Meet Elizabeth Ann,
the First Cloned Black-
Footed Ferret
Her birth represents the first cloning of an
endangered species native to North America, and
may bring needed genetic diversity to the species.
Last year, Ben Novak drove across the country to spend New Year’s Eve with a black-footed ferret. Elizabeth Ann had just turned
21 days old — surely a milestone for any ferret but a particularly meaningful one for Elizabeth Ann, the first of any native,
endangered animal species in North America to be cloned.
Mr. Novak, the lead scientist of the biotechnology nonprofit Revive & Restore, bought a trailer camper to drive his wife and
identical twin toddlers from North Carolina to the National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Center near Fort Collins, Colo.
(They made one pit stop in Texas to see Kurt, the first cloned Przewalski’s horse.)
Mr. Novak spent less than 15 minutes with Elizabeth Ann, whose black mask, feet and tail were just beginning to show through
her downy white fur. “It felt like time stopped,” Mr. Novak said.
Thankfully, time has not stopped for Elizabeth Ann, who now looks bigger, browner and considerably more like a ferret. Her
successful cloning is the culmination of a yearslong collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Revive & Restore, the
for-profit company ViaGen Pets & Equine, San Diego Zoo Global and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
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