About the Authors

Robert Hermes

hermes@izw-berlin.de

Affiliation Department of Reproduction Management, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany

Joseph Saragusty

Affiliation Department of Reproduction Management, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany

Frank Göritz

Affiliation Department of Reproduction Management, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany

Paul Bartels

Affiliation NZG Biobank, National Zoological Gardens of South Africa, National Research Foundation, Pretoria, Republic of South Africa

Romain Potier

Affiliation ZooParc de Beauval, Saint Aignan sur Cher, France

Barbara Baker

Affiliation Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America

W. Jürgen Streich

Affiliation Department of Reproduction Management, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany

Thomas B. Hildebrandt

Affiliation Department of Reproduction Management, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany

Competing Interests

This study was partly supported by Riverview Homes, Inc. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. One of the authors of this report (RP) is employed by ZooParc de Beauval and not by its financing arm (ABCR), and another (BB) is the president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Zoo.

Author Contributions

Sample collection: RH FG PB RP BB TBH. Conceived and designed the experiments: RH JS FG TBH. Performed the experiments: RH FG TBH. Analyzed the data: RH JS WJS. Wrote the paper: RH JS WJS.