Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

A Doe, a Deer, a Deer, a Deer...

Posted by michael on from the bambi dept.

Orne writes "Texas A&M University has announced it has successfully cloned its 5th species, the North American White-Tailed deer (see press release). Though the white-tailed deer is a common species, they hope they can use the knowledge to help repopulate endangered species of deer, like the Key West deer of Florida."

78 comments

  1. As if there was any doubt by kurosawdust · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is obviously a secret plot by the automobile industry. I mean, who else really thinks we actually need more of these??

    1. Re:As if there was any doubt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      deer hunters

    2. Re:As if there was any doubt by TykeClone · · Score: 1

      Damn deer - they should be developing more efficient ways to thin the herds than to artificially create more of them!

      Around here in northern Iowa, they are thicker than cattle. When my parents were young, they never saw deer (there weren't that many of them), but most farmers had cattle. My kids almost never see cattle, but deer don't even excite them - they're too common. Even worse, we're starting to see more "real" predators migrate into the area - bears, lynx, and mountain lions.

      --
      A fine is a tax you pay for doing wrong and a tax is a fine you pay for doing all right.
    3. Re:As if there was any doubt by Leroy_Brown242 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The deer and populations of North America are not very uniform. There are states in the east that are nearly over-run with deer, and have crazy hunts to get rid of them. But in the west the populations aren't as great as they once were. In Oregon, where I live, it's not uncommon to go a couple years without seeing a legal animal. Only seeing imature deer, or no deer at all. For that reason, I have stopped hunting deer. Just because I can get a tag to hunt these animals, doesn't mean I should.

      As they also stated, this is not just for the white tailed deer. There are a number of other specias that are related to the deer that are on the brink of extiction, like the"Key West deer of Florida." that they mentioned.

      --
      Pretty Pictures!
    4. Re:As if there was any doubt by TrueBuckeye · · Score: 3, Interesting

      That may be the only positive I see about the exploding deer population...it may help enable the return of predators. The only thing close to a large predator that I've seen in Ohio over the past 10 years is a single fox, and that shouldn't ever be considered large.
      I've heard of the occasional bear and a cougar or two, but those are so rare. I would love to see the population rise. Yeah, we may loose a few poodles in the mix, but that's worth it to me!

      --
      Was that night on the marge of Lake LaBarge I cremated Sam McGee...
    5. Re:As if there was any doubt by RobertB-DC · · Score: 2, Funny
      I mean, who else really thinks we actually need more of these??

      You must have missed the part that said it was Texas A&M who created the cloned deer. Here in Texas, Aggie jokes are a beloved source of humor. Here are a couple (from here) that are apropos:
      Two Aggies were pulling a large deer through the woods. They came across a Longhorn and he said, "Really nice buck you got there, but I think if you pulled him by his horns it would be a lot better than dragging him by his hind legs."

      The Aggies tried it and after a while one said "This sure is better. It's a lot smoother over the ground." The other said, "Yeah, but we sure a getting farther away from the truck."
      And another one (adapted a bit):
      A Longhorn, a Baylor Bear, and an Aggie went hunting. The Baylor kid went and came back with deer. The Longhorn said, "Wow how did you get that?" "I followed the tracks."

      So the Longhorn went out and came back with a bear. The Aggie said, "How did you get that?" "I followed the tracks."

      So the Aggie went out and came back all beat up. They both said, "What happened to you?" "I followed the tracks like you said, but before I could shoot anything, the train came!"
      Are you still here?
      How many Aggies does it take to eat an armadillo?
      Three. One to do the eating, and two to watch for cars.
      --
      Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
    6. Re:As if there was any doubt by TykeClone · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm more concerned about loosing a couple of kids.

      Having said that, deer are more of a threat to people than any bears or cougars would hope to be. I just read that deer/car collisions cause more than $1 billion in damage per year, hurt thousands of people, and kill more than 200 per year. They're as dangerous as the Iraqi army.

      --
      A fine is a tax you pay for doing wrong and a tax is a fine you pay for doing all right.
    7. Re:As if there was any doubt by TykeClone · · Score: 1

      You ought to take a trip to Iowa and take care of some of our deer.

      The whitetail deer is an amazingly adaptable animal - they are designed for the way that we grow crops and are thriving out here (to the point where they are a danger to the public).

      There are places down by the creeks that you can drive by at twilight and see 30 - 60 deer just standing around.

