Scientists have created the American ferret, an animal that was announced to be extinct until recently. It might support save an entire population of them.
It is hoped that the animal will soon be able to mate and have offspring.
It was believed that these animals had been extinct starting with 1979. However, in 1980s, a farmer from Wyoming found out not a big population of them. This population has become an essential part of the breeding program.
Nowadays this kind of ferret is still in danger of extinction. The existing ones are carefully protected by scientists. All ferrets of this species are now descended from 7 animals, so their offspring often suffer from genetic diseases.
Without genetic diversity, animals become more vulnerable to diseases and have great difficulties surviving in the wild. The emergence of the cloned female Elisabeth Ahn gives the population a chance: she will be able to diversify her genetic heritage and gives hope for a healthy offspring.
It was cloned from the frozen cells of a female ferret that lived 30 years ago. For the US researchers, this was the first creation of an endangered local species. But it’s still too early to talk about a real revival of the American ferret population.
