Black-footed ferret successfully cloned

DesertRhino150

DesertRhino150

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
On December 10th 2020, a female black-footed ferret was born. This animal, called 'Elizabeth Ann', is a clone of a female ferret called 'Willa' captured from the wild in 1988. A genomic study has confirmed that Willa's genome contained three times more genetic diversity than the current black-footed ferret population.

This successful cloning project, part run by the group Revive and Restore, has the potential to add an eighth founder to the breeding population as Willa did not breed when she was first brought into captivity.

More information about this success can be found below:
Black-footed Ferret Project | Revive & Restore
 
hAvEnT yOu SeEn JuRaSsIc PaRk??!?!?!

In all seriousness, this is so cool! I heard about the Revive and Restore Project last year and I was super excited about it. I always thought that cloning would be a viable way to get genetic diversity into endangered population. I wonder what other animals this will be used for in the future. I know R&R has a few listed on their website.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Nice one with this species but should say that I'm very skeptical of and opposed to the other projects of Revive and Restore with extinct species.
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I agree, they should stick with retaining current levels of biodiversity first and foremost. The black footed ferret program and adding new founder material is somewhat a breakthrough (similar to northern white rhino Ceratotherium cottoni).
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
I agree, they should stick with retaining current levels of biodiversity first and foremost. The black footed ferret program and adding new founder material is somewhat a breakthrough (similar to northern white rhino Ceratotherium cottoni).
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Agreed. That said, cloning the extinct animals will probably be a good way to get a lot of publicity and funding, which could be helpful for the endangered species efforts.
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
I agree, they should stick with retaining current levels of biodiversity first and foremost. The black footed ferret program and adding new founder material is somewhat a breakthrough (similar to northern white rhino Ceratotherium cottoni).
Click to expand...

Yes, I do agree with you, I think that with extant species there is a lot of potential.
 
DesertRhino150 said:
On December 10th 2020, a female black-footed ferret was born. This animal, called 'Elizabeth Ann', is a clone of a female ferret called 'Willa' captured from the wild in 1988. A genomic study has confirmed that Willa's genome contained three times more genetic diversity than the current black-footed ferret population.

This successful cloning project, part run by the group Revive and Restore, has the potential to add an eighth founder to the breeding population as Willa did not breed when she was first brought into captivity.

More information about this success can be found below:
Black-footed Ferret Project | Revive & Restore
Click to expand...
Exactly how did this work? The photo shows the domestic ferret foster mother raising kits. Was just one of these the Black-footed ferret kit? If so how did they manage to implant it at exactly the same stage as her own to coincide? Or is it a whole litter of BFF's and only the one survived?
 
Pertinax said:
Exactly how did this work? The photo shows the domestic ferret foster mother raising kits. Was just one of these the Black-footed ferret kit? If so how did they manage to implant it at exactly the same stage as her own to coincide? Or is it a whole litter of BFF's and only the one survived?
Click to expand...

There were apparently two clones in the litter but only the female survived (fingers crossed it continues to survive) the other two offspring were domestic ferrets.

All offspring were born through a caesarean operation.

Regarding the two embryos it would appear that these were implanted mid-gestation in the domestic ferret surrogate mother.
 
A further two female black-footed ferrets, named Noreen and Antonia, have successfully been cloned. They have also come from the genetic material of the wild female Willa, and contain around three times as much genetic diversity as all living black-footed ferrets. The two young are healthy and continue to reach expected milestones. It is hoped that the two will be able to start breeding when they reach reproductive maturity later this year.

Unfortunately, Elizabeth Ann, the first cloned ferret, has been found to be unable to breed because she has a condition called hydrometra (where the uterine horns fill with fluid). One of her uterine horns also did not develop fully, but this is an issue common with black-footed ferrets and is not thought to be linked to her cloning.

More information can be found in the link below:
Two Additional Black-Footed Ferrets Born As a Result of Cloning
 
The cloned black-footed ferret Antonia has successfully given birth. She had three kits, but one has not survived. The remaining two, a male and a female, have grown well and are meeting developmental milestones. These kits will remain at the Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in Virginia, and it is hoped that they will add new genetic diversity to the species.

Antonia is a clone of Willa, an original founder ferret that died in 1988 without having bred.

More information can be found in the link below:
https://www.npr.org/2024/11/05/nx-s1-5179961/black-footed-ferrets-clone-endangered-species
 
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