A horse named Kurt was born in Texas on August 6. Kurt made history. He’s the first Przewalski’s horse to be successfully cloned.
In 1980, scientists at the San Diego Zoo, in California, took DNA from a Przewalski’s horse and froze it. DNA is the substance that determines the characteristics of a living thing. Kurt was cloned from this DNA.
The scientists’ goal is to save the species. Przewalski’s horses, which come from Central Asia, are endangered.
The zoo worked with Revive & Restore, a wildlife conservation group. Ryan Phelan is that group’s executive director. She says cloning “can save species” and the “genetic diversity that would have otherwise been lost to time.”
Kurt will live at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
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