First Clone of Endangered Przewalski's Horse Born in Conservation Effort to Save the Species [View all]

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From https://time.com/5886467/clone-endangered-przewalskis-horse-zoo/

First Clone of Endangered Przewalski’s Horse Born in Conservation Effort to Save the Species


The cloned Przewalski’s foal at the Texas veterinary facility of ViaGen Equine collaborator, Timber Creek Veterinary, on Aug. 28. Scott Stine

BY MADELEINE CARLISLE
SEPTEMBER 6, 2020 11:51 AM EDT

The first successfully cloned endangered Przewalski’s horse was born on Aug. 6 in a veterinary facility in Texas, San Diego Zoo Global announced on Friday. The horse was cloned from DNA of a male Przewalski’s horse cryopreserved by the zoo in 1980.

Przewalski’s horses are “critically endangered” animals that are found in Mongolia, per Smithsonian’s National Zoo. They’re considered the last species of “truly wild horses” and are “distant cousins” of modern day domestic horses, having likely split from a common ancestor around 500,000 years ago, per the Smithsonian.

Przewalski’s horses were once extinct in the wild, and while intensive breeding programs helped revive the species and reintroduce them into the grasslands of China and Mongolia, nearly all can be traced back to 12 Przewalski’s horses that were born in the wild, the San Diego Zoo said in its press release. The successful cloning of DNA collected 40 years is meant to introduce key generic diversity into the species that could benefit its survival. The zoo said the cloned Przewalski’s horse will eventually be transferred to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and integrated into a herd of other Przewalski’s horses for breeding.

“The work to save endangered species requires collaborative and dedicated partners with aligned goals,” Paul A. Baribault, president of San Diego Zoo Global, said in a statement. “We share in this remarkable achievement because we applied our multidisciplinary approach, working with the best scientific minds and utilizing precious genetic material collected and stored in our wildlife DNA bio bank.”

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