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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."

6 of 78 comments (clear)

  1. 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.

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  2. 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!

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    Was that night on the marge of Lake LaBarge I cremated Sam McGee...
  3. 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.

  4. 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?

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  5. 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?

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    "It was a summer's tale: Just a boy, his Linux, and a head full of dreams..."
  6. 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.

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    "If you think you have things under control, you're not going fast enough." --Mario Andretti