<
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-cloned-ferret-has-given-birth-for-the-first-time-in-history-marking-a-win-for-her-endangered-species-180985411/>
"In a victory for conservation, a cloned endangered animal has birthed healthy
offspring for the first time in the United States. The black-footed ferret,
named Antonia, is also the first cloned ferret to give birth worldwide.
Antonia produced two adorable kits at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and
Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI) in Front Royal, Virginia, earlier this
summer. The news marks a groundbreaking achievement in the use of cloning to
preserve genetic diversity in endangered species.
“The successful breeding and subsequent birth of Antonia’s kits marks a major
milestone in endangered species conservation,” Paul Marinari, senior curator at
the Smithsonian’s NZCBI, says in a statement. “The many partners in the
Black-footed Ferret Recovery Program continue their innovative and
inspirational efforts to save this species and be a model for other
conservation programs across the globe.”
Black-footed ferrets, also known as American polecats, are carnivorous
relatives of weasels with dark patches around their eyes and paws. They are
also one of the most endangered mammals in North America because of habitat
loss, diseases and a decline in the population of prairie dogs, their main
prey, per
Newsweek’s Jess Thomson.
As many as one million black-footed ferrets lived on the continent in the late
1800s, but by the late 1950s, the species was presumed extinct. Scientists
discovered a wild population in 1964, but even that group died out, and a
captive breeding effort failed. Since a second rediscovery of a wild population
in 1981, conservationists have worked hard to conserve the species using
traditional breeding programs as well as more innovative technologies,
including freezing semen and cloning."
Via
Fix the News:
https://fixthenews.com/277-second-copernican-revolution/
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
