Chhattisgarh's wild buffalo gets sanction for cloning

[Mrudul Godbole]

Chhattisgarh's wild buffalo gets sanction for cloning
Jun 20, 2013, 08.20PM IST

RAIPUR: Country's first cloning on a wild animal gets green signal from state forest department with the payment of first installment of Rs 58 lakh to National Dairy Research Institute, (NDRI) Karnal, Haryana for cloning of its endangered state animal, wild buffalo.

"With just six ban bhaisa (wild buffaloes) and four calves left in Chhattisgarh's Udanti forest, it was a matter of deep concern. There is only one female buffalo left which won't be able to conceive for more than twice, moreover, the female, in last four years has given birth to four males. It is around 10-years-old now and a normal life of buffaloes is 15 years. The four male calves were the result of in-situ breeding programme being conducted since five years where the female mates with few males, kept in the enclosure resembling to forest. Therefore, we had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with NDRI few months ago for cloning of wild buffaloes, against which the payment has been done now," Rakesh Chaturvedi, field director, Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve told TOI.

[Debasis Bose]

It is sad for India as a country that in present era we could not identify and save the species in time.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

It is actually sad that though Chattishgarh has wild buffaloes in Indravati, however, due to the mao terrorism the forest department can't go inside and do proper surveys and scientific interventions if necessary. http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12608

There has been progress in science since the cloning of the sheep "dolly". However, till date we don't know if cloning can result in animals which can withstand diseases. These are not domestic animals to be reared in labs. These are real wild buffaloes capable of beating the living daylights out of us. We wish all success for this project and hope that the Central Government along with the Chattishgarh Government will be able to eliminate the threat of the terrorists waging a war against us under the garb of leftist philosophy.