Conservation scientists hope that preserving genetic material offers future insurance against extinction
"It was actually cheaper for the zoo to clone a horse - to bring more genetic diversity into the American population of the species - than it would have been to ship a horse from a European zoo," explains Revive and Restore's lead scientist Dr Ben Novak.Genetic diversity is important. As the population of a species dwindles, it can lead to inbreeding. In mammals, offspring have a set of genetic instructions from each biological parent.
"And there's the issue of prioritising what is stored," he says. "It would be wonderful to get tissue from 20 snow leopards from 20 different locations, but that would be really difficult."Whenever an animal has to be put to sleep or dies unexpectedly, zoo vets will take some tissue for the bank. Head of science at Chester Zoo, Dr Sue Walker, says it's about saving as much genetic material as possible. "If we don't do it when that animal passes way, we've just lost it," she says.The Javan green magpie has been pushed to the brink of extinction by the caged bird trade
"She was quite a young animal and she never had any cubs, unfortunately. It's sad, but it's nice to know that her living tissue will carry on."Now, a few pea-sized pieces of Goshi's black, velvety ear - cleaned, prepared and bathed in a protective nutrient solution - are in an increasingly biodiverse canister of liquid nitrogen.
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