The first ever horse clone, Zhuang Zhuang, was born in Beijing, China last June! This development offers great promise to the equestrian industry in the country.
It is the first equine clone approved in China. Seven months old, Zhuang Zhuang was presented this Thursday, January 12 in Beijing, as reported by AFP. Born from a surrogate mother using the genes of a horse imported from Germany. Zhuang Zhuang is the product of cloning made by the Chinese company Sinogene, which specializes in the cloning of dogs, cats, and horses.
Zhuang Zhuang is a warm-blood, light-saddle horse. It represents hope for the nation of China in its efforts in developing the equestrian sport up to the highest level. In recent years progress in China’s equestrian industry slowed down due to a lack of quality horses.
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As explained to Mi Jidong, CEO of Sinogene, for riders going to the Olympics, “Each horse costs from a few million to 10 million yuan”, reports the press via AFP. “Cloning can help reduce the price of breeding and raising horses. Cloning horses would help meet the need for sport horses in China while reducing the cost of importing them.
The rise of cloning
Cloning has been developing strongly since the early 2000s. The first equine clone was born in Italy in 2003. In Argentina, many polo horses are cloned and perform beautifully in competitions. In the Olympic disciplines, the first clone of a show jumping horse was born in 2005. Quidam de Revel II Z who is a clone of Quidam de Revel.
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In 2021 the British champion Nick Skelton, Arko III, who is a clone. Thanks to companies like Gemini Genetics and ViaGen Pets & Equine, cloning your animals is now possible for almost anyone. And cloned horses and their descendants are allowed in FEI competitions since 2012.
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