Hey Ma! Let's go to the Zoo!
image: Plan Your Visit | San Diego Zoo Safari Park
San Diego Safari Park is located in Escondido, California. This wildlife park spans over 1,800 acres. It is home to over 3,600 animals that span over 300 different species and you can't miss the 1.3 million types of fauna and flora. When you won't see prancing around or sun bathing on the rock are the 1,000 species located in the frozen zoo. And that doesn't mean a polar bear or penguin exhibit, this is cryogenics! The San Diego Safari Park is home to the largest cryobank in the world as part of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.
(https://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/pressroom/content)
Image: https://mashable.com/feature/san-diego-frozen-zoo
WHAT IS A FROZEN ZOO?
In 1975, the frozen zoo was founded by Dr. Kurk Benirschke. Currently housing a cell line collection of over 10,000 individual, irreplaceable cell lines along with gametes and embryos, This material is used to study species, produce offspring, restore genetic diversity and help species on the brink of extinction.
Image: https://mashable.com/feature/san-diego-frozen-zoo
HOW DOES IT WORK?
From skin samples, they have frozen sells called fibroblasts. They thaw those and turn them into something called induced pluripotent stem cells. Which can, theoretically, turn into any type of cell in the body. The goal is to turn the cells into eggs and sperm so that embryos can be created.
The zoo receives a sample. When the cell first arrives, they are stored at room temperature, treated in a suspension state and left to grow in a flask. Once the number of cells increase, they are divided into different flasks. After a certain number of flasks are made, the cells can be harvested, treated and stored in frozen liquid nitrogen where they remain viable. Treated this way, even cells that were frozen 30 years ago are still viable and it is unknown how long the material will remain useful.
Using the banked samples to promote diversity would give us a chance to change the natural world in a positive way after causing such change to the natural worlds. We have changed their habitats and environments, predators, altered their behavior and diseases.<o:p></o:p><o:p></o:p>
This has already proven positive with reintroduction efforts for the critically endangered Przewalski's Horse, African Elephants, two-toed sloths, and gorillas.
The Frozen Zoo is also used as a reference point to help identify the species of primates and duiker who are sacrificed as a part of the illegal bushmeat trade.
While they are about a decade away from a Northern White Rhino, there are only 2 females left on Earth, on July 28, 2019 a male Southern White Rhino, Edward (fondly referred to by zoo workers and visitors as Prince Edward) was the first to be born, followed a few months later by a little female rhino named Future. These are two medical miracles as Rhinos are known to not be able to keep a pregnancy to full gestation via artificial insemination.
Next time you go, know that there are more animals there than on display!
