For the first time in history, cloned ferret gives birth – Great scientific achievement that will help save endangered species
Cloned ferret, an endangered species, has given birth to two healthy cubs at a zoo in Virginia.
The experts said that the techniques used in the entire process of saving the black-footed ferret species could help save other endangered species.
The two ferrets were born in June to a cloned mother.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service called the birth an exciting research achievement that broke new ground in species conservation efforts.
As the Washington Post reports, the cloned mother ferret, Antonia, gave birth after mating with a male ferret named Urchin, the federal wildlife agency announced last week.
Antonia was born last year having been created from preserved genetic material of Willa, a female ferret who died in 1988 without offspring.
The cloning provided an opportunity to bring the genes of an eighth “founder” into the existing ferret population, according to Revive & Restore, one of several organizations involved in the project.
Antonia is described as the first cloned ferret to restore a lost genetic variation in its species.
One of her babies died but the other two, a female Sibert and a male Red Could, survived.
“They’re doing well,” Revive & Restore said.
Their birth represented “a critical step forward” in harnessing the cloning process to produce greater genetic diversity in conservation, the wildlife agency said.
Source: Skai
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