemination and gene storing. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv
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00:00Dubai Aquarium marked a historic world's first with the launch of the assisted breeding program
00:13for one of its star inhabitants, the sand tiger shark.
00:16Dubai Aquarium has the largest population of sand tiger sharks, also known as the grey
00:21nurse shark, in and an aquarium.
00:23The species is listed as ecologically vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation
00:29of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species.
00:32With the project, there is a big hope to protect endangered sand tiger sharks from extinction
00:37for at least another 100 years.
00:39The breeding program uses artificial insemination and a gene bank will be used to hold the genes
00:45of sand tiger sharks.
00:47Sand tiger shark population in the world dropped to an estimated 1,500.
00:51Without intervention, it is expected to be extinct in the next three decades.
00:56Sand tiger sharks are unique because the females only breed every two years with a maximum
01:02of two pups.
01:03Now that the aquarium is established and we've been operating for more than five years now,
01:07our attention is moving towards conservation.
01:09So what we want to do is be a cornerstone of the animal world and play our part in learning
01:16about the different species and what they need to reproduce and survive in the wild.
01:22So this is certainly a new phase for us and we're looking forward to making our contributions
01:26to conservation.
01:33Now we have a large number of sharks here that are not seen often around the world.
01:39So the reproduction of sharks is something that science doesn't really have a good understanding
01:44of and shark populations worldwide are declining and understanding what a shark needs to reproduce
01:50is critically important.
01:51So we're starting work on some projects like a shark artificial insemination project where
01:57we can learn the reproductive cycles and exactly when sharks need to mate and gestation periods
02:04and try to create the entire cycle here inside the aquarium.
02:07That information is then fed back to our counterpart scientists in the wild and it can help them
02:13make decisions, inform decisions when looking at wild populations.
02:18One project in particular that we're working on is Carcharis taurus or the sand tiger shark.
02:24Now in some parts of the world this shark is critically endangered and despite the fact
02:28that they're creating marine parks and conservation areas for these sharks, the population still
02:34declines.
02:35In these circumstances the scientists really need to know about the reproductive cycle
02:40of the animals and how if necessary we can actually intervene with captive breeding programs.
02:48So one thing we're working on here is Carcharis taurus and artificial insemination.
02:53Scientists from Australia where the sand tiger shark is critically endangered are actually
02:57flying to Dubai Aquarium and they'll be spending months with us working with our animals and
03:02trying to create that understanding.
03:03A cryogenic lab has been set up to support the program and visitors will be able to see
03:08the work being done and the behind the scenes operations of the aquarium.
03:13The long-term project will develop technology that could eventually be used to artificially
03:18inseminate various species of sharks.
03:21Airish Iden-Belieza for Gulf News.