Cases / Biotech, cloning and de-extinction · United States · 1988–2024
Black-footed ferret cloning (Antonia) and wild plague
Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
A black-footed ferret cloned from cells frozen in 1988 gave birth in 2024, the first clone of a U.S. endangered species to produce young. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said no release of the clone or her young was planned.
3 born, 2 survived; release not plannedCloned animal's offspring: born vs released
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service press release, 1 November 2024.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service press release, 1 November 2024.
Status As of the FWS release of 1 November 2024: three kits born to the clone, two surviving; no release planned.
What?
A black-footed ferret clone produced kits in 2024; the FWS said no release of the clone or her young was planned. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Where?
United States; the sources reviewed do not name the facility. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
When?
Cells from a ferret that died in 1988; kits born in 2024; FWS announcement on 1 November 2024. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Who?
Gained
None on recordLost
None on recordHarmed
None on recordWhy?
FWS described the clone's offspring as adding genetic diversity from cells frozen in 1988. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
How?
A clone was produced from cells stored in the San Diego Zoo's Frozen Zoo; the partners were FWS, the Smithsonian, Revive & Restore, the San Diego Zoo and ViaGen. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
5 of 6 questions answered from the record · open: who
What happened
The record, in order.
The black-footed ferret population alive today, not counting clones, descends from seven individuals, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Cells from Willa, a ferret that died in 1988, were stored in the San Diego Zoo's "Frozen Zoo". Those cells carry about three times the genetic diversity of the present population.
A clone named Antonia, produced from those cells, gave birth to three kits in 2024; two survived. FWS described this as the first time a clone of a U.S. endangered species had produced offspring. The partners named were FWS, the Smithsonian, Revive & Restore, the San Diego Zoo and ViaGen.
FWS said there were no plans to release Antonia or her offspring into the wild.
- 1988Willa dies; her cells are kept in the San Diego Zoo's Frozen Zoo
- 2024Antonia, a clone made from Willa's cells, gives birth to three kits, two of which survive (FWS, 1 November 2024)
How it looked
What was shown, beside what was recorded.
Shown
- The cloned ferret's kits were presented as a conservation advance: new offspring of a clone that add genetic diversity from cells frozen in 1988.U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1 November 2024 · U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Recorded
- Three kits were born to the clone Antonia in 2024 and two survived.
- The population not counting clones descends from seven individuals; the frozen cells carry about three times its genetic diversity.
- FWS said there were no plans to release Antonia or her offspring into the wild.
Who gained
Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.
Reached nature or the ground
Not published
No figure published.
Gained elsewhere
Not totalled
Currency: USD · Window: 2024. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.
Responses on record
- us-fws (1 November 2024): Announced the kits born to the cloned ferret and said there were no plans to release the clone or her offspring. · U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
In court and with insurers
Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.
Lawsuits and rulings
No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.
Insurers
No insurer decision on record.
What nature saw
Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
Kits born to the clone
3 (2 survived)
2024, per FWS
Release of clone or offspring
Not planned
FWS, 1 November 2024
Genetic diversity in Willa's frozen cells vs present population
About 3x
Per FWS
What we don't know
Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.
Court
- None on record No court case on record.
Record
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the wild population, given as an estimated 400-500 ferrets on an undated Smithsonian page.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the conventional captive-breeding programme producing more than 7,000 kits and releasing more than 2,600 into the wild.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the largest South Dakota population falling from 355 in 2007 to 49 in 2013 and recovering to 160 in 2023, attributed to plague in prairie dogs, the ferret's prey and burrow habitat; three of 19 release sites holding no population because of plague; a new plague outbreak confirmed in the area in June 2024.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: that only 18 ferrets were known worldwide in 1986.
- None on record No source reviewed states the cost of the cloning work.
Did the harm stop?
No harm event is recorded in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Voices on record: — Company or project✓ Government and regulators— Courts— Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers
Government and regulators
- Advancements in black-footed ferret conservation continue with new offspring from cloned ferretU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service · 2024-11-01
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