{"id":60112930,"date":"2025-12-11T16:31:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T16:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/?post_type=news_digest&p=60112930"},"modified":"2025-12-11T16:31:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T16:31:27","slug":"chinas-cloned-zhangmu-cow-in-good-health","status":"publish","type":"news_digest","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-cloned-zhangmu-cow-in-good-health\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s cloned Zhangmu cow in good health"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A six-month old Zhangmu calf cloned on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is in good health, reports Lhasa Daily<\/a>.

Zhangmu cattle are a very rare breed of domestic cattle native to Tibet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers plan to begin breeding trials once the cloned cow, which was born in May, reaches maturity, with the aim of expanding the population.

The case has resurfaced controversy surrounding animal cloning. Critics point to risks including health complications associated with egg retrieval and surrogacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2021 survey<\/a> found only 19 Zhangmu cattle remaining, including one viable breeding bull, placing the breed at risk of extinction. This year\u2019s successful high-altitude cloning has been described by media as an important step toward population recovery.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cloning began in 2023, when four males were successfully cloned<\/a> in Yunyang county, Chongqing, to address the shortage of breeding bulls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With technical challenges now overcome, cloning has shifted to Tibet itself. And the Zhangmu cattle population has reportedly risen<\/a> from 19 to 37, though it\u2019s unclear how many of these were cloned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not the first time Chinese scientists have cloned rare animals. In 2022, they successfully cloned a wild Arctic wolf<\/a>, using a beagle surrogate mother, in a world first. The following year, \u201csuper cows<\/a>\u201d were cloned, capable of producing over 100 tonnes of milk in their lifetime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cloning non-human animals raises ethical and regulatory concerns. Chinese law only regulates human cloning: implanting cloned or gene-edited human embryos into humans is illegal<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government has issued regulations<\/a> on animals in laboratories, emphasising welfare. However, animal cloning, including commercial pet cloning<\/a> and cloning of endangered species, is not formally regulated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sun Quanhui, a scientist from the World Animal Protection, an international nonprofit, argues<\/a> that cloning exposes healthy animals to unnecessary suffering during egg retrieval, surgery, surrogacy and birth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding wild animals, conservation advocates have been warning<\/a> that cloning could divert attention and funding from habitat protection and wild population recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read Dialogue Earth\u2019s previous <\/em>article<\/em><\/a> on China\u2019s evolving zoos, from entertainment to education<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A six-month old calf cloned on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is resurfacing controversy around animal cloning<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":60006649,"template":"","categories":[764],"tags":[523,561,20000628],"country":[20000110],"digest-collection":[50039911],"class_list":["post-60112930","news_digest","type-news_digest","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nature","tag-conservation","tag-livestock","tag-science","country-china"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nChina\u2019s cloned Zhangmu cow in good health | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/chinas-cloned-zhangmu-cow-in-good-health\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"China\u2019s cloned Zhangmu cow in good health\" \/>\n<meta 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