30 years dead Black-footed Ferret cloned (1 Viewer)

[dantheman]

To add genetic diversity into the population.

A black-footed ferret has been cloned, a first for a U.S. endangered species

A black-footed ferret that died more than 30 years ago has been cloned using preserved cells, which could help inject diversity into the inbred, endangered population.

www.nationalgeographic.com

 

[KC Foggin]

I watched this on the news last night. Can’t science be wonderful?

 

[jurek]

I thought about applying to rare birds, but checked that no bird was ever cloned, as of 2020.

 

[dantheman]

I thought about applying to rare birds, but checked that no bird was ever cloned, as of 2020.

Is that down to economic/human medical-related reasons, or any intrinsic difficulties with cloning non-mammals I wonder?

 

[Farnboro John]

What killed the ferret originally? Presumably something that wouldn't make one think its genes might not assist the recovery of the species...?

John

 

[jurek]

There are lots of differences between birds and mammals. But the ultimate answer is that birds are less important to medicine and economy, so less effort was put into solving these bird-specific difficulties.

 

[Melanie]

The Black-footed ferrets were once almost wiped out by a pest. Only seven ferrets have survived the massacre in the early 1980s. That means that all existing Black-footed ferrets have a genetic bottleneck and a poor gene pool. The gene pool of ferrets died in the 1980s was much richer.

 

[pbjosh]

Ferrets suffered extensive habitat loss but more critically also extensive poisoning...

Regarding birds, what I’ve read is that the egg formation presents complications between the cloned egg and the foster species.

 

[Farnboro John]

The Black-footed ferrets were once almost wiped out by a pest. Only seven ferrets have survived the massacre in the early 1980s. That means that all existing Black-footed ferrets have a genetic bottleneck and a poor gene pool. The gene pool of ferrets died in the 1980s was much richer.

I thought that was out of date information with the discovery of a second, previously unknown population more recently? It still doesn't answer the question of what killed the one that has been cloned and whether it is in fact suitable material to introduce to this extremely rare animal.

John

 

[Melanie]

I thought that was out of date information with the discovery of a second, previously unknown population more recently? It still doesn't answer the question of what killed the one that has been cloned and whether it is in fact suitable material to introduce to this extremely rare animal.

John

Good question. As Willa was not among the seven captured animals that have survived in 1981 I assume that she has been captured earlier and died of natural causes in 1988.

First clone of U.S. endangered species, a black-footed ferret, born in Colorado

Scientists have cloned the first U.S. endangered species, a black-footed ferret duplicated from the genes of an animal that died over 30 years ago.

www.denverpost.com

 

[Farnboro John]

Thank you.

Good question. As Willa was not among the seven captured animals that have survived in 1981 I assume that she has been captured earlier and died of natural causes in 1988.

First clone of U.S. endangered species, a black-footed ferret, born in Colorado

Scientists have cloned the first U.S. endangered species, a black-footed ferret duplicated from the genes of an animal that died over 30 years ago.

www.denverpost.com

I had a quick google and established that my recollection was correct, see emboldened below from Wikipedia:

"The historical range of the black-footed ferret was closely correlated with, but not restricted to, the range of prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.). Its range extended from southern Alberta and southern Saskatchewan south to Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.[6] As of 2007, the only known wild black-footed ferret population was located on approximately 6,000 acres (2,400 hectares) in the western Big Horn Basin near Meeteetse, Wyoming.[8][9][10][21][22] Since 1990, black-footed ferrets have been reintroduced to the following sites: Shirley Basin, Wyoming; UL Bend National Wildlife Refuge and Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, Montana; Conata Basin/Badlands, Buffalo Gap National Grassland, and the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota; Aubrey Valley, Arizona; Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge and Wolf Creek in Colorado; Coyote Basin, straddling Colorado and Utah, northern Chihuahua, Mexico,[23] and Grasslands National Park, Canada [26]"

I've looked for them in the Badlands without success. Black-footed Ferret is a smart little animal and some day I hope to have another go.

John

 

[pbgrebe]

I had a quick google and established that my recollection was correct, see emboldened below from Wikipedia:

"The historical range of the black-footed ferret was closely correlated with, but not restricted to, the range of prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.). Its range extended from southern Alberta and southern Saskatchewan south to Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.[6] As of 2007, the only known wild black-footed ferret population was located on approximately 6,000 acres (2,400 hectares) in the western Big Horn Basin near Meeteetse, Wyoming.[8][9][10][21][22]

