PEOPLE
PHOTO: CHESTER ZOO
Conservationists at Chester Zoo have helped launch Nature’s SAFE
Technologies such as cryopreservation offer us a new, critical piece of the conservation puzzle Dr Sue Walker Head of science at Chester Zoo and co-founder of Nature’s SAFE
S
cientists at Chester Zoo have started
100 highly threatened animal species – these
to freeze tissue samples of some of
include the jaguar, the Javan green magpie and
the world’s rarest animals as part of a
the critically endangered Eastern black rhino.
project to save them from extinction. Together with leading animal
reproduction experts, the conservationists at
there will be no return,” said Tullis Matson,
Chester Zoo have founded Nature’s SAFE:
chair and founder of Nature’s SAFE.
“One of Europe’s largest living biobanks
“With Nature’s SAFE and other biobanking
dedicated to preserving and regenerating cells
partners, there is optimism. We know the
of the planet’s most precious animals.”
sixth mass extinction on Earth is underway,
This project sees tissue samples taken from
and there will be rough times ahead. The
the ovaries, testicles and ears of animals that
question is what do we want to do about it?
have died at Chester Zoo and are cryogenically
And our answer is: we want to secure future
frozen and stored at -196°C using liquid nitrogen.
options for biodiversity, by acting now.”
The idea is that in the future, when
Nature’s SAFE is now home to biological
reproductive technologies are more advanced, the
tissue samples of some of the planet’s
frozen samples may be used to generate sperm
most endangered species – providing an
and eggs, helping conservationists to restore
insurance policy for threatened wildlife.
genetic diversity in animal species threatened with extinction and even clone new animals. To date, the frozen living biobank has cryopreserved multiple cell types from more than
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“Without Nature’s SAFE, for many species already so near the brink of extinction,
attractionsmanagement.com Vol 27 / ISSUE 2
Dr Sue Walker, head of science at Chester Zoo and co-founder of Nature’s SAFE, speaks to Attractions Management about the project (overleaf).
