On Aug. 6, 2020, the world’s first successfully cloned endangered Przewalski’s horse was born. Revive & Restore, San Diego Zoo Global (SDZG), and ViaGen Equine collaborated to clone from a cell line of a genetically important stallion that had been cryopreserved since 1980 at the SDZG Frozen Zoo.

This groundbreaking achievement was conceived as a new strategy to help restore genetic diversity to the Przewalski’s horse species. Today’s Przewalski’s horses, of which there are now approximately 2,000, are descendants of just 12 individuals saved from extinction in the early 1900s.