      --
      A fine is a tax you pay for doing wrong and a tax is a fine you pay for doing all right.
    8. Re:As if there was any doubt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Kill them all! Or at least ship them to Guantanamo Bay and make them suffer... Can't stand covardly suicide attackers like that, indiscriminantly attacking civillian population, while clearly they should only attack hunters.

      I say we start breeding and training bears and cougars to fight against this menace to American society.

    9. Re:As if there was any doubt by Psion · · Score: 1

      Why ship them to Guantanamo? My dinner table will make for a fine incarceration.

    10. Re:As if there was any doubt by Leroy_Brown242 · · Score: 1

      That is how it used to be out here. The coastal range was full of big game. But the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife had "hunter's choice" for way too many years. This ended this year I believe, so I hope the populations will comp back.

      --
      Pretty Pictures!
    11. Re:As if there was any doubt by fifedrum · · Score: 1

      fox are all over western New York, black bears aren't that uncommon either, one was just spotted in a suburb of Rochester... "they" say there's panthers around too, but "they" are usually full of crap.

    12. Re:As if there was any doubt by the_consumer · · Score: 1
      Around here in northern Iowa, they are thicker than cattle.

      That's a thick deer. WHat are they eating, McDonald's?

      --
      "If you're thinking what I'm thinking, you're right." -
    13. Re:As if there was any doubt by certsoft · · Score: 1

      In Grant County (eastern Oregon) the mule deer walk around residential streets nibbling on people's gardens. Unlike the white tailed deer we had in Vermont, these deer aren't afraid of people or cars.

    14. Re:As if there was any doubt by Almost-Retired · · Score: 1

      "they" say there's panthers around too, but "they" are usually full of crap.

      Don't bet the farm on it my friend. Here in WV, we have, because of the hills, a mixture of urban and wild country thats about as homogenized as you can imagine. And the border blend is often less than 50 feet wide!

      The game biolgists all claim we have no mountain lions, aka puma, panther, and several other local names for them.

      But I've had the pleasure (well so far its been pleasurable because it hasn't been life threatening, but it could very well be) of running into one just this past year as I was walking up the back trails to the local city water tank located on a north end of a long finger of forested hill, and in fact about 300 fet above and east of the local kmart! I was carrying a smallish case with my GPS, undercover and camera in it, doing some surverying for 802-11 stuffs.

      About 500 yards from the top of the trail, a big cat with a black tail stepped out of the brush on the left side of the trail and glanced my way, this from about 50 yards up the trail in front of me. A big (for WV, a short 2 feet long not counting tail) and probably 18" high, and 2 feet of black tipped tail, otherwise tawny colored, instantly says mountain lion to me, possibly immature. The cat watched me for maybe 5 seconds, the turned and vanished back into the brush.

      I in turn made sure my undercover wasn't undercover any more as I paced my ancient body on up the hill and did my work. And yes, I have a CWP.

      So yes, there are big cats about, at least in this neck of the woods.

      That isn't the closest I've been to one however. I damned near stepped on one about 35 years ago while hunting deer in the black hills. The cat, a full grown one, could have taken me down in a heartbeat, but instead left using all the traction it could muster with 4 legged drive. We weren't more than 4 feet apart when I inadvertantly made a noise that made it look around the rock at me, till then all I could see was the ragged end of the tail and didn't recognize it for what it was at the time.

      I'm all for having them around, until one turns maneater. Then find that one and destroy it. See a story about them in the readers digest recently about how not to handle them until its too late.

      We can geneticly modify the behaviour of things wild eventually. And I use the pheasant as an example.

      Considered unsporting to shoot unless in flight, we have gradually shot all the flyers so that now they sneak off on foot to live again. Any bird that flies, gets shot and taken out of the gene pool. So now we have had for the last couple of decades, pheasants that run and hide. We can, and should, use those same principles in managing what is otherwise scarce wildlife.

      --
      Cheers, Gene

    15. Re:As if there was any doubt by Escape+Tangent · · Score: 1

      You lose the right to say this once you start invading their territory. The threat to these animals only begins to become "important" once it affects us personally. Try to remember: while we humans have the blessing of choice, they (the predators) don't.

      --
      On Slashdot, we don't say "thank you." We say "that's enough..." -_-;
    16. Re:As if there was any doubt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We're afraid they may attempt a daring escape via the plumbing...

