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The black-footed ferret – a species once thought extinct – is making a comeback thanks to groundbreaking cloning technology.

This year, Antonia, a cloned black-footed ferret, has given birth to two healthy kits at the Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI) in Virginia, marking the first time an endangered US species cloned from preserved genetic material has successfully reproduced.

“The successful breeding and subsequent birth of Antonia’s kits marks a major milestone in endangered species conservation,” said Paul Marinari, senior curator at NZCBI, in a statement from the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).

Antonia was cloned from Willa, a black-footed ferret that died in 1988. Stored in San Diego Zoo’s Frozen Zoo, Willa’s genetic material contains three times the genetic diversity of the current ferret population, which has been plagued by inbreeding.

“The introduction of novel, currently unrepresented genetic material may provide a significant boost to the genetics of the current black-footed ferret population,” the FWS explained in a Q&A earlier this year.

Black-footed ferrets were thought to be extinct until a small population was rediscovered in Wyoming in 1981. Conservationists began a breeding program with just 18 individuals.

Today, fewer than 350 survive in the wild, struggling against habitat loss, disease, and declining prairie dog populations – their primary food source, according to Science Alert.

But the FSW explained that cloning could restore genetic diversity and offer new hope in the species recovery.

Even so, the breakthrough is not without controversy, with some scientists noting that cloning is insufficient to save species without addressing habitat destruction.

“Only when we restore and secure adequate habitat and reduce the potential for human-wildlife conflict will these species ever be recovered in the wild,” wrote wildlife ecologist David Jachowski in a 2022 paper.

Antonia and her kits will remain in captivity for research, but conservationists hope this achievement signals a brighter future for black-footed ferrets and other endangered species battling extinction.