The first cloned black-footed weasel, Antonia, has given birth to two healthy babies at the Smithsonian Zoo, boosting prospects for the species’ conservation.
At the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Virginia, the first cloned black-footed weasel, named Antonia, successfully gave birth to two healthy babies after mating with a 3-year-old male Urchin, said the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
This is the first time that a cloned member of an endangered species has produced offspring, emphasizing the importance of cloning in the conservation of the species.
Although one of Antonia’s children did not survive, the other two – a boy and a girl – are healthy and continue to be observed. Scientists do not plan to release them into the wild, but will use them for further research and conservation of a species that is in critical need of genetic diversity.
To create Antonia, genetic material from the black-footed weasel Villa, collected in 1988, was used. Willa has three times more genetic diversity than the modern population of black-footed ferrets, which originated from seven individuals.
Scientists hope that the reproduction of this genetic material is an important step in the long-term restoration of a healthy population.
It was earlier reported that Chinese scientists created the world’s first cloned Arctic wolf puppy.
Source: korrespondent
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