Born Twice: The Future of Ferrets

By Amie Anh Dec. 11, 2024

A small, fuzzy wide-eyed gray creature with a twitching nose—a cloned black-footed ferret named Antonia—welcomed a litter of 3 kits in June. The successful births marked a milestone for the endangered species, revealing the potential for cloning to restore populations and genetic diversity. Regardless of this success, however, further efforts must continue to restore wild populations.

The cloning progress began in 1988, with the collection Willa’s genetic material, a ferret who died without reproducing. In 2020, Willa’s clone was created successfully with a somatic cell transfer, a process where her genetic material was added to the egg of a domesticated ferret that then became a surrogate mother. Although the produced clone, Elizabeth Ann, was unable to reproduce, she was cloned again in 2023, creating genetic twins who were healthy and fertile. 

One of the clones, Antonia, mated with a male ferret, Urchin, and produced three offspring, two of which survived and met vital developmental stages. The two babies, Sibert and Red, also make Antonia the first cloned animal of an endangered species to successfully reproduce in the United States.

The black-footed ferret is the only ferret native to the Americas, and is currently one of the most endangered mammals of North America, with about 370 of them in the wild as stated by the World Wildlife Fund. According to Newsweek, this is due to habitat loss, disease and a decline prairie dogs, their main source of prey.

Even with cloning efforts, the current black-footed ferret population is descended from only seven individuals, their limited gene pool placing them in even more danger.

“The targeted species typically lacks essential genetic advantages due to its low diversity, and subsequently the species can quickly go extinct,” Sophomore Melody Chong said.

Although cloning is becoming a significant contributor to restoration efforts for the black-footed ferrets, other actions are also being taken to recover the species, including habitat conservation and building disease resistance through selective breeding or genetic editing. 

“Cloning technology is costly, but the difficulty of achieving long-term success in habitat-related conservation efforts may lead scientists to resort to it. It is likely not their prioritized method as it is highly unstable and is prone to causing mutations,” Freshman Pronoy Bhattacharyya said.

While cloning seems promising, it does not effectively address issues such as hunting and habitat destruction. Only continued human efforts will address the root problem of our current mass extinction.

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About the Contributor

Amie Anh

Staff Writer

Amie Ahn is a freshman at Leland High School and is a writer for The Charger Account. During her free time, she enjoys eating, sleeping, and spending time with her friends.