The Frozen Zoo That Could Solve Extinction

What the film says

1. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance's Frozen Zoo stores living cell lines and gametes at -320°F.

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2. The Frozen Zoo was founded by pathologist Kurt Benirschke.

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3. Elizabeth Ann, a black-footed ferret cloned from Willa (a wild ferret who died in the 1980s), was born December 10, 2020, the first cloned U.S./North American endangered species.

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4. Black-footed ferrets were declared extinct in 1979, and a remnant wild population was found in 1981 near Meeteetse, Wyoming.

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5. Willa left no living descendants, and her genome carries diversity lost from the living population.

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6. The Lord Howe Island stick insect disappeared after the supply ship SS Makambo ran aground in 1918 and black rats got ashore; it was thought extinct by 1920.

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7. In 2001, 24 individuals were found on Ball's Pyramid.

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8. Only two northern white rhinos remain, both female (Najin and Fatu).

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9. Researchers plan to reproduce northern white rhinos using induced pluripotent stem cells, with San Diego Zoo among the partners.

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10. The Frozen Zoo holds living cells from 12 northern white rhinos.

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