Hi John,
I checked out the black-footed ferret (BFF) article from Wikipedia that you cited and found that it wasn’t particularly well written and contained numerous inaccuracies. I worked closely with BFFs in the recovery program during the early to mid-1990’s, up to the point after reintroductions had begun at the second and third reintroduction sites. Specifically, I worked at a BFF research facility in which our main project was to devise a pre-release conditioning (preconditioning) method that would prepare captive-born ferret kits in a manner that rendered them capable of surviving to reproductive age when released into the wild (after going through preconditioning our kits were released at the age when they were full grown and at the point when kits would naturally leave the mother and begin life on their own). I’ve attached a nice portrait of one of the resident ferrets from our facility. Anyway, considering how unclearly written the sentence that you highlighted is I can understand your confusion in interpreting it as meaning that a more recent BFF population was found. Actually, the population that was discovered in 1981 in the Meeteetse area is the last known wild BFF population. I suspect that the section of the article that contains your highlighted sentence was probably written in 2007 and what the author meant was that as of 2007 the 1981 Meeteetse population was the last known wild BFF population. In fact, if you look at the 5 articles cited at the end of that sentence you’ll see that all of them were written in the mid to late 1980’s, thus making it obvious that they are referring to the 1981 Meeteetse population and not to a recently discovered new one. The fate of this last known wild population was not a happy one. In 1985 it was discovered that canine distemper was rapidly extinguishing the population. Faced with the inevitable devastating outcome of this lethal disease crisis it was decided that the only course of action remaining was to try to rescue (i.e., capture) as many ferrets as possible before these last known members of the species were lost. From 1985-87 a total of only 18 ferrets (7 males and 11 females) were taken in, with the last known wild ferret being captured in February, 1987 (note that during the period from the loss of the Meeteetse population until reintroductions were begun in 1991 the BFF was extinct in the wild). Thus, at this point the species was down to just 18 individuals—and these 18 ferrets made up the original captive breeding colony that it was hoped would begin the process of building up the captive population to the point where reintroductions into the wild could be undertaken. Fortunately, the captive breeding program was ultimately successful in this respect. However, only 7 of these 18 ferrets successfully bred and were involved in the production of offspring. Therefore, the founder population for all of the BFFs that currently exist consisted of a mere 7 individuals. This, of course, means that only 7 individuals contributed to the current existing gene pool of the species and hence the worrisome reality of very low genetic diversity. I haven’t seen any of the info. regarding the individual who was cloned but it’s significant that it was stated that if its clone successfully reproduces this will add some genetic diversity to the species’ gene pool. Based on the latter it then appears likely that this individual was one of the 11 of these 18 wild ferrets who weren’t founders. If so, then it’s most probable that this individual died in captivity of natural causes. The last surviving member of these original 18 wild-caught BFFs from the Meeteetse population (a female named Jezebelle) passed away in 1995.

From the posts here it seems that there is some misunderstanding about what caused the demise of the BFF. Since this post is already rather lengthy I’ll address that matter in a separate post.

 

[Farnboro John]

Hi John,
I checked out the black-footed ferret (BFF) article from Wikipedia that you cited and found that it wasn’t particularly well written and contained numerous inaccuracies. I worked closely with BFFs in the recovery program during the early to mid-1990’s, up to the point after reintroductions had begun at the second and third reintroduction sites. Specifically, I worked at a BFF research facility in which our main project was to devise a pre-release conditioning (preconditioning) method that would prepare captive-born ferret kits in a manner that rendered them capable of surviving to reproductive age when released into the wild (after going through preconditioning our kits were released at the age when they were full grown and at the point when kits would naturally leave the mother and begin life on their own). I’ve attached a nice portrait of one of the resident ferrets from our facility. Anyway, considering how unclearly written the sentence that you highlighted is I can understand your confusion in interpreting it as meaning that a more recent BFF population was found. Actually, the population that was discovered in 1981 in the Meeteetse area is the last known wild BFF population. I suspect that the section of the article that contains your highlighted sentence was probably written in 2007 and what the author meant was that as of 2007 the 1981 Meeteetse population was the last known wild BFF population. In fact, if you look at the 5 articles cited at the end of that sentence you’ll see that all of them were written in the mid to late 1980’s, thus making it obvious that they are referring to the 1981 Meeteetse population and not to a recently discovered new one. The fate of this last known wild population was not a happy one. In 1985 it was discovered that canine distemper was rapidly extinguishing the population. Faced with the inevitable devastating outcome of this lethal disease crisis it was decided that the only course of action remaining was to try to rescue (i.e., capture) as many ferrets as possible before these last known members of the species were lost. From 1985-87 a total of only 18 ferrets (7 males and 11 females) were taken in, with the last known wild ferret being captured in February, 1987 (note that during the period from the loss of the Meeteetse population until reintroductions were begun in 1991 the BFF was extinct in the wild). Thus, at this point the species was down to just 18 individuals—and these 18 ferrets made up the original captive breeding colony that it was hoped would begin the process of building up the captive population to the point where reintroductions into the wild could be undertaken. Fortunately, the captive breeding program was ultimately successful in this respect. However, only 7 of these 18 ferrets successfully bred and were involved in the production of offspring. Therefore, the founder population for all of the BFFs that currently exist consisted of a mere 7 individuals. This, of course, means that only 7 individuals contributed to the current existing gene pool of the species and hence the worrisome reality of very low genetic diversity. I haven’t seen any of the info. regarding the individual who was cloned but it’s significant that it was stated that if its clone successfully reproduces this will add some genetic diversity to the species’ gene pool. Based on the latter it then appears likely that this individual was one of the 11 of these 18 wild ferrets who weren’t founders. If so, then it’s most probable that this individual died in captivity of natural causes. The last surviving member of these original 18 wild-caught BFFs from the Meeteetse population (a female named Jezebelle) passed away in 1995.

