• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Cloned Black-Footed Ferret Gives Birth To Kits In Adorable World-First

November 5, 2024 by Deborah Bloomfield

For the first time ever, two black-footed ferret kits have been born to a cloned endangered animal. The mother is a ferret named Antonia who made the news when she was cloned from an old tissue sample, becoming one of three black-footed clones alive today.

Antonia and her sister clones, Elizabeth-Ann and Noreen, were created using the frozen cells of a deceased individual called Willa who died in 1988. Her genetic material was preserved thanks to the Frozen Zoo at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, and a good thing too as her DNA contains three times the genetic variations found in modern-day black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes).

Advertisement

The reason for this genetic bottleneck is that all black-footed ferrets alive today are born from just seven individuals. A dip in genetic diversity puts them at risk of certain diseases, including sylvatic plague and the canine distemper virus. The ultimate goal is that by returning Willa’s genetics to the gene pool, scientists might be able to protect the species’ future by returning the diversity needed for long-term recovery.

It was hoped Elizabeth-Ann might be the first to have kits of her own, but an underdeveloped reproductive system and condition called hydrometra prevented it. Now, Antonia has made history for black-footed ferrets in becoming the endangered species’ first-ever clone to give birth.

a black-footed ferret clone peeking through a hole, she has a white face with panda-like eyes

Proud mom, Antonia.

Image credit: Roshan Patel/Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, CC BY 4.0, via FWS

And so we welcome to the world two new black-footed ferret kits that have been over 35 years in the making. The very precious babies were born at the Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI) in Front Royal, Virginia, and the team are understandably delighted.

“The successful breeding and subsequent birth of Antonia’s kits marks a major milestone in endangered species conservation,” said Paul Marinari, senior curator at the Smithsonian’s NZCBI. “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.”

Advertisement

To see births among clone animals is a landmark moment for conservation genetic research, but one that can’t be successful on its own. The team behind the babies’ creation is also focusing on habitat conservation, disease management, and ultimately the reintroduction of ferrets into the wild – because what are we gonna do with a load of cloned ferret babies otherwise?

Fortunately, they’ve got quite a team behind them, as the ongoing research is part of a collaboration between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and partners such as the Smithsonian’s NZCBI, Revive & Restore, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, ViaGen Pets & Equine, and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. 

Go team!

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Cricket-Manchester test likely to be postponed after India COVID-19 case
  2. EU to attend U.S. trade meeting put in doubt by French anger
  3. Soccer-West Ham win again, Leicester and Napoli falter
  4. Was Jesus A Hallucinogenic Mushroom? One Scholar Certainly Thought So

Source Link: Cloned Black-Footed Ferret Gives Birth To Kits In Adorable World-First

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • Why Do Some Toilets Have Two Flush Buttons?
  • 130-Year-Old Butter Additive Discovered In Danish Basement Contains Bacteria From The 1890s
  • Prehistoric Humans Made Necklaces From Marine Mollusk Fossils 20,000 Years Ago
  • Zond 5: In 1968 Two Soviet Steppe Tortoises Beat Humans To Orbiting Around The Moon
  • Why Cats Adapted This Defense Mechanism From Snakes
  • Mother Orca Seen Carrying Dead Calf Once Again On Washington Coast
  • A Busy Spider Season Is Brewing: Why This Fall Could See A Boom Of Arachnid Activity
  • What Alternatives Are There To The Big Bang Model?
  • Magnetic Flip Seen Around First Photographed Black Hole Pushes “Models To The Limit”
  • Something Out Of Nothing: New Approach Mimics Matter Creation Using Superfluid Helium
  • Surströmming: Why Sweden’s Stinky Fermented Fish Smells So Bad (But People Still Eat It)
  • First-Ever Recording Of Black Hole Recoil Captured During Merger – And You Can Listen To It
  • The Moon Is Moving Away From Earth At A Rate Of About 3.8 Centimeters Per Year. Will It Ever Drift Apart?
  • As Solar Storm Hits Earth NASA Finds “The Sun Is Slowly Waking Up”
  • Plate Tectonics And CO2 On Planets Suggest Alien Civilizations “Are Probably Pretty Rare”
  • How To Watch The “Awkward” Partial Solar Eclipse This Weekend
  • World’s Oldest Pots: 20,000-Year-Old Vessels May Have Been Used For Cooking Clams Or Brewing Beer
  • “The Body Is Slowly And Continuously Heated”: 14,000-Year-Old Smoked Mummies Are World’s Oldest
  • Pizza Slices, Polaroid Pictures, And Over 300 Hats: What’s Left Behind In Yellowstone’s Hydrothermal Areas?
  • The Mathematical Paradox That Lets You Create Something From Nothing
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version