  2. Cheaper Way by Flwyd · · Score: 5, Funny

    It strikes me that there's a very cheap, efficient, and non-invasive to repopulate species of deer.

    Let them have sex.

    (When Texas A&M announced they'd cloned a cat, they said "The last thing we need is a new reproduction strategy for cats.")

    --
    Ceci n'est pas une signature.
  3. Near-extinct species... by Leffe · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I don't really see how they are going to save them, they'll need to find a really young/baby specimen if they want some good results, otherwise they'd only get 100 year old babies that die the day they mature...

    Why don't they put all the money they spend into something that has a future(pun semi-intended): Time travel!

    1. Re:Near-extinct species... by datababe72 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Actually, they do not need to find a young animal from which to clone. Dolly, the first cloned mammal, was cloned from an adult. The "cellular age" of the clone does not equal the age of the animal from which it was cloned. However, you are correct that there is still debate about whether clones age prematurely.

      Also, there has already been work done on using clones to save endangered species (BBC story).

      There is also a project in Australia to clone an extinct species, the Tasmanian tiger (BBC story).

      There are many reasons for using cloning to save endangered species, rather than just having them mate. These include: some species are not mating fast enough to keep up, some species don't mate well in captivity, and the desire to increase genetic diversity (by cloning from a captive animal that won't breed).

      The ethics of all of this may be debatable, but like it or not, the technology is going to make this a real possibility.

    2. Re:Near-extinct species... by TykeClone · · Score: 2, Interesting

      If you have an entire population based off of clones, wouldn't that also have too little genetic diversity?

      --
      A fine is a tax you pay for doing wrong and a tax is a fine you pay for doing all right.
    3. Re:Near-extinct species... by datababe72 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Only if all individuals in the population were cloned from the same individual, or from a small group of individuals. Actually, something similar to this happens in the wild. Its called the founder effect, and refers to the decreased genetic diversity in a population derived from only a few "founding" members.

      You are correct that this will be a problem for the already extinct species, the Tasmanian tiger, if the suceed in cloning it.

      However, this is not what they are doing to save the endangered species. The idea is to clone an individual that won't breed, and then introduce the clone into the captive breeding population. This adds diversity to the gene pool, by bringing in the genes from the non-breeder. Read the original link I posted for more info on this. Of course, this strategy assumes that there wasn't some genetic reason the original animal wouldn't breed in the first place. Perhaps he was shy? Or spent too much time reading slashdot? It seems to me that its likely he was just infertile. This is the biggest weakness of the strategy, in my opinion.

    4. Re:Near-extinct species... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      uhh...I think you're confusing cloning in real life with some B movie you saw as a child.

  4. Transgenic deer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    They should insert the genes for headlights and a horn into one of them. Might give the deer around here fighting chance.

  5. WTF? by torpor · · Score: 1

    They had deer in Florida? I guess that explains the crocodiles ... or is it alligators in Flordia? Shee-it, I forget, but oh well...

    I did not know about those deer. Interesting.

    --
    ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
    1. Re:WTF? by jabberjaw · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yes, Florida does in fact have deer. Although endangered, if you look hard enough you will find them. They are smaller than the white-tail variety and quite endangered. Find out more here

    2. Re:WTF? by YU+Nicks+NE+Way · · Score: 2, Informative

      Actually, Florida has both alligators and crocodiles. The Florida Crocodile is an endangered species. Almost all of the known specimens are currently found in the downstream heat plume of one of the local nuclear power plants.

      (No, I'm not joking. Nobody knows why the crocs have congregated there, but it seems to work for them. Works for the humans, too: alligators don't tend to bother people if they're not bothered first. Crocodiles are considerably more aggressive, so having them stay in a place where people can be easily convinced to avoid is a good thing.)

    3. Re:WTF? by jabberjaw · · Score: 1

      You would not happen to be refering to the Crystal River plant would you? I have heard that mantinees also tend to congregate there as well in because of the heat plume. Seeing as crocodiles are cold blooded, I can see why they would seem to enjoy hanging around the heat plume.

    4. Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      For warm-blooded manatees, one would think that having heated water would reduce the amount of energy required to heat the body while swimming. The average water temperatures mid winter appear to be in the mid 60's F. Therefore, for the same amount of calorie intake, the energy that would have gone into heating can be redirected to species reproduction.

      For cold-blooded creatures, their activity is proportional to the ambient temperature of their surroundings; warmer water would allow more reproductive activity than the colder waters outside of the waste heat plume.

