A single intramuscular injection of 0.5 micrograms cloprostenol was not luteolytic on Day 6 or 7 of the ovarian cycle (N = 3), but was luteolytic in some animals (3/5) on Day 8 and 9 and luteolytic in all 23 animals treated between Days 10 and 17 of the ovarian cycle, and in 7 animals treated between Days 19 and 43 of pregnancy. Luteal function was monitored by measurement of progesterone in peripheral blood using a simple and rapid non-extraction assay. There was a dramatic fall in peripheral blood progesterone to less than 10 ng/ml within 24 h of cloprostenol injection; progesterone remained at this low level until the day after post-treatment ovulation. The interval from cloprostenol injection to ovulation in animals treated between Days 8 and 17 was 10.7 +/- 0.3 days. A similar interval was found in pregnant animals. Embryos recovered from the uterus after cloprostenol treatment were morphologically normal (23/24).