THE CLONED FERRET THAT SHOCKED VIRGINIA & CHANGED CONSERVATION

By Zoey Finch / 15.11.25

[{"selector":"#anim-81eb5e05-2119-4c47-a403-9e8402808161","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":250,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-33f6a306-39db-4eac-80ae-aff2a4686749","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-177.04918%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":250,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-dbb22994-1ab9-4367-afa8-aea5367010fc","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-ee222d61-d7eb-4b5b-bdfd-ab3fa6b24649","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-113.9881%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-c3789898-6bb5-434a-9303-dfc5e01a5220","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-a90d798c-38e5-40f3-9b95-117198ef4047","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(114.77986%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-c537cdb7-f804-4a6c-aa6a-9491679cd896","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-8d466b37-c21f-4f27-bba1-1a2268ef9d08","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 100.33394%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] T he Black-Footed Ferret, once declared extinct twice, is one of America’s rarest animals. But what happened in Virginia shocked everyone. Scientists weren’t expecting a cloned ferret to survive — let alone thrive.

Once on the brink of extinction, this little face is rewriting history.

[{"selector":"#anim-41c6fb40-6d34-4c0b-8208-c030bcee3945","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":250,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-8315c0be-a883-4582-832e-18a043f54e41","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-162.29506%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":250,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-3b8e4217-2c83-4970-bcb2-721ac8576fc9","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-f0001f79-9dc9-4900-8a3a-94c3aebd35d3","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 101.86745%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-a61408a1-e9db-4d15-bdbc-df01026356ec [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-21.874999829338588%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}]

“This birth proves that cloning can reshape the future of U.S. wildlife conservation.”

[{"selector":"#anim-eee1b01e-f001-4214-ae49-84d3b01688e8","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-e3c9a109-dae3-4d04-b921-0517b533da75","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-5e46a83c-2a65-498c-944a-8ab8ca7e9231","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-101.55039%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-ceaa0455-30bf-4603-bc31-6e384195f619 [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate(0%, 0%) scale(1.5)","translate(0%, 0%) scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"forwards"}] — National Zoo Spokesperson

The black-footed ferret was once declared extinct in the wild. But Virginia’s cloned ferret is now proving that saved DNA can rewrite the future.

[{"selector":"#anim-3701ba63-3a85-479d-b533-86e4ba86de6d","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":250,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-b00d891f-7ec9-4e4b-a3f1-10240b9ab2b2","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-152.459%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":250,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-cd75bda6-da32-484c-b6e5-d5251a397463","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-f25d0545-3249-43a3-a6a4-b6c09b42e716","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 117.44258%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-0bc87260-11f3-44a0-b460-e7066c643fdd [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-7.812499744007886%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}]

Once nearly erased from America’s grasslands, the black-footed ferret survived only through a handful of rescued animals.

[{"selector":"#anim-d28a6dcb-7fff-43c6-969f-cc84e674c49e","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":250,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-c32fe225-c646-404c-8fa5-01938c33ae09","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-162.29506%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":250,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-8179b726-5e6e-499d-9edc-48c88f5f8391","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-eb172e58-d267-46b3-8bd1-9cab214d09a2","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(104.7619%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-27f76a60-628c-433a-8b4e-ed8e4abdd2dc [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-7.682291409884452%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}]

It’s hard to imagine America’s prairies without the black-footed ferret, a species that once vanished and is only surviving today because of science.

[{"selector":"#anim-431f60a2-056a-46fa-bdfa-0f39516f075b","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":250,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-93cb1b6a-7f67-4298-a5b2-71c3f73b4ace","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-162.29506%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":250,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-e41e9dc5-3719-4b2e-840b-07a7deeb8bf4","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-cc58aa2c-b026-4eef-a3ff-733bdf9ebcfe","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-110.98266%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-8db1467a-f466-48e6-80fc-fc4575f2a054 [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(10.466195896811742%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}]