      I would also expect more plantlife food source in the plume, since plant growth is proportional to temperature. With an increase of food supply, that attracts the plant eaters, and the meat eaters always follow.

    5. Re:WTF? by torpor · · Score: 2, Funny

      freakin' holy smokin' joes, you mean if i want my own crocodile super-army all i need is a convenient nuclear reactor to atract them with?

      man. there is a goddess.

      --
      ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
    6. Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Florida has alligators. Crocodiles are their smaller, less aggressive cousin and are found in Australia, among other places.

      I'd love to see "crocodile hunter" steve irwin even try to take on a 'glade 'gator.

    7. Re:WTF? by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 1

      "Crocodiles are considerably more aggressive, so having them stay in a place [downstream heat plume of one of the local nuclear power plants] where people can be easily convinced to avoid is a good thing."

      Interesting that the fact that it is a place where aggressive crocodiles congregate isn't enough, and that the only hazardous areas we respect are those we make ourselves.

      Sounds like we need human cloning before humans become endangered.

      --
      Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
    8. Re:WTF? by hellraizr · · Score: 1

      they're called "key deer" and are a local tourist attraction down here in hell, oops I mean south florida. they're like 1/2 the size of a normal deer.

    9. Re:WTF? by YU+Nicks+NE+Way · · Score: 1

      Nah -- you need laser beams for their heads, too. The reactor's the easy part; fitting the d*ned lasers on is a real chore.

      You'd probably do better to stick with frikken sharks.

    10. Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I guess that explains the crocodiles ... or is it alligators in Flordia?"

      It's Gators in Florida, not crocks (or Noles)
      Especially around Gainesville

  6. Keepp by thebatlab · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Well the whole "repopulate" argument is just another way to justify what they are doing. Helping nature repopulate itself is the next logical step for humans as we tend to think we are above nature.

    Maybe if we started to realize that in nature, species die off. It happens all the time and hasn't been just recently b/c of humans. Yes, we've caused our share of destruction but has it ever been analyzed against prior species domination?

    I'm sure the sabre-toothed tiger never sat back and thought "Shit, i'm killing off these wooly mammoths like crazy! I better think of a way to encourage repopulation before they're extinct!". It just thought "Hey look! It's my next meal to ensure my survival".

    1. Re:Keepp by Lead+Butthead · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm sure the sabre-toothed tiger never sat back and thought "Shit, i'm killing off these wooly mammoths like crazy! I better think of a way to encourage repopulation before they're extinct!". It just thought "Hey look! It's my next meal to ensure my survival".


      Flawed analogy; animals hunt because they're hungry. Humans hunt for ENTERTAINMENT (mostly.) Name ONE sabre toothed tiger (or for that matter, any animal) that has deer heads mounted on their dwelling walls, and brags to others of their species of their "magnificant" kills...
      --
      ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
    2. Re:Keepp by aurum42 · · Score: 1
      Classic example of a bad analogy. The sabre-toothed tiger wasn't an intelligent tool using globally dominant species, and it certainly did not have the capability to extrapolate the consequences of its actions. Today, we are in a position to exterminate every other species if we chose to act like a mindless predator, but we also (well, some of us) have the capacity to extrapolate what would happen if we did that. We don't need to kill deer to ensure our survival, as you seem to present, but we do need to preserve ecological diversity to do so.

      From the "above nature" comment, I'm guessing you're speaking from a religious standpoint, and I'm not going to bother presenting a counter-argument to that. Yes, there are certainly dangers involved in reintroducing a species without calculating the consequences of that reintroduction on the ecosystem, but the people working on this sort of thing are smart, and have probably modeled everything as best as possible.

      --
      "The slave who knows his master's will and does not get ready...will be be beaten with many blows."Luke 12:47-48
    3. Re:Keepp by ElectricRook · · Score: 3, Informative

      Name ONE sabre toothed tiger (or for that matter, any animal) that has deer heads mounted on their dwelling walls, and brags to others of their species of their "magnificant" kills...


      I guess you've never seen what coyotes do to sheep. They go in, slaughter five or ten, eat part of one. Come back tomorrow night, do the same.

      Know about the "Butcher Bird"? Catches small rodents, and insects. Impales them on barbed wire, or sharp sticks. Leaves them there.

      I guess you get your nature education from watching US TV.

      Turn off the TV, go speak with people who work in agriculture. Instead of sending money to the Lawyers who use it to hurt US Farmers.

