Abby Connolly
“Noreen was born at the National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Center in Colorado, while Antonia resides at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute in Virginia,” wrote the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a press statement.
“Both were cloned from the same genetic material as Elizabeth Ann. They are healthy and continue to reach expected developmental and behavioral milestones. The Service and its research partners plan to proceed with breeding efforts for Noreen and Antonia once they reach reproductive maturity later this year.”
Scientists and researchers hope that with this amazing scientific advancement combined with some habitat conservation, one day, black-footed ferrets will be able to survive in the wild on their own once again.
Cells from other endangered species have been collected by scientists, hoping that they’ll have just as much success as the ferrets, like Texas kangaroo rats, Mount Graham red squirrels, and Mexican wolves.
While we may have a long way to go before any additional kinds of endangered species can be cloned successfully, Elizabeth Ann, Noreen, and Antonia’s births show that science is moving in the right direction.
