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Ferret becomes first North American endangered species to be cloned

BBC NEWS:

US scientists have successfully cloned a highly-endangered black-footed ferret 

using DNA from an identical animal that has been frozen since 1988. 

The birth of the ferret, named Elizabeth Ann, was announced by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The cloning is a first for a US endangered species.

Once thought to be extinct, all black-footed ferrets are descended from seven ancestors that were found in 1981.

Scientists say the clone will help increase the population's gene pool.

Elizabeth Ann's birth on 10 December was announced as a "bold step forward" by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on Thursday. 

She was cloned from the DNA of an animal named Willa. 

Willa was not one of the original seven ancestors. Before those ferrets were found in 1981 on a ranch in the state of Wyoming, it was believed that the species had gone extinct forever.

Willa, who has no living descendants, was captured in the wild and researchers hope that her clone will increase genetic diversity and help the severely-threatened species recover.

"Although this research is preliminary, it is the first cloning of a native endangered species in North America, and it provides a promising tool for continued efforts to conserve the black-footed ferret," said Noreen Walsh, director of the USFWS Mountain-Prairie Region