      --
      - High Tech workers, please say NO to Union Carpenters, their Union sees fit to control our compensation.
    4. Re:Keepp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is not particularly relevant, but given the size of the tax payer funded (and needless) subsidies to US farmers, I'd say that letting predators feed off their subsidized stock is a good thing :-)

    5. Re:Keepp by thebatlab · · Score: 1

      "Classic example of a bad analogy"

      If anything, it's typical and not classic but that' besides the point.

      "have the capacity to extrapolate what would happen if we did that"

      And what would happen? Sure we can come up with a bunch of nice statistical models but nature is an animal in itself and will constantly adapt and that's something we can't fully model. We can again give estimates based on our observations but as I'm sure you're well aware of, observing itself messes up the system you're trying to observe and well....we're humans. We're *not* that smart and we've proven it time and time again.

      Like I said, species have been going extinct since the start of time and we tend to get all panicky when some go extinct during our lifecycle. Artifical replication is not the answer. It's a patch. Bring about more deer, hunting quotas go up.

      Now, I'm not saying we haven't possibly contributed to more species extinction than previous species. We just may have. However, as species grow they tend to become more dominant for the simple idea that in nature, only the strong tend to survive. So each time a new species survives, it grows that much stronger. Humans are the strongest right now it would appear but it won't be forever. We're not an overall strong enough species to sustain ourselves for long enough. As you stated: "if we chose to act like a mindless predator". Yes, that's one of our big problems. Not enough of us think globally and we tend to overuse our resources. When we overuse them enough, we will die off and something else will take our place. It may be a single-celled organism again, it may be some new form of ape. Who's to say?

      My point, if I haven't rambled enough already :S, is that us artificially trying to keep a species around after another subset of us almost killed it off (don't forget about natural predators and disease that they face, it's not all on us) is just a patch on a tire. Nowhere near as good as the original.

      "From the "above nature" comment, I'm guessing you're speaking from a religious standpoint"

      Sorry, nope. No religous standpoint on my end here. Just my own thoughts which may or may not tie in to certain religions and may or may not be entirely crazy.

      "but the people working on this sort of thing are smart, and have probably modeled everything as best as possible."

      But are they smart enough? And by smart enough I mean can they present every single possible consequence and determine that there is no way for this to fail within a probability of 99.999999%? I doubt it. And that's why we shouldn't do it.

    6. Re:Keepp by phorm · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That's one part of the arguement: but there are many factors and sport killing is just one.

      Massive overhunting is another, look at how we're depleting world fish stocks. I don't think sport wishing is what's causing this.

      The other major factor is of course pollution, and destruction of habitat. Ol' Sabre may have hunted down some mammoths with tooth and nail, he didn't destroy where they lived with piles of toxic shit and clearcutting.

    7. Re:Keepp by Seq · · Score: 1
      I'm sure the sabre-toothed tiger never sat back and thought "Shit, i'm killing off these wooly mammoths like crazy! I better think of a way to encourage repopulation before they're extinct!". It just thought "Hey look! It's my next meal to ensure my survival".

      Funny you mention the sabre-tooth tiger. What's it doing nowdays? oh yeah

      --
      -- Seq
    8. Re:Keepp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I guess you've never seen what coyotes do to sheep. They go in, slaughter five or ten, eat part of one. Come back tomorrow night, do the same.

      They're still eating the sheep, you dumb shit. And wtf does US TV have to do with anything?

      The number of prey killed by animals is negligible compared to the number of animals killed from deforestation, sport hunting and pollution from humans. Maybe you should stop talking to narrow-minded farmers and listen to scientists who aren't solely concerned with the findings that make them the most money.

      Think before you type, moron.

    9. Re:Keepp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Humans learn and write for ENTERTAINMENT (mostly.)

      Name ONE sabre toothed tiger (or for that matter, any animal) that has developed science or literature, and brags to others of their species of their "magnificant" knowledge...

      Hunting for entertainment is no less a side-effect of the human condition that all the great stuff we do.

    10. Re:Keepp by Ironica · · Score: 1

      Maybe if we started to realize that in nature, species die off. It happens all the time and hasn't been just recently b/c of humans. Yes, we've caused our share of destruction but has it ever been analyzed against prior species domination?

      Hm... yes, I think it has.

      Here's a short item on mass extinction vs. background extinction rates. This guy talks about the background rate of extinction of entire marine families; other articles I ran across talked about background extinction rates of individual species, and estimated at around one per decade. We manage at least ten times that now.

