Rare horse cloned from cells taken from a stallion in 1980

Author: AP
Published:
Kurt, a tiny horse who is actually a clone, is seen in this September 1, 2020, photo provided by San Diego Zoo Global. CHRISTINE SIMMONS/SAN DIEGO ZOO GLOBAL VIA AP

Little Kurt looks like any other baby horse as he frolics playfully in his pen. He isn’t afraid to kick or head-butt an intruder who gets in his way and, when he’s hungry, dashes over to his mother for milk.

But 2-month-old Kurt differs from every other baby horse of his kind in one distinct way: He’s a clone.

The rare, endangered Przewalski’s horse was created from cells taken from a stallion that had sat frozen at the San Diego Zoo for 40 years before they were fused with an egg from a domestic horse.

With the egg’s nucleus removed, ensuring Kurt would be basically all Przewalski’s horse, they were implanted in the mare who would become his mom on August 6.

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