Nov 8, 2024 - News
Cloned ferret gives birth in Virginia and makes world history
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Virginia is home to the world's first black-footed ferrets born to a cloned endangered animal, according to The National Zoo.
Why it matters: It's historic work that could be replicated to save other threatened species.
- Plus, the two baby ferrets — known as "kits" — are adorable as hell.
Catch up quick: Antonia is their mom, and she was created last year using preserved tissue samples from 1988 from another black-footed ferret named Willa, per a release.
- She had a meet-cute with a 3-year-old black-footed ferret named Urchin, they mated, and then she gave birth to kits Sibert and Red Cloud in June at the Zoo's Virginia campus in Front Royal.
Fun fact: Per the Zoo, "male ferrets often 'chortle' to females during breeding."
- It's a sound called "dooking."