      --
      Don't you wish your girlfriend was a geek like me?
    11. Re:Keepp by Copid · · Score: 1

      Just something worth mentioning: the butcher bird usually does eat what it impales. I think the theory is that it's feet are not strong enough to hold the prey while the bird tears it apart. It's actually a practical thing. Frequently, the heads (or whatever part was used to hook the prey) of the critters are left behind, though. Creepy stuff.

      --
      An interesting anagram of "BANACH TARSKI" is "BANACH TARSKI BANACH TARSKI"
  7. Seeka Deer ? by andy666 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I think I read that the original motivation came from an interest in cloning the Seeka deer, which lives on an island off of South Carolina. This deer is strange because it has 5 stomachs, and was of interest for some medical reason.

    1. Re:Seeka Deer ? by *SpOoNdRiFt* · · Score: 1

      I think they should clone Seka.. and lots of them!

  8. I'm not holding my breath until they clone Santa! by njchick · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    [n/t]

  9. Key Deer, not Key West by FroBugg · · Score: 4, Informative

    They're just called Key Deer. You might find some as far as Key West, but not many. The vast majority of them (about 600, with the entire population at 700 or 800) are found on Big Pine Key and No Name Key.

    They're very small, standing about two or two and a half feet at the shoulder and weighing maybe 80 pounds.

    1. Re:Key Deer, not Key West by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "The vast majority of them (about 600, with the entire population at 700 or 800) are found on Big Pine Key and No Name Key."

      Thanks for the hunting directions...

      It's a joke, son! Git it?!

    2. Re:Key Deer, not Key West by new+death+barbie · · Score: 1
      They're very small, standing about two or two and a half feet at the shoulder and weighing maybe 80 pounds.
      ...and they taste like chicken...
      --

      It's supposed to be completely automatic, but actually you have to press this button.

  10. Adaptability at the cellular level? by gregwbrooks · · Score: 2, Interesting
    I've heard White-Tailed Deer described as a "weedy" species because they can adapt so readily to a big range of circumstances. I wonder if the weediness carries down to the genetic level and makes intra-cell mucking about (i.e., cloning) more viable?

    --


    "It was a summer's tale: Just a boy, his Linux, and a head full of dreams..."
  11. just a thought by theMerovingian · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Deer will breed well in captivity, or in semi-protected forests. Not to take away from the accomplishment of cloning a deer, but it probably isn't cost effective from a conservation perspective.

    Cloning panda bears, tigers, or condors might give a more favorable biodiversity/dollars-spent-on-cloning ratio.

    --
    "If you think you have things under control, you're not going fast enough." --Mario Andretti
  12. Re:Seeka Deer = Sika Deer = (Cervus nippon) ? by Dave21212 · · Score: 1


    I wonder if they are the same as the Sika Deer (Cervus nippon) that we have here in Maryland on Assateague Island ? The place is lousy with them ;)

    --
    "Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech."--Benjamin Franklin
  13. Oh Great!!! by immortal · · Score: 1

    Not like we are overpopulated here in Wisconsin, they have to go clone more? Why not clone something more interesting and rare, like Linus Torvald.

    --
    "Your having a bad day when the voices in your head put you on hold"
    1. Re:Oh Great!!! by ocelotbob · · Score: 1

      It only makes sense. Might as well refine the cloning process on an "expendable" species, where a failed clone means little to nothing, than spend portions of a finite lifespan trying to clone a threatened or endangered species. You work most of the bugs out of cloning a similar animal, and you have a much easier time cloning a rare animal, if the process is viable.

      --

      Marxism is the opiate of dumbasses

  14. doodoo by caino · · Score: 1

    Cloning won't create enough population diversity to help the species. Numerous individuals with the same genetic code will just effectively create more siblings and promote inbreeding. These labs are wasting time and money for recognition with a fake practical wrapper.

    1. Re:doodoo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      thanks for saying this. a fact many people do not realize. genetic diversity is what species thrive on. those without it (i.e. cheetahs) don't do very well.

  15. hunters rejoice! by OneOver137 · · Score: 1

    Now everyone can shoot a trophy buck! Before modding me down, note I am a hunter. Oh wait, isn't that automatically a -1 post?

