In the United States, they have cloned an endangered black-footed ferret

Scientists have cloned the first endangered species in America: a black-footed ferret duplicated from the genes of an animal that died more than 30 years ago.

It is about a ferret named Elizabeth Ann, An elusive predator born on December 10th and making itself known on Thursday. Although they are very cute, you must be careful: unlike their foster mother, a domesticated ferret that brought her into the world, the biped ferret has a fierce heart.

“You may have been quietly treating a black-footed ferret and the next day they’ll try to tear your toe off,” the US Federal Fish and Wildlife Coordinator (FWS) said Thursday. House Gober. “It is steadfast.”

Elizabeth Ann She was born and raised at FWS Black-footed Breeding Center in Fort Collins, Colorado. It’s a genetic copy of a specimen called Willa. Who passed away in 1988 And whose remains were frozen in the early days of DNA technology.

Reproduction may also be permitted The resurgence of extinct species, Like a homing pigeon. So far, the technology holds promise for aiding endangered species, CTheMu wild horse Mongolia Which was cloned and was born last summer in central Texas.

“Biotechnology and genomic data can make a difference on Earth in conservation efforts,” he said. Ben Novak Lead scientist at Revive & Restore, a conservation organization focused on biotechnology and coordination of rodent and equine reproduction.

The black-legged rodent is a type of weasel that is easily identifiable by the dark markings on their eyes that are reminiscent of a thief’s mask. Charismatic and nocturnal, they exclusively feed on prairie dogs, A kind of marmot, And they live in the middle of huge colonies of burrows of these rodents.

Even before cloning, black-legged rodents had success with conservation.

They were thought to be extinct, victims of habitat loss from the shooting and poisoning of prairie dog colonies by ranchers, because they made the grasslands less suitable for livestock, until the farm dog was named Graying He brought a dead house to Wyoming in 1981.

Scientists collected the remaining population in a captive breeding program that released thousands of rodents at dozens of locations in the West The United States, Canada, and Mexico Since the 1990s.

Destroyed