When Kurt Benirschke started collecting skin samples from rare and endangered animals in 1972, he didn’t have a plan on what to do with them. As a researcher at the University of California San Diego, he believed that one day the tools would be developed to save those animals. A few years later, he moved his collection to San Diego Zoo, and called it the Frozen Zoo. Today, the Frozen Zoo is the world’s largest animal cryobank (生物冷库), with samples from over 10,500 individual animals from 1,220 species.
Since the Frozen Zoo was founded, Oliver Ryder, a geneticist at San Diego Zoo, says many achievements have been reached in the field of genetics, starting with the cloning of the first animal -- a sheep named Dolly in 1996. Since 2001, four endangered species have been cloned using genetic material from the Frozen Zoo: the Indian Gaur, a humpbacked Asian wild ox; the Banteng, a Southeast-Asian species of cattle; Przewalski’s horse and the Black-footed ferret.
In recent years, the clock has been ticking for many species in danger. According to the WWF Living Planet Report 2020, as a result of loss of habitat due to human activities, one million species -- animals and plants -- are threatened with extinction over the coming decades and centuries. With the current rate of biodiversity loss, some scientists believe collecting samples from species that might not be here tomorrow is a scientific must-do.
One of the main challenges will be persuading conservation agencies that cryobanking is a reasonable strategy and worth funding. “Many of us are doing this without any national or government support beyond donations,” says Lisa Yon, an associate professor of zoo and wildlife medicine at the University of Nottingham. “Cryobanking is increasingly being recognized as an important resource, so it’s a bit puzzling that there isn’t more funding support.”
【小题1】Why did Kurt Benirschke start the Frozen Zoo?| A．To attract more visitors. | B．To find new tools for research. |
| C．To sell samples more conveniently. | D．To help save endangered animals. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Positive. | C．Unclear. | D．Uncaring. |
| A．Biodiversity is in great danger. | B．WWF is working with the Frozen Zoo. |
| C．Wildlife population is getting bigger. | D．The Frozen Zoo has stored 1,220 species. |
| A．The efforts of Kurt Benirschke. | B．The development in cloning. |
| C．The importance of the Frozen Zoo. | D．The problem of genetic technology. |
