Photo credit: Audubon Institute
An adorable newborn kitten at Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species represents an innovation in reproductive technology pioneered in New Orleans at Audubon Nature Institute. An African Black-footed Cat kitten was born February 6, 2012, to an ordinary domestic cat, becoming the first of its kind to be born from inter-species embryo transfer.
This birth is the latest breakthrough in assisted reproduction for endangered species from Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans.
Story Begins Years Ago
The story of the newborn kitten goes all the way back to 2003, when sperm was collected from a 6 year old male named Ramses by scientists at the Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo Center for Conservation and Research, in Omaha, Nebraska. The sample was shipped overnight to Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species in New Orleans where it was frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen. In March, 2005, the sperm was thawed and combined with eggs from Zora, a black-footed cat living at the Audubon research center.
The story of the newborn kitten goes all the way back to 2003, when sperm was collected from a 6 year old male named Ramses by scientists at the Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo Center for Conservation and Research, in Omaha, Nebraska. The sample was shipped overnight to Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species in New Orleans where it was frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen. In March, 2005, the sperm was thawed and combined with eggs from Zora, a black-footed cat living at the Audubon research center.
From this IVF procedure, a total of 11 embryos were produced and cryopreserved. Nearly seven years later, five of those embryos were thawed and transferred to domestic cat Amelie on December 2, 2011. Sixty-seven days later, a 65 gram healthy female black-footed cat kitten was born, naturally and without assistance.
The kitten is the first of its species to be born to a different species surrogate mother via frozen/thawed embryo transfer using cryopreserved sperm.
“Just as technology races ahead in every other field today, the science of assisted reproduction for endangered species has come a long way since we opened Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species in 1996. And now, another ‘first’ in the field renews our hope for the future,” said Audubon Nature Institute President and CEO Ron Forman. “We are proving this science works. We can provide high-tech options for many different species as the situation grows more and more critical for wildlife across the globe.”
The kitten is the first of its species to be born to a different species surrogate mother via frozen/thawed embryo transfer using cryopreserved sperm.
“Just as technology races ahead in every other field today, the science of assisted reproduction for endangered species has come a long way since we opened Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species in 1996. And now, another ‘first’ in the field renews our hope for the future,” said Audubon Nature Institute President and CEO Ron Forman. “We are proving this science works. We can provide high-tech options for many different species as the situation grows more and more critical for wildlife across the globe.”
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