{"id":60112930,"date":"2025-12-11T16:31:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T16:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/?post_type=news_digest&#038;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<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A six-month old Zhangmu calf cloned on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is in good health, reports <a href=\"https:\/\/lasa.xzdw.gov.cn\/wdjs_469\/202512\/t20251208_630645.html\">Lhasa Daily<\/a>.<br><br>Zhangmu cattle are a very rare breed of domestic cattle native to Tibet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Researchers plan to begin breeding trials once the cloned cow, which was born in May, reaches maturity, with the aim of expanding the population.<br><br>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<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A 2021 <a href=\"https:\/\/toutiao.xzdw.gov.cn\/st\/202402\/t20240201_439408.html\">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<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The cloning began in 2023, when four males were successfully <a href=\"https:\/\/toutiao.xzdw.gov.cn\/st\/202402\/t20240201_439408.html\">cloned<\/a> in Yunyang county, Chongqing, to address the shortage of breeding bulls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With technical challenges now overcome, cloning has shifted to Tibet itself. And the Zhangmu cattle population has reportedly <a href=\"https:\/\/lasa.xzdw.gov.cn\/wdjs_469\/202512\/t20251208_630645.html\">risen<\/a> from 19 to 37, though it\u2019s unclear how many of these were cloned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is not the first time Chinese scientists have cloned rare animals. In 2022, they successfully cloned a wild <a href=\"https:\/\/science.caixin.com\/2022-09-20\/101942474.html\">Arctic wolf<\/a>, using a beagle surrogate mother, in a world first. The following year, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.globaltimes.cn\/page\/202301\/1284569.shtml\">super cows<\/a>\u201d were cloned, capable of producing over 100 tonnes of milk in their lifetime.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yudu.gov.cn\/ydxxxgk\/c100256mmgr\/202110\/7630dada44f5490ba9373ee92ec8a594.shtml\">illegal<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The government has issued <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.cn\/gongbao\/content\/2014\/content_2692743.htm\">regulations<\/a> on animals in laboratories, emphasising welfare. However, animal cloning, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/people-culture\/article\/3302211\/chinese-pet-cloning-industry-charges-us52000-raises-ethical-and-health-concerns\">commercial pet cloning<\/a> and cloning of endangered species, is not formally regulated.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sun Quanhui, a scientist from the World Animal Protection, an international nonprofit, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.chinapfjy.com.cn\/news.asp?id=13241&amp;channel_id=14\">argues<\/a> that cloning exposes healthy animals to unnecessary suffering during egg retrieval, surgery, surrogacy and birth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Regarding wild animals, conservation advocates have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.org\/content\/article\/conservation-first-cloned-ferret-could-help-save-her-species\">warning<\/a> that cloning could divert attention and funding from habitat protection and wild population recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Read Dialogue Earth\u2019s previous <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/chinas-evolving-zoos-from-entertainment-to-education\/\"><em>article<\/em><\/a><em> on China\u2019s evolving zoos, from entertainment to education<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_has_post_settings":[],"footnotes":""},"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":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 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