    1. Re:hunters rejoice! by fifedrum · · Score: 1

      Imagine a preserve, tens of thousands of acres, filled with clones (and their descendants) of the hardest hunted [deer|bear|elk] a group of hunters ever encountered... All those trophies on the walls of all those hunting lodges and homes are a treasure of genetic material waiting to be harvested and brought back to life. Most represent (in our view) the best of their species. (who wants to hang a scabby/scrawny specimen on the wall?)

      Good looking and good eatin' too!

    2. Re:hunters rejoice! by OneOver137 · · Score: 1

      Cue the "Predator" music!

  16. Age of Cloned Animals by darkmeridian · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Telomeres regulate the age of chromosomes. Animals cloned from adults exhibit signs of advanced aging prematurely. There are transcription factors and the like in the host "egg" that are not being compensated for. Cloning healthy animals from adults may be harder than it seems.

    --
    A NYC lawyer blogs. http://www.chuangblog.com/
  17. Re:I'm not holding my breath until they clone Sant by grozzie2 · · Score: 1

    This has been done already, saw it with my own eyes today. Was in a shopping mall, and there it was, side by side, 2 santas, each with kids on thier lap.

  18. Doe, a Deer, a Deer, a Beer... by ShaunC · · Score: 2, Funny

    Ray, the guy who sells me beer,
    Me, the guy who drinks the beer,
    Fa, a long way to get beer,
    So, I drink a lot of beer,
    La, I can't drive after beer,
    Te, no thanks, I'm drinking beer

    Happy holiday of choice everyone... Just be sure it involves some (free) beer :)

    --
    Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!
    1. Re:Doe, a Deer, a Deer, a Beer... by Ironica · · Score: 2, Funny

      Ah, this parody works much better for girls...

      Do, a beer, a real good beer,
      Re, the guy that buys the beer...
      Mi, the girl he buys the beer for,
      Fa... the distance to the bar
      So, I think I'll have a beer...
      La, la la la la la la...
      Ti, no thanks I've got a beer,
      and that brings us back to Do!

      --
      Don't you wish your girlfriend was a geek like me?
  19. Hopefully coming to a supermarket near me! by Stephen+Maturin · · Score: 1

    mmmmm.... backstrap ad venison sausage.....

    --
    Non tam praeclarum est scire Latine, quam turpe nescire
    -- Cicero
  20. Re:Seeka Deer = Sika Deer = (Cervus nippon) ? by andy666 · · Score: 1

    Yes, I think you are right. I just didn't know how to spell them. And actually I think when I saw them it was in Florida.

  21. Cloning vs. Conservation ? by BallPeenHammer · · Score: 1
    Clearly, scientists are going to continue attempting to clone non-human species. It's not difficult to imagine assembling a kind of clone collection, where the material (yeah, I'm not a biologist) necessary to create an arbitrary number any of the filed species would be stored.

    This raises the question of the value of conservation to preserve species. Don't get me wrong: I think that conserving land to preserve species is valuable and important. However, if it is possible to recreate a member of a species at will, the question has to be asked whether conservation efforts would become less important. I'm not saying now. I'm thinking of when there are thousands or millions of species preserved.

    Anyway, what do you think?

    --
    The Law of Falling Bodies
  22. Mary Poppins by herrvinny · · Score: 1

    Doe, a deer, a female deer
    Ray, a drop of golden sun
    Me, a name I call myself
    Far, a long, long way to run...

    A good song, for the musically illiterate.

    1. Re:Mary Poppins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course, that song is actually from The Sound of Music, not Mary Poppins.

    2. Re:Mary Poppins by lina_inverse · · Score: 1

      You call the slashdot crowd musically illiterate, but you say the song is from Mary Poppins when it's The Sound Of Music.

      Are you being ironic or just plain stupid?

    3. Re:Mary Poppins by herrvinny · · Score: 1

      Stupid. I was thinking about something else when I wrote that... Sorry everyone.

  23. No New Texans! by sciop101 · · Score: 1

    May be a blessing after all! George Bush promised but could not do it! This could be the means!

    --
    The only thing new in this world is the history that you don't know.[Harry Truman]
  24. Mmmm, sexy! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can't beat a mare, but don't you find that white rump sooo attractive?!

  25. Non-Invasive? by Crypto+Gnome · · Score: 1

    I'm not a biologist/naturalist or any suchlike related, but last time I checked (I seem to recall) mammalian sex was an invasive procedure (so to speak).

    --
    Visit CryptoGnome in his home.