From the posts here it seems that there is some misunderstanding about what caused the demise of the BFF. Since this post is already rather lengthy I’ll address that matter in a separate post.

I'll look forward to that. TYVM!

John

 

[pbgrebe]

From the posts here it seems that there is some misunderstanding about what caused the demise of the BFF. Since this post is already rather lengthy I’ll address that matter in a separate post.

As noted in my previous post there seems to be some misunderstanding here as to just what caused the demise of the black-footed ferret (BFF). The case of the BFF is a classic illustration of the interconnectedness that exists between various species and how the human caused severe decimation of one species (or in this case, a group of related species) can have devastating consequences for another species that is dependent upon it. The BFF has evolved into a prairie dog predator specialist and its existence is totally dependent upon prairie dogs (there are 5 species of prairie dog: black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison’s, Mexican and Utah). This is why all BFF reintroductions have been conducted on prairie dog complexes. Without sufficient populations of prairie dogs the BFF cannot exist. Prairie dogs are the prey the ferrets depend on for their survival (prairie dogs make up over 90% of their diet). The prairie dogs’ burrows are also vital for the BFF—the ferrets live in the burrows and their lives are essentially centered around them.

It’s through its dependence on prairie dogs that humans have taken the BFF to the brink of extinction. Prairie dogs were once super-abundant. They inhabited tracts of prairie extending from southern Canada to northern Mexico with the dependent BFF inhabiting prairie dog complexes throughout this range. But thanks to humans, prairie dog populations have been critically decimated. For over a century humans have waged a relentless war against prairie dogs, largely through massive poisoning campaigns and habitat destruction. Besides this direct slaughter, our species is also responsible for another of the significant mortality agents that have devastated prairie dogs: sylvatic plague (called bubonic plague in infected humans). Humans are responsible for the introduction of sylvatic plague to North America (this occurred at the turn of the 20th century). Sylvatic plague remains a serious problem for prairie dogs today and thus is also a significant problem for the BFF recovery effort. Besides decimating their obligate prey species (i.e., prairie dogs) it is coming to light that sylvatic plague also appears to be a more direct threat to ferrets than previously thought.

The devastating onslaught on prairie dogs proceeded unchecked until they were critically reduced to the point where they inhabited only an estimated 2% of their former range. The severe reduction and fragmentation of prairie dog populations had a disastrous effect on the BFF. As the prairie dog genocide proceeded, the ferrets were increasingly being broken up into isolated populations. With the continuing decimation of the prairie dogs, these isolated ferret populations shrank in size along with their associated prairie dog colonies. The unchecked decimation of prairie dog complexes finally reached the point where there were no longer any complexes left anywhere that were large enough to support a biologically viable population of ferrets. As a result, all of the remaining small, isolated, vulnerable BFF populations eventually went extinct, the last two being a small population in South Dakota (discovered in 1964, went extinct in 1974) and the Meeteetse population. So, while humans were busy conducting their prairie dog genocide they were also inadvertently taking the BFF to the brink of extinction. For anyone interested in more detail re. the path to the near extinction of the BFF I’ve attached excerpts from a piece that I wrote about the controversial BFF recovery effort (I’ve included excerpts that cover only the point up to the extinction of the Meeteetse population; note that this was written in the mid-1990’s).

Unfortunately, the situation regarding the BFF and the recovery program has been fraught with ethical and operational problems, political squabbles, inadequate funding, and problems related to human nature (such as vanity, ego, personality problems and conflicts, and struggles for power and control). In fact, things reached a point for me personally where, in good conscience, I had to resign in protest from the program due to grave ethical concerns re. a particular matter that arose that I considered to be unconscionable which I refused to participate in. What is the most significant problem at this point is the refusal of the recovery program to seriously address and deal with the vital prairie dog issue: specifically, that of engaging in the essential task of restoring/creating at least a few of the very large prairie dog complexes that are required to support a genuine biologically viable population of ferrets (i.e., populations that can stand on their own indefinitely over time without the need for continued human management). Due to the massive decimation of prairie dogs and continuing influence, power and anti-prairie dog sentiment exerted by some powerful gov’t and commercial entities, no such sufficiently large complexes currently exist (prairie dog conservation and restoration remains a highly controversial issue among various parties, notably the ranching industry). The crucial point here is that no matter how many ferrets they throw into these isolated, insufficiently small reintroduction sites there will remain zero chance of true biological recovery for the BFF until some of the requisite huge, sufficiently large prairie dog complexes are restored/created. Unless/until that task is accomplished they are merely reinserting ferrets back into the same basic situation that caused their demise in the first place (i.e., a situation of isolated, too small populations that are fated to go extinct). Quoting a relevant analogy that conveys the folly of such situations: “You can’t save the passengers by loading them back onto the sinking ship.” [I’ve also attached a list of three informative and very revealing books that I feel are essential reading for those interested in the BFF and the BFF recovery program (particularly its early history) and endangered species recovery in general.]

 

[KC Foggin]

I'll say it again. "Science is a wonderful thing"