The National Zoo is a world leader at breeding endangered species. Our giant pandas are part of a breeding program that carefully matches potential giant panda parents in order to keep the population genetically healthy well into the future. On July 9, 2005, Mei Xiang gave birth to a cub. We learned on August 2, 2005, that the cub is male. On October 17, when he was 100 days old, he was named Tai Shan by a vote open to the public. More than 200,000 votes were cast.

With Autosomal Dominant PKD, the only form of PKD so far identified and confirmed in cats, two genetic negative parents cannot produce a genetically positive offspring unless that offspring is a fresh mutation. See the discussion on autosomal-dominant inheritance below for further details.

ASSUME: Achatina fulica has a life span of about 6 years. Reproduction starts at end of year 1 and continues for 5 years followed by death. Yearly eggs per reproductive year per individual 100, 300, 400, 200, 100. Since Achatina are hermaphroditic, both parents can produce off springs! Only two surviving offspring are required during the parent's lifetime to insure a no growth or stable population. The remainder die from parasites, predators, desiccation, and old age.

When you are on the page of the dog, you can find the Offspring link at the top right menu if that dog has offspring in the database.

LOS occurs naturally in cattle. It is seen at higher rates with any assisted reproductive technologies and is not a problem caused specifically by cloning.

The Food and Drug Administration’s labeling policy requires that foods only be labeled if there have been significant changes in its nutritional composition, or if there are any changes in other health-related characteristics, such as allergenicity, toxicity or composition. Based on scientific studies, because the milk and meat products from cloned animals and their progeny are nutritionally equivalent to their conventional counterparts, they would not be required to be labeled.

Any baby born to Mei Xiang and Tian Tian would belong to China, and the Zoo would likely return the baby to China once it's old enough, so that it could become part of the breeding population there. In April 2007, we were very happy to announce that Tai Shan will remain at the Zoo an additional two years past his second birthday, which was July 9, 2007. Some time after that, he will be sent to China, as per the Zoo's agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association.

No. In free-living chimpanzees Jane Goodall has observed incest taboos. Mothers do not allow their sons to copulate with them, sisters do not copulate with their brothers and females do not copulate with older males in their familial group. Though none of these chimpanzees are biologically related, they have grown up in this family group and show no sexual behavior toward one another. If they did show sexual interest, we would have Dar and Loulis vasectomized.

Yes. You may purchase extra specimens and store them with NECC. If you later decide you no longer want them, you can return specimens for 50% reimbursement of your original purchase price provided the donor is still listed as active in our catalog and the vials have never left our facility. An administration fee applies.

GoodDogInfo only knows about dogs that have been put into the database. If a dog, sibling, or offspring does not show up it either has not been entered into the database or it was incorrectly input into the database.

Yes- you can purchase extra units and open a storage account. Please click here for more information on storage at Fairfax Cryobank. If you later decide you no longer want donor sperm units you can return them for 50% reimbursement of the original purchase price if the units have never left our facility.

Females may be seen with their chick for 8-9 months . With the onset of the next mating/nesting season, the female takes the young bird to another area of the forest and leaves it to fend for itself.

A The Kombucha Tea can take 2-3 brews to come up to full activity and form a strong new 'offspring'. The donor of your starter 'mother' culture probably stored it in the refrigerator where it was in semi-hibernation. Remember, it is a living organism. The Kombucha Tea from the first few brews will still be good to drink, but should get noticeably vibrant and stronger by about the 3rd ferment. The 'offspring' will also start getting thicker. If it is paper-thin, either discard or compost it.

A. Yes, they can. By "panther" (and here I trust you'll excuse the temporary descent into pedantry!) I'm assuming you mean a leopard - specifically, a black leopard (which is what a black panther really is). In the wild state, cheetahs and leopards avoid each other like - well, cats and dogs. The cheetah in particular is forever wary of the larger, stronger leopard, because he knows that a fight between the two would be like pitting a welter-weight boxer against Evander Holyfield.

Short answer - No, mules (both male and female) are sterile. Both have normal anatomy internally and externally. The males must be castrated, as they have the equipment but do not produce the essential element needed (we're trying to keep this PG here...) Females may come into heat and may need hormone shots if heat is a problem. For those who are following up with "Okay, what about the fertile mule we have read about..." - Fertile mules (hinnies) are a 1 in 1 million case occurance.

Yes but these calves and lambs will not be clones, their parents would be. Because of the costs of applying this technology, it will not be profitable to breed animals for meat this way. It will be used to replicate elite, superior (and very valuable) stud animals. We will be talking to our customers to address any concerns. An industry code of practice is one way in which we could ensure that concerns were addressed We support full disclosure in labelling.

Bats, for their size, are the slowest reproducing mammals on earth. On average, a female bat rears only one young yearly. Most bats that live in the United States mate in the fall just before entering hibernation. The young have reached adult size by three months of age.

Note to readers: Feel free to leave your guesses in the comments, but the tallglassofmilk won't confirm or deny blind items, so don't bother inquiring about this... Keep the comments short and sweet. Unwarranted personal attacks on the subjects of this site and your fellow readers will not be tolerated.

Yes. Due to the alteration of the DNA, intelligence is now passed onto the next generation without the need/help of nanites.

Yes, but this is natural! It is harmless to the mother, so don’t worry. She will usually eat the kittens’ feces while they are nursing. When they begin to eat commercial food, she usually discontinues consuming their feces.