Baby black-footed ferrets first to be born to a cloned mom

A cloned black-footed ferret successfully gave birth — marking the first time a U.S. clone of an endangered species produced offspring, and an opportunity to rebuild the black-footed ferret population.

Antonia, a black-footed ferret cloned using the genetic material of a ferret named Willa collected in 1988, gave birth to three kits. One of the three died shortly after birth but the two remaining babies, a boy and a girl, appear to be in good health and meeting developmental milestones, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced earlier this month.

Antonia and her babies will stay at the Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI) in Front Royal, Virginia for further research.

“The successful breeding and subsequent birth of Antonia's kits marks a major milestone in endangered species conservation,” Paul Marinari, senior curator at the Smithsonian's NZCBI, said in a statement.

These births are being viewed as an opportunity to restore needed genetic diversity into the species.

Black-footed ferrets are one of the most endangered mammals in North America with an estimated 370 in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund. The numbers reached levels so low that by the early 80s it was believed that the animals were extinct. That is until in 1981, when the black-footed ferret was re-discovered in Wyoming. Efforts to conserve the animals began in earnest.

Habitat loss and disease remain one of the major reasons for the animal’s low numbers. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also attributed “genetic challenges” to problems with the animal’s recovery.

But the genetic samples from Willa, of which Antonia was cloned, provided an opportunity that resulted in these new births. Willa's genes contained “three times the genetic diversity seen in the current population of black-footed ferrets all of which (except the three clones and new offspring) are descended from just seven surviving individuals,” the agency’s press release said.

Introducing the new babies’ genes into the population could increase genetic diversity within the black-footed ferret species and contribute to a long-term